The holidays have always been a time of reflection for me, a time to look back on what has been and look forward to what may be. This is a special time as we end this first decade of the 21st Century. I’d like to end this present year on a cheerful note and make way for a fresh and bright new year with this video from my most recent charity journey.
There are many similarities between this year and this decade for me. I started the decade playing my cash games, first in Las Vegas and then eventually in LA. I learned my game playing LHE, long before No-Limit became the game of choice in poker rooms. I moved into tournament play halfway through the decade in 2005, making my first WSOP final table with Allen Cunningham, CK Hua, Devilfish Ulliott, Scott Fischman, and An Tran. I’ve done well since then, making other final tables around the world and taking down a tournament here and there.
As many of you know, the decade also brought personal loss and struggles for me. I lost my father two years ago after his battle with health problems. I’ve worked hard to honor him and persevere, but it has not been easy for me. I’m afraid as hardened as I’ve become over the years, I’m still very much Daddy’s little girl.
I’ve returned to my homeland of Vietnam throughout the decade. Each time brings me great comfort and fulfillment, but each time there also seems to dig a little hole into my heart. I’m not sure what it is. I wish sometimes I could just grind away there like I do at the poker table, but it takes more out of me than that.
This decade has also been a time where finding balance has been hard. Poker, my marketing partners, tournaments, the hardships of glamorous travel, trying to find some way to stay connected to friends. It hasn’t been easy, and it seems to get more difficult with every blurry week.
And now 2009 comes to an end, a year as difficult for most of us as any has ever been. I’ve been fortunate in many ways, but many of my friends and fans continue to face grave hardship. For those of you who don’t get to Las Vegas, you would be amazed at the many houses for sale. People who were out of work used to be looked down upon; now, it is commonplace to find friends who have been unemployed for a year or more.
Even though I’ve weathered this year fairly well, it has caused me to become more serious and more focused. I’ve always been known for my aggression at the tables, and I think it is time for all of us to become more aggressive in how we make it through 2010. That doesn’t mean being rude or obnoxious, but it does mean taking control of our situation whatever that situation may be. I also think it is a time to protect our self interest without becoming self-centered.
My plan for 2010: to spend more time at the tables in cash games, to achieve my goals for the year in poker, to do fewer things away from the table but be sure they are more meaningful, to slow down a little bit, to take care of myself, and to reach out to a few old friends. Don’t let the year get started without setting goals for yourself.
I want to also thank all of my readers and fans here on my blog, on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, Chilipoker, and anywhere else you may bump into me. All of the kind words and encouragement are greatly appreciated.
New Year is the time to unfold new horizons & realize new dreams, to rediscover the strength & faith within you, to rejoice in simple pleasures & gear up for new challenges. Wishing everyone a truly fulfilling 2010!
Right now, I have no idea what is going to happen next. What will be accomplished in the next year or two? I have high hopes but it is a great mystery. The way life is supposed to be. Filled with pleasant surprises and occasional let downs. But most importantly, I hope it will be filled with laughter and joy. I am so much more appreciative of life’s little treasures at this stage in my life, and so much better at brushing off the occasional let downs. I credit much of this to my Father and I couldn’t be happier about the way the last chapter of my life closed out.
I left you with the 2 year promise and I am happy to tell you that I have successfully kept my commitment all the way through to the final day. We had a ceremony with the Shaman to send my father’s spirit away in peace on Sept 6th. And to help my father on his way, I purchased 888 birds to release on his behalf. This is a very common activity done in the Buddhist culture, in the hope that such good deeds will earn them credits for a better incarnation in their next life, as well as helping their relatives in hell to win earlier release from their suffering. I originally wanted to purchase more than 3000 birds but my Shaman assured me 500-600 were more than enough. LoL. I might have gotten a little carried away! I decided I would do 888 instead because it is a very lucky number.
Quite a few interesting things happened during the ceremony that were truly surreal. I will save you the details because it’s impossible to believe unless you were there. I told a few close friends about the supernatural events I witnessed only because they truly know how skeptical I am as a person. It’s in my nature to analyze everything from all angles and look for alternative answers whenever something doesn’t seem right or logical. I am always processing info in my head to see if everything “adds up”. And I had no answers for what I saw except it was truly spiritual. I’ve seen a few magicians such as Chris Angel perform in Las Vegas and this was more amazing and unexplainable than anything I’ve ever seen before. Afterwards, I was assured they were very good signs and the ceremony couldn’t have went better; my Dad is in peace.
Once that Chapter closed for good, I flew back to Las Vegas for 5 days before flying back to Europe. My first destination: Venice, Italy. So beautiful!!! It is one of my favorite places to visit so far. I flew there for the Gioco Digitale ME tournament but I had some free time to check out the sites as well. Everything in Venice is accessible by walking or canals. Water runs thru the entire city and there were hardly any cars. It’s an amazing sight. I also had a film crew following me around to film the “Poker Diva Lifestyle” through the lens of Alexandre Henry. I am excited about working on this project as well.
The tournament itself was uneventful. I ran into a bit of a cooler on my final hand which knocked me out right after the dinner break. I flopped a set of 3’s on a J, 7, 3 board. Two spades on the flop. I bet 800 on the flop. And I was check called. The turn peeled off a 7(s) which was potentially a good card for me if my opponent hit a flush. We both checked the turn. I wanted to faint weakness in case he did hit his flush. The river brought a non-spade Ace. My opponent checked. I bet out $3,000 and my opponent check raised to 7k, I then pushed all-in and got an immediate call. I had a full-house and couldn’t imagine my opponent had a bigger full house. Sure, enough my opponent hit perfect perfect on the turn and river and flipped over A-7 for a bigger full house. On that note, I was out of the tournament.
After I spent a few days in Italy and wrapped up the Main Event, I flew to London and currently taking a few days to rest up before the WSOPE Main Event which starts on the 26th of September. The film crew for the “Poker Diva Lifestyle” will also meet me in London in a day or two and we will resume filming. Hopefully, I can give you a taste of the European lifestyle and culture. I really do appreciate the different cultures you can experience in such a short geographical distance. I have a week before the WSOPE Main Event starts in London. Now what?!? I am already getting restless. Perhaps I will catch up on emails and stay a little more socially connected.
I did want to send a special blessing to my friend Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein. May he rest in peace. I know it’s a little late but it was important to me to share a couple of moments from Adam’s life. To share with you what a special human being he was. I first met Adam approx 5 years ago at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. What many people don’t know is that Adam is an avid poker player. He loves poker!! He used to come the Bellagio about 2x a week to play in some relatively high limit games after spinning at the Pure Nightclub, a nightclub I often partied at and chilled to Adam’s awesome music spin. Over the years he played less and less because his Deejay responsibilities would keep him on the road more and longer. Usually, late at night after a Deejay gig. Sometimes he came alone and sometimes he would come with a friend or two.
At first, I learned thru Jonathan Shecter that DJ AM didn’t like me very much. At the time, I was playing in a 3 handed 80-160 limit hold-em game when Adam sat down and took a pretty good beating from me. At the time, I don’t think he really knew I was a professional poker player. On one occasion, I remember completely stripping him of his entire bankroll for the night. I don’t think Adam was making as much money back then because this used to really upset him and we developed a minature rivalry. Well, more of a rivalry on his part. I liked his action.
Eventually, about 1 years later we became friends and Adam told me about his feelings toward me. He told me, he thought I was cocky and it really irritated him. I never disrespected him or laughed at him but it was more my style of play that frustrated him. I am a very aggressive poker player and most guys aren’t accustomed to running into that type of aggression from a female. Anyhow, we shared a laugh about it and once we got to know each other on a more personal level, we grew to respect each other. And Adam did get the best of me a few times on the poker table. After a couple losing session to him at the Commerce, I playfully commented “Alright, we’re even now.. OK?” And he laughed it off. At this point, he was making a lot more money and I could tell the poker swings didn’t affect him as much.
One of the things I respected and admired the most about Adam was how much he loved his mother. His mother Andrea was the entire world to him. And I also admired how much Adam cared about people in general. One day, I was actually talking about charities with Adam because he struck me as the type of person that would care about that stuff, and I asked him some advice on some potential charities to donate too. He suggested I donate to MS research. Okay, so I asked him why? He told me his Mom had MS and they were very close to coming up with a cure and any additional help would be so beneficial. I was more than happy to do it. I started to donate to the cause immediately with a % of my winnings.
I also learned that Adam was donating a significant amount of his own personal earnings to MS research. Adam even told his Mom that I was donating money to her cause. One day, his mom even emailed me personally to thank me for my support for curing MS. I guess she was very pleased that one of Adam’s friends would also champion his cause and she was so thankful that she wanted to bake me a huge batch of homemade cookies!!
I continued to see Adam a couple of times a week playing poker and then he got more involved with bigger gigs and he was going to Las Vegas more often but we continued to stay in touch. When LAX first opened and I was just signing with the Martin’s Poker team he made sure I had a table and was taken care of. There was a huge mix up actually over my reserved table and when Adam got back to CA, he personally came to the Commerce and brought the Main manager down to personally apologize over the mix up and took care of the situation. And that was the type of guy Adam Goldstein was.
Over the past year and a half, I haven’t had a chance to keep in contact with Adam at all. We both had different priorities and poker wasn’t one of them. I don’t really know what happened in NY and what was going on with him, unfortunately. To me he will always be the caring and compassionate person who loved his Mom more than anything in the world. A generous person who would go out of his way to take care of a friend. It’s a sad loss. I hope Adam has peace and happiness.
I’m back in Vegas everyone!! I participated in my first WSOP event a couple of days ago. Event # 14 $2500 Limit Holdem (6-handed). I quickly built my chip stack to 13k after the first four levels of play, but ended up busting out late in Day 1 after going completely card dead after the dinner break. I’ve been back in Las Vegas for a week now. I was hoping to play in a few earlier events but as soon as I drove back from LA, I woke up the next morning with a bad cold flu. I had to wait almost a week until I was able to play my first event.
(photo courtesy of MadeInPoker.com)(photo courtesy of Pokernews.com)(photo courtesy of Pokernews.com)(13k chip stack after 4th level before dinner break)
Since my last update, I made a sudden decision during my last week stay in London to hop on a plane back to Vietnam and spent a week there. I did some charity work for a few days and had an opportunity to clear my head from poker. This was my goal for staying in Europe and Asia for the entire month leading up to the WSOP, to mentally prepare myself for the WSOP and get myself spiritually and emotionally in the right state of mind.
While I was travelling through Vietnam, I had some amazing personal experiences that are a little difficult to explain. Through charity work, family, and friends, I was able to meet some very wonderful people in my recent visits. Some of the most wonderfully charitable and humble people I have ever met in my life. I had some eye opening experiences and moments that I cannot possibly explain in a blog. Let’s just say that I have a deeper understanding for life and my place in this world. I’d like to send out a very special thank you to Thay Hung, anh Phan, chi Thuy, and anh Banh for all the things they have done for me to make this charity journey a complete success!
(Xin thành kính cảm tạ Thầy Hùng (Hà Nội), người đã dành trọn tâm huyết cho chuyến làm từ thiện này. Và cũng xin chân thành cảm ơn anh Phán, chị Thuý, và anh Bằng đã cùng chung sức cho chuyến từ thiện này.)
Now that I am back in the states again, I am excited about playing poker again. I rarely get to step completely away from poker and I feel completely refreshed and with a strong desire to play really hard and put in the effort that is necessary when you are trying to navigate through some of these very deep and competitive WSOP fields.
I’ve only had a chance to play 1 day so far but I’ve noticed a trend where there are more and more unrecognizable faces every year. I am pretty sure some of these guys and gals are experienced and successful internet players so I always need to take caution and not assume I have a huge edge just because I don’t recognize somebody.
I also want to congratulate my friend Steve Sung for winning Event #4 for his first WSOP bracelet. Steve took home a cool $771,000. I’ve known Steve for a couple years now and he’s a really good guy and I’m extremely happy for him. And what Phil Ivey did in Event #8 isn’t very surprising at all but still amazing. Ivey is truly an amazing player and I heard rumors that he won close to $10,000,000 on a side bet for winning the Seven to Deuce event.
I’m hoping to have some of the same kind of success too and right now, I’m trying to figure out which events I want to play next. I believe there are 56 events this year so I have a long ways to go still and I’m trying to pace myself. I don’t want to burn myself out and throw money away when I enter a tournament. I really want to win every tournament I play.
I think there are a number of different places you can get WSOP results and updates. Keep your eyes out for me. Hopefully, I’ll make some big waves in one of these events soon and generate some excitement. Until then, I will keep you posted on my progress. I look forward to catching up with old friends in Vegas and most importantly enjoying myself but don’t be fooled. I really want to win that bracelet and will give each and every WSOP event my absolute best effort.
Clearing my head before the upcoming WSOP. Preparing myself physically, spiritually and mentally for the grueling month ahead. Sorry to report, not much going on here!! Just looking out at all the people and cars passing by and really enjoying this down time!! Mostly I am clearing my head and taking an opportunity to step back and really reflect on the past year.
Recently, I’ve been travelling between several countries in Europe. I flew to Monaco for the Monte Carlo tournament and just decided to stay in Europe. It’s a good opportunity to clear my head for the WSOP and unwind from all of the poker and work.
I must admit, it has been enjoyable reflecting on life and recent events. I can laugh about it now, but I have really had some interesting dealings with some very shady characters. Ha-Ha. I am not going to get into detail about it but it continues to surprise me how many selfish and deceptive people there are in this world.
I don’t know, maybe my perspective is skewed as a poker player and my work leads me into more than my fair share? But what I am really happy about is my continuing improvement in letting stuff go and forgiving people. I just honestly don’t have room in my life for negativity or people who want to drag you down to their level.
I’m surrounded by so much beauty and have so many great aspects about my life sometimes I reflect back and think to myself, how did I get distracted by people who don’t offer beauty into my life or bring substantial value as a human being?
Anyhow, I am letting go of all regrets. I really believe that every experience was meant to be and creates a stronger more emotionally healthy person. And I also know that I don’t have to bring justice to people who do me wrong. Life has an interesting way of handling that for you. Sometimes, it doesn’t handle it in the timeframe you desire, but eventually life makes all things good.
“It Is What It Is”
Learn to understand the characteristics and traits of people,
and do not be so critical of them. Just accept them as they are
and you will not have any surprises happen to you
nor will you feel let down.
When you are able to grasp this, you will be free from all disappointments.
There’s an old saying… “It is what it is”
I really do believe that all of the positivity I feel about my life at the moment and all of the negativity I am stripping away from me this month will have some really good benefits for me. I may or may not win a WSOP bracelet next month. I cannot predict what will happen in the future but I do know I will come in with a clear head and a lot of good karma working in my favor.
It may be this year or it may be next year or the year after, but I really feel strongly that I am going to have a break out WSOP in the near future. I have gone thru so much and continue to forge ahead and be stronger for it and I know there is a reward for doing the right thing and living a positive lifestyle.
I hope to write another blog or two before the WSOP. I plan to fly back to Las Vegas very soon and look forward to visiting with all of my poker friends and peers and get back into the mix again. But until then, I will enjoy this beautiful view and enjoy the opportunity to reflect and cleanse. There is no better happiness than a happy soul.
I think many of you will find this journal entry is pretty topical considering recent economic events. I’ve spent the past couple of weeks playing poker at the Commerce in L.A. and something is definitely up. I’m not sure if it’s the economy or what but all of the high stakes games have temporarily dried up. I’ve been playing 100/200 at the Commerce lately because that’s the biggest game going in the high limit section right now. The few times we’ve been able to kick up the stakes, the game will fall apart within a couple of hours.
Las Vegas has been the same way if not worse in terms of high stakes cash games. I think it’s a combination of a lot of things. I know some of poker players are struggling lately. I’ve heard rumors of different players going broke. I know a ton of players spend a lot of time travelling or playing online. And the live cash games have suffered because of it. But it’s okay because I’m going to adapt and stay the course until better days.
In Nautical terms, staying the course means not altering your path regardless of the obstacles in your way. You weather the storm and reach your destination. In 2008, I ran into a bunch of different storms, personally, spiritually, physically, and professionally. And a few times I was thrown off course and had to find my way again and it’s prepared me for everything to come in 2009. In the past week, I’ve been able to stay pretty even playing the cash games. I ran pretty bad early, losing on some pretty horrific beats. I was able to finish the week strong booking 3 straight winning sessions. I took a lot of personal time in 2008 and now I’m back stronger and better than ever.
After pulling several all nighters grinding the cash games, I was wearied! So what did I do to get away? I took a short break! Last Friday night I went out with my girls to celebrate one of our girlfriend Kayla’s birthday at iLounge Nightclub, one of the new trendy hot spots in Newport Beach. We managed to get the best table in the joint in the Presidential VIP suite, which in my opinion felt like we were trapped in a cell behind bars. HaHa!! Nevertheless, we had a awesome time!
(Birthday girl Kayla)
At the moment, I see clear skies and sunrise. I am really looking forward to this weekend’s tournament at Caesar’s. The Dream Team Poker Event. Quinn Do, Matt Stout and I make up the Pokerlistings team. I know Poker Road has a team in the tournament headed by Joe Sebok. Also, Eric Morris of Bluff Media will have his team there ready to play. My good friends Lacey Jones, Maria Ho, and Tiffany Michelle will make up an all-female team. I believe they are going by the name “Yo Mamma” or something like that. Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow, Dennis Phillips, Jamie Gold and Jerry Yang are some other players with teams entered into the Dream Team field.
I hope I have more to report after this weekend. I expect good things and even if the cards or chips don’t fall my way, I will stay the course!
Bonjour everyone! So much going on this month, I am not sure where to start. I’ve been playing a fair amount of poker in the last couple of weeks. I spent some time at the Commerce Casino playing in the limit games and I also played some poker online. I plan to play some more this week to warm up for the Dream Team Poker Tournament March 27-29.
The Dream Team Poker Tournament takes place at Caesar’s Palace and is a team format. Every team is made up of three players and a ton of big names have committed to the event. Including Mike Matusow, Phil Helmuth, Jerry Buss, T.J. Cloutier, Tom McEvoy, Dennis Phillips, Todd Brunson, Jerry Yang, Jamie Gold, Kenny Tran, Shawn Sheikhan, Actor Mehki Phifer, Hoyt Corkins, Tiffany Michelle, Quinn Do, NBA Player Chris Mills, Jeff Madsen, Joe Sebok, Maria Ho, Lacey Jones and a ton of other well known players.
More than 100 teams are expected to enter. You can view the format or get more details on dreamteampoker.com. It should be a fun event and I haven’t participated in many “team” formats so this should be pretty interesting. My team is made up of Quinn Do, Matt Stout, and myself.
So, what else is going on with me?? Well I want to report that I am officially a trendsetter!! LoL. Actually my friend Chesty Kemper called me this, because I’ve been trying to get him on Twitter for the past year. He told me this week he saw Twitter being featured on the TV news 2 times and once on MSN.com as the newest craze!! I told him he would be addicted to Twitter because he’s pretty good about keeping up on his facebook account. I tried to get my girlfriend Lisa on Twitter as well. Both of them have refused to participate on Twitter out of stubbornness and Chesty admitted to me last week that it’s becoming tougher because so many people are joining Twitter every day.
I also want everyone to know there has been a Liz Lieu Fan page created on Facebook if you haven’t had a chance to check it out. I approve of the page and I encourage those of you who are not linked to my facebook account to go there. I have had a ton of requests to my Facebook account lately and I am only adding friends. I feel like I need something personal for me. People can get a hold of me on my website and myspace among other places and I want to continue to keep my facebook page for my friends and family. I hope nobody is offended if I turn them away.
So what’s going on in this crazy topsy turvy world? Hopefully we’ve hit rock bottom on falling stock prices. It was good to see the stock market go up for a couple of days last week. It was getting pretty depressing. On top of that, AIG is paying out more than $160 million in bonuses to company executives after they received almost 200 billion in bail out money from tax payers!! That was crazy. Congress just passed a bill to tax them at 90% to penalize their greed. It was about time somebody in govt. did the right thing to stop some of this nonsense.
This economy is affecting everything! I’ve noticed the bigger games are starting to slow down and Vegas suffering a little bit in their tourism. I’ve been playing at lower limits than I have in the past just to get a good game. I also spend more time online because the games don’t last as long or run as frequently as they used to 3-4 years ago. I might need to look for another job!! HaHa … JK!
I don’t think I would make a very good employee. I’ve been playing professional poker since I was 18 and have always been self-employed. I don’t know how long I would last taking orders from somebody else. I was going to play in Bay 101 but the week before that tournament, I was running so badly online and live cash games, so I decided to take a break and play in the Caesar’s event instead and prepare for my trip to Monte Carlo for the EPT Grand Finale. Before that I will also be participating in the Five Star World Poker Classic at the Bellagio right after the Caesar’s event.
Keep an eye out for me on the poker updates. I’ll update everyone soon and hopefully I’ll have some good news to report. And don’t forget to add Twitter!! If you haven’t heard of it yet, you heard it here first. And yes, that includes you, Chesty and Lisa!! You know you want to do it!!
This week I want to cover the subject of patience. Something I have had to use a lot of in the past year. I am sure many people are having their patience tested right now in lieu of the difficult economy. I know many people have lost jobs and trying to persevere the best they can. I really feel for them as they struggle and do the best they can.
Patience is defined as the state of endurance under difficult circumstances. There are many different types of patience. Sitting at a pressure filled final table at the WSOP main event could be considered a test of endurance under difficult circumstances. This is of course the type of “patience” I would gladly welcome.
Most of us have to deal with a different type of patience. The patience to endure truly difficult circumstances. I cannot pretend to have it as bad as many because I’ve been very blessed in my life to have a lot of freedom, to travel a lot and make a lot of money. It does come with its downside however. I am constantly being approached by people with “business” opportunities. Some legit. Others not so legit. I have loaned out my fair share of money. I have not always been paid back.
I have had friends come and go depending on how much they could financially benefit from being around me. It is all a test of patience. “He that can have patience can have what he will.” – Benjamin Franklin.
Regardless, I am thankful for the opportunity to be tested daily. “Patience serves as a protection against wrongs as clothes do against cold. For if you put on more clothes as the cold increases, it will have no power to hurt you. So in like manner you must grow in patience when you meet with great wrongs, and they will then be powerless to vex your mind.” – Leonardo De Vinci
In patient times it’s important to remember what you are being patient for. I am being patient for better results this year on the poker table. The APT in Manila was a good start. Final table in my first tourney was pretty good especially since I never really accumulated many chips. I just seemed to be hanging in there the entire tourney and before you knew it I had outlasted most of the field.
I want to be patient enough to continue to surround myself with high value people. I’ve been able to surround myself with more quality people than ever before and I hope that trend continues in 2009. I want to be around people who are independent and charitable. People with good spirit and positive outlook on life.
In patient times, I want to persevere whatever loose ties I have with people in my past who haven’t had my best interest at heart. To endure long enough to put those relationships and failed business transactions completely behind me. To be patient enough to learn from the decisions I made.
Most of all I ask everyone to have patience in their own lives. To be patient with the ones they love. To be patient enough to endure whatever hardships you have and to continue to learn from life’s experiences and have a wonderful 2009. I have the LAPC coming up at the end of the month. Hopefully I will have enough patience to outlast the entire field and make another final table.
Merry almost Christmas everyone! I think I have been a pretty good girl this year so I wrote to Santa and requested a few things. Before I show you my letter to Santa I wanted to talk briefly about this past week.
I haven’t blogged in almost a week now because I was busy playing in the Bellagio Five Diamond Classic. I am not going to talk about it too much here but you can read about it on my Pokerlistings blog which will be posted in a couple days.
Also, it is snowing right now in Vegas! It’s providing me the inspiration to write this blog. I already feel more festive. Although, admittedly, I am not a big fan of snow!! I grew up in Colorado and I have had enough snow for an entire lifetime. But I will make an exception because it’s almost Christmas. The two certainly go hand in hand. Well on to the letter…
Dear Santa,
This is Liz Lieu and I wanted to wish you a happy and festive 2008. I hope this letter reaches you well. I have had quite a year but you already know that. I feel pretty confident I was a good girl this year so here is my wish list and I hope you can make as many of them come true as possible.
(photo courtesy of Phu Vu)
It would be nice if you could arrange for my dad to visit me in my dreams. I’m not sure if you can make that happen or not. Maybe that request should go to God. But just in case, I thought I would ask you as well. I sure do miss him and would love to have him appear in one of my dreams in 2009.
I would love to receive a little puppy. Something small and feisty! Maybe she can scare all of the mean and evil people away. I think a cute little puppy would make my Christmas.
I wish you could deliver a “Secret Santa” who can step up and help me in my Charity efforts in Vietnam. I go back to Vietnam 3x a year and I never have enough to give to help everyone. I get together with Charity organizations and I’d buy staples of supplies and deliver them to the most impoverished areas of Vietnam. I also deliver money and supplies to the Children’s Cancer Hospital, the Elder Orphanages, the Children’s Orphanages, and to numerous Temples. The poverty and suffering is very eye opening.
If you cannot deliver a charitable check, how about passing on some good luck to help me win a Main Event in 2009. Just a little luck is all. If you cannot deliver good luck, why don’t we just eliminate some of the bad luck? I’m getting a little weary of poker players doubling up on me through 2 outers or 5 outers. Thanks, I would appreciate it!!
Okay this list is getting a little lengthy Santa, I have to apologize. But another great item you could pass along would be the opportunity for my immediate family to spend more time together. All of us. My mother, sister, nieces, nephews and brother-in-law.
I wish for happiness and health for my Mom. She is starting to get a little older and it would put my mind at ease if she could stay healthy for this coming year and is happy with life.
Okay, my last request is a little self indulgent but it would be a terrific gift for the upcoming Vietnam trip. I would love to take some professional quality pictures of everything I encounter on my charity missions. One of those Nikon or Canon professional cameras would be perfect for the job!!
Well Santa, I could keep going but I know you’re awfully busy and this will pretty much take care of it for now. I understand that you might not be able to give me everything I request and honestly I would be happy if you gave me any one of the items I requested. I can work on the rest of the wish list on my own but if you felt it in your heart to deliver me more than one of those gifts, I would be very appreciative. Thanks Santa!! I will leave some cookies and milk for you. If you can just turn the lights off on the way out. Thanks.
The question asked of me the most since I started playing poker has always been about my personal relationships! Who am I dating? What kind of guy am I into? I thought I’d spend some time in this blog discussing relationships and the challenges some of us female poker players face.
Well, I am currently single if that is any indication of how my past relationships have gone! Sometimes, it would be much easier to be a guy!! At least I think it would be less stressful. I can go play poker with the guy’s everyday and party with attractive girls every weekend and nobody would think twice.
Not that I want to live that lifestyle because like most girls I am perfectly content with just finding one good guy! I don’t need a dozen bad boys. I know a few!! I am usually pretty good about not dating the bad boys who date around a lot but I find a different type of bad boy. I will explain more in the blog but I am reminded of this Beyonce video:
I don’t really think all guys are bad but yes, I have had my share of dating some bad ones. I don’t really date cheaters but I have had some guys who were pretty controlling or manipulative. I have had a couple take advantage of my good nature and generous spirit.
Most of the guys I am attracted to are very intelligent. I am naturally attracted to guys who are very confident and smart. Unfortunately, sometimes when you date guys who are really smart they have egos and as a result some of them can be manipulative or controlling as a result.
As far as being a female poker player, it just complicates dating a little more. I have a really hectic schedule. I don’t have a typical 9 to 5 where I can meet a guy in a more normal setting. Most of the guys I meet are indirectly involved with poker somehow or some piece of poker business.
I don’t date poker players however! To me they are like my co-workers and if it doesn’t work out, you have no where to go or hide if it gets ugly. Your personal life gets spilled over to everyone else in the community. As a general rule of thumb, it’s a pretty bad idea to date other poker players.
I have been playing for a living since I was 18 and I learned a long time ago, if you don’t have respect among the guys you play with, it’s going to be a long hard road! As female poker players we are in a difficult spot. You’re not looked upon as favorably if you bounce around dating different guys in the poker community.
I am much better off just playing poker and making a living and not getting into any of the extracurricular drama. It’s not really that big of a community. Many players know each other quite well and you bump into everyone at all of the major events. It’s better if the other guys recognized you as a peer and just keep it at that.
Not to say it’s completely off limits. I haven’t met the right poker player yet, but I know of some really good relationships between players and when it works out like it has for Marco Traniello and Jennifer Harmon-Traniello, it can be a really great thing because it’s difficult to find guys who understand your lifestyle so there is some upside.
Mostly, finding a good partner is just difficult. I don’t think it’s easy for anyone to date because guys and girls are so different but playing poker isn’t really the ideal circumstance either. I am sure it’s complicated my life because I really prefer normal guys and I don’t get a chance to meet them often enough.
As of now, I haven’t met the perfect guy yet. That’s really all I can say about my personal relationships. I hang out with a lot of poker players but those guys are like my peers. I don’t really get involved with them. If you want to send a good guy my way for Christmas, send me his resume!
Right now, I feel like Beyonce. I feel like I’ve had some lost opportunities because a couple of guys I dated in the past didn’t know how to treat a woman and I just look forward to the day I can meet a guy who understands how to be a gentlemen and how to treat women. Most importantly Honesty and Loyalty is on the top of my list!!
Until then, I am going to focus on Poker because you cannot really ever plan to meet a good guy. It just happens by chance and when it comes along you run with it. Good things will come when you least expect it! For now, I have the main event of the Bellagio Five Diamond coming up this weekend. My biggest priority at the moment is to clear my head and get into the best mental state as possible to have a successful tournament.
I came up with a great idea for this journal entry. Most bloggers get in the habit of telling you how they feel and explaining what they are going through! I wanted to have a little more fun with this blog!
I thought it would be a great idea to share with you some of the things that makes me smile or laugh instead. So, I have included a few videos that I personally enjoy. I want to share with you some of my experiences in hopes that it reveals a little bit more about who I am.
Before I get into the videos I want to let those of you looking for more poker related journal entries to go to www.pokerlistings.com. I am one of the featured bloggers on the site and you can read more about poker there. I usually post a new blog every Tuesday.
I also want to tell you a little bit about what’s going on this week. Well not much!! I’ve been playing a lot of online poker lately. You can read about it on Pokerlistings tomorrow and I also went out to celebrate one of my girlfriends birthday on Tuesday.
A few of us girls went to the Palazzo on Tuesday and had dinner at Lavo. I really recommend the place and it had some pretty good eye candy too! Several girls got together to help Joy Miller celebrate her birthday. Afterwards some of the girls had a couple of cocktails and we called it a night.
Outside of that it’s just been poker mostly. And of course I always get great feedback from everyone about the blogs. I enjoy reading the feedback and writing back to you whenever I can. On to the videos:
I want to start out with a more touching video first. This is a segment from X Factor which is the UK version of American Idol. I’ve been thinking a lot about having really genuine and authentic people around me lately and I remembered this Amy Connelly video.
“Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway.”
- Mother Theresa
Speaking of really honest and transparent moments. Check out this video. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
While we are on the topic of X Factor. This is one of my favorite shows. I fell in love with it when I first started watching it. I am reminded of another clip I think you should check out. This one made me really laugh hard. These two think they are the next P Diddy and Usher!
The next video is a spoof that a friend of mine in Vancouver recently forwarded to me. It’s a spoof of the T.I. Whatever You Want song. I thought this was pretty clever and it gave me a real good laugh. Thanks Saad!
The last video I want to share with you guys is just a video that makes me think about all my “slick” guy friends lol. It’s a song by Gym Class Heroes. I think everyone can have a good laugh and appreciate this video for what it is. Especially all the women!
Well I hope you enjoyed some of the videos. Sometimes you just have to laugh at life and go with it!! These are all videos that remind me to just keep laughing and continue to have a positive outlook in life. I look forward to sharing more interesting clips in the future.
