Diary of a Poker Diva - Liz Lieu

I’m thankful for so many things on this American Holiday!! I wanted to share a few things that I am thankful for. I am thankful for my health. I am thankful for my family and I am thankful of good friends. I am thankful for these things everyday but on this special day of thanks, I wanted to share some of those things with you.

I am thankful for the Cold Play song “Fix You.” Right now this is in heavy rotation on my IPod and I’ve been listening to it every day. It’s a beautiful song about love and what I envision in the person that I am looking for.

I am thankful for the Yiruma song “Kiss the Rain”. I also play this song several times a day. It’s by Korean pianist and for some reason it reminds me of past memories in a very beautiful way. This is another song that puts me at peace and makes me smile.

I am thankful for the book, “The Alchemist”. I feel like this book really puts me in touch with reality and inspires me to follow my dreams and listen to my heart. What I like about the book is that it teaches you to live your life well. Live every moment in the moment. Let go of anything that is an encumbrance. Follow your dreams. Have fun and enjoy everything life has to offer, but don’t forget the things that really matter. Let go of things that are not within your control. There is so much wisdom contained within the pages of this book, the most important one, is to enjoy every minute of your life. We all have goals in life, we have dreams to fulfill and successes to achieve. We need to remember to stop once in a while, and smell each rose and count each star in the sky. It is not the destination, but the journey, that counts. There is something to be learnt in everything. It’s definitely worth reading!!

I am thankful for my Mercedes SL550. I absolutely love my ride especially on that deserted drive from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. My car drives so smoothly and accelerates so fast but most importantly, it’s a convertible which means on my road trips to Los Angeles and back, I can get some sun :).

I am thankful for forgiveness and growth. I’ve learned to become much more patient and accepting of people. I don’t hold any hatred, envy or jealousy of anyone. I’m much better at being patient when things aren’t going in my favor and have a much greater capacity to brush negativity off and move on.

I am thankful for my ability to surround myself with good people and remove myself from conflicts and drama. I am much wiser about how to avoid drama and make decisions that will promote positivity and keep me out of gossip and negativity.

I am thankful for my MAC. I absolutely love it. It is so much better than all of my previous PC’s. I can hold so much more information, especially all of my photos and its very user friendly. I also think my MAC is faster, less prone to viruses and holds more space. I really debated on whether I wanted to get a MAC or not last year and it’s been one of my best decisions of the year.

I am thankful for my Blackberry Bold. It makes my life so much easier. I can do so much work from the road. I can even respond to all my networking sites and catch up on emails when I am not in front of my computer. Otherwise, I would spend a ridiculous amount of hours on my computer each day whereas, I can run errands or go shopping and still get work done from my Blackberry.

And I am extremely thankful of my supporters and fans. I really appreciate all of the comments, emails, messages and tweets. I try to stay connected with everyone as much as my schedule allows and everyone has been so wonderful to me over the past few years. You will never know how much I really appreciate all of the kind words and messages. I really do.

And finally, I am thankful for charity. I am going to fly back to Vietnam next month and do some more charity work. While I love my car, MAC and blackberry, life is really about “people” and nothing is more important to me than connecting with people and helping those out there that are less fortunate than me. And what I receive in return is a sense of happiness, peace and balance in my life. Something truly priceless that money can never buy. I love nice things but as much as I can, I try to give back as well.

I hope everyone has a HAPPY THANKSGIVING and think about what you are thankful for today and ways that you can give back to those around you. Loved ones or complete strangers. It’s our ability to love and give that make us so special. XoXo.

Cheers!

Happy Thanksgiving for those of you in the States! For many of us this is a good time to reflect and think about the value of family and the importance of friends and life.

This hasn’t been the easiest year, 2008. I lost my father in late 2007. I was actually at the table playing the Barcelona Main Event when I heard the bad news. I left in the middle of the event and immediately arranged a flight to Vietnam. I spent the first part of 2008 mostly in Vietnam . Paying tribute and respect to my father’s memorial. Doing lots of Charity work in Vietnam, I know my Dad would have wanted it that way.

Poker took a back seat for a while now that I reflect upon the year. I tried to get poker back on track and one calamity after another struck me down in early 2008. It just wasn’t meant to be I guess. For starters, I missed one of my favorite events of the year. The Monte Carlo event in Monaco. I ordered room service the night before Day 1 and came down with food poisoning the next morning. I had to pull out of that event. I flew back to the States a week later and got extremely ill, requiring me to be hospitalized and undergo surgery which took months to fully recover.

All of this occurred, just before this years WSOP. I came into the WSOP on a pretty significant lay off from tournament play but I still managed to play very well in a few events. Ultimately I just went card dead or ran into a bad beat at the wrong times.

Poker has been very choppy for me this year. The high stakes cash games in Las Vegas have dried up. There has been some good action at the Commerce lately. I have had to go to L.A. a few times to find good games. Outside of L.A., the games have been pretty limited.

Because of my heavy travel schedule in 2008 and the lack of juicy cash games, I spent more time online than ever before. I’ve had very mixed results online. I have had some good sessions and some not so good ones. I am a winning player online, overall, but I definitely have less of an edge online than I do live. I think I really need to get back to the Commerce and get back to those cash games. This is a goal of mine in 2009! To play a lot more cash!!

Despite the rough year, I have many things to be thankful for! And I have grown as a person and become stronger. I still have my mother, sister, brothers, nieces, and nephew to enjoy. I have a good support system around me and many reasons to smile. A few very close friends have supported me emotionally and spiritually throughout the year and really helped me through some personal setbacks. Alexandre Dreyfus and Chilipoker have also been wonderful to me.

Life isn’t always perfect but it is always exactly as it was meant to be. A friend of mine just came across a very fitting quote and I like to post it here. I don’t know who to attribute the quote to? If you know make a comment.

“There is nothing for you to go back and live over, or fix, or feel regret about now. Every part of your life has unfolded just right. And so –now — knowing all that you know from where you now stand, now what do you want? The answers are now coming forth to you.”

In that spirit, life is good. I am lucky to have the freedom to travel. I have travelled all over the world and visited some beautiful places. In the past year, I have been to London, France, Poland, Italy, Australia, Hong Kong, Macau and Malta just to name a few.

I have very entertaining friends in the poker community. Love them or hate them, the poker community is like a large dysfunctional family. Some of them party too much. Some of them have unnecessary drama. Some of them just simply gamble too much. No!! I am not naming names. I am very protective of my friends and family. I don’t judge any of my friends for whatever they are going through. Sometimes it’s just a phase. Sometimes they are using it as a distraction for other issues. I love them all regardless!

I’m privileged to belong to such an interesting community of people. Not to say 2008 has been perfect. I have lost a few friends. I have gained new friends. I have drifted further from some and closer to others. That is life. Poker can be a very competitive game and sometimes a few toes are stepped on. Feelings are hurt and drama ensues. But we fight and make up and do it all over again. Just like any big family. We usually make amends and all that begins well should end well.

It is important to keep your sanity at times and I can honestly say I have been keeping it together better and better. This is what I am thankful for. I am thankful for having a positive life perspective. I am thankful of not being envious, jealous and bitter of others.

I am thankful that I don’t judge others and I try not to let those who judge me influence my emotional state of mind. I am thankful for charity and love. So many people showered their sincere feelings with me during some rough times. I know I am loved!

I am also much better at selecting friends and knowing who I can trust and who to keep close. I will reflect on 2008 someday and view it as a year of personal growth! I am about to celebrate Thanksgiving soon and I wanted to share with everyone that it is a way of life.

Thanksgiving shouldn’t be a single day on a calendar that we celebrate with an oversized Turkey. I travel to Vietnam frequently and other parts of the world and America has so much to be thankful for. All of us that are Americans are privileged. For the freedoms, for the democracy, for all of the little luxuries we take for granted.

I just had a funny conversation with a friend last night. We were talking about something as simple as a washer and dryer. I lived in an upscale part of London for part of last year and they don’t have separate washers and dryers?! You dry your clothes in the same machine you wash them in!

It takes about 4 hours to do a load of laundry!! In Italy, they don’t even have dryers! Or at least I didn’t come across one and have shared similar stories with others that travel frequently. Most people in Italy hang dry their clothes. These are modern first world countries. Really, we all have a lot to be thankful for. Even those simple little luxuries.

Don’t forget to appreciate the moment. Don’t forget to absorb all of life’s lessons and don’t forget to apply every bit of wisdom gained and lesson learned to forge an even better future. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! This includes all of my friends and fans around the world!

Cheers!