Liz Lieu's Poker Diva Blog

Just a quick update on the $1,500 donkament I played this afternoon. Just like all these events people are going to stack off with a ton of hands.

Unfortunately for me my opponent today "stacked off" with the stone nuts.

I lost a big pot early in the day, folding a baby flush on a paired board after some serious strength from the other player in the hand.

On my last hand I called a raise to 300 with T-7 in the big blind and the flop came down Q-9-6. I checked and he bet out just 200! I called and an eight hit the turn. It looked like a great card but ...

I checked, he bet 500, I check-raised to 1,500 and he shoved. I made the call and he turned over ... J-T obv.

I don't think there's any way to get away from it, especially in a short event like these $1,500's.

I'll be back on the felt soon so make sure to check back for more updates!

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Several weeks have passed since the Asian Poker Tour Main Event in Manila, and after taking a short break from poker, I was refreshed and eager to get back on the felt.

The LAPC at the Commerce Casino is a special event for me because it's where I started my high-stakes poker career. It attracts not only many players from around the world but many top professionals.

And with the new structure that tournament director Matt Savage put in place, the tournament saw a lot of action that no doubt satisfied everyone.



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According to the Chinese calendar, 2008 was the Year of the Rat, and 2009 is the Year of the Ox. Could there be two animals more different?

What a difference a year makes. I've heard that saying before, but this is truly what I believe now. A year ago, I was coming to grips with my father's passing and hoping for the best. It wasn't the best for me.

For much of the year, I seemed to walk around in a fog. I tried to put on a brave face, tried to restart things again and again. It never seemed to work.

In December 2008, I decided I needed to return to Vietnam to find peace. I spent the month of January in Vietnam and I confronted some very personal things that I had to work through.

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I'm writing this from Vietnam, and I hope everyone has had a great holiday and New Year's. I know most people make New Year's resolutions.

I try not to make promises to myself that I can't keep, so I don't. One of the most common questions I'm asked is what advice would I give to young amateurs trying to make the leap to playing higher stakes.

I almost never answer the question, because most people aren't really asking that question.

Most people really just want to cut corners and find some hidden secrets that will somehow get them playing $5/$10 and $10/$20 NLHE.

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Editor's note: When we left off last time Liz had lost a chunk of her stack when an opponent got lucky and turned a set. Today she'll take us through the rest of her tournament at the WPT Five Diamond main event.

But what a great way to end the night! Chino and others were prop-betting the Chicago-Philadelphia NFL game, and Mike never shut up the entire hour we were together. I love Mike Matusow!

I ended the evening with $60,800. It's never good to end the day with half the chips you started with, but I feel I played well.

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I busted out just short of the money in what I think was the toughest field of 2008, the Five Diamond World Poker Classic.

You might not believe it, but it was a terrific few days for me. My confidence is sky-high for next year.

I've avoided the tables most of the last few weeks as I just haven't felt as motivated as I should be. It hasn't been easy to do, just to stay away rather than jump back into the cash games here and try and play my way back into normalcy.

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I am primarily a live cash-game player, but even I see the advantages of playing online poker sometimes.

For some poker professionals it's their primary source of income. For me, it's how I prepare for the live games and live tournament action.

The benefit you have playing online is the ability to go back and review the hand history. It's much easier to find the leaks and holes in your game. You are not relying on your sometimes faulty memory.

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OK, enough of this hamster crap!

I have been having this running debate with some tournament poker players as well as cash-game players for months now. There is a big misconception about Limit poker.

The common belief held by many No-Limit and tournament players is that NL Hold'em is a much more intricate game than Limit Hold'em. They say that Limit Hold'em doesn't require much skill and No-Limit Hold'em requires much more skill.

Now I'm not talking about a bunch of Internet whiz kids who have never actually played a live hand of tournament poker.

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I'm rooting for Chino, but the reason is a bit complicated.

When I first heard about the long delay with the Main Event final table at the WSOP, I was more than skeptical.

I didn't like it at all, and my biggest problems were the risk of something happening to one of the players (which didn't happen, or hasn't yet, anyway), plus the change in the players.

With the final table about to start, I think the biggest problem is that no one really cares.

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Sadly, no poker for me here in Las Vegas right now. Just the six-pack abs of some Thunder from Down Under to caress!

One of the not-very-fun parts of bouncing all over the world is when all the mail drops in your lap for the past three months.

I've spent the last few days dealing with FedEx billing errors, wading through hospital bills, and just trying to make sure my accountant is up to date on all of this.

Of course, that means a lot of time on the phone, listening to some jazzy elevator music while I wait for a human to finally pick up the line.

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I had a terrific time in Cabo San Lucas with my three best friends, Cathleen, Jackie and Tiffany, plus their families.

It was a great, relaxing time for me, lounging by the pool, horseback riding on the beach, falling asleep at the spa. I'm so glad I snuck away last weekend, even though the game at the Commerce was so good.

I received a ton of feedback from my last post, so I wanted to share a bit more about my views on tilting and how I work to avoid it. Here are some characteristics of tilting:

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While the rest of the world has been shocked by the stock market crash, I've been in some of the juiciest cash games I've seen in a long time.

The $400-$800 game has been spread lately at the Commerce, and a new Jamaican guy has turned it into an action party.

I'd played a good game after shooting bullets at the range and was hoping to dodge bullets at the tables, but couldn't make a hand and lost $19k.

Pots of $15k-$20k haven't been unusual in this game, with three three-bets and multi-player pots the norm. Some players can get in and churn the water when a game loosens up like this. I tightened up a great deal instead.

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While most of the pros are either in Korea or London, I don't mind telling you I'm happy just to be back home in L.A.

I'm off the road for a while I hope, and it's great to spend time with my mother and family. She can't travel anymore, and every day I spend with her is special. Cherish the time with your parents, believe me.

When I say I'm back home, that also means I'm back at my stomping grounds, the Commerce. I'm thankful to get back to the grind of cash games, although I'm not in the same shape as I was a couple years ago.

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Back in L.A. after two months in Vietnam, Macau and Thailand. I'm a little jet-lagged, but it was great to see LAX and great to wait for all my luggage!

I stayed around Macau to play in the APPT High Rollers event. I actually feel like I played well in Macau, but I just couldn't make anything happen when I needed to.

Lee Nelson was on my table at the High Rollers event, as was David Steicke, who became the chip leader for three days. I had queens five times on Day 1 and I lost with them every time.

On the 10th hand of the event, I picked up queens and raised 3x. Steicke reraised me with a big raise; I repopped him $3k (he may have thought I was trying to steal; I don't know).

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I have a riddle for you. What do you get when you mix no cards, no cash games and a bad Internet connection in Macau?

One very unhappy camper!

I made back-to-back final tables at the APPT last year, and I had high hopes coming into the Macau tournaments this year. Two tournaments, but nothing but a Day 1 exit for both of them.

Everything was high class with the APT event last week. The APT could teach Harrah's and the WPT a few things about how to make players feel great.

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From my homeland of Vietnam I hopped a flight to Bangkok, then boarded an Air Macau jet to land here, the Asian center of the gambling world. For two weeks, poker will rule Macau.

It was difficult for me to leave Vietnam, but the Asian Poker Tour team made me feel welcome as soon as I landed. When I arrived, I met with their CEO, Chris Parker, as well as David Saab, winner of the APT Manila event.

They showed me around the casino, then the three of us went to the MGM for dinner. Macau has just exploded since last November. It looks more like Las Vegas with every passing day.

The next day, I made my way to the APT poker room around 3:30 p.m. to attend their official opening.

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I have grieved for my father the last 12 months, and I've suffered at times. Physically for part of the year, but mainly mentally and emotionally.

The one-year ceremony for the death of my father was conducted yesterday. For the last two weeks, I've worked hard to plan two special ceremonies.

Ninety monks from different temples all came to pray and participate in the ceremony. There aren't any Web sites where you order 90 monks for a ceremony - you have to invite each monk individually.

One of the highlights for me was my experience with a photographer for the ceremony.

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Da Nang is about as far away from Las Vegas as you can get on Earth. And it is here that I find myself for the one-year anniversary of my dear father's passing.

I arrived in Saigon on the 29th of July after connecting in London. It had been seven months since I'd been back to my homeland, and I'd forgotten the blaring horns at all hours of the morning, the neon lights, the smells and sounds of energy and excitement.

I have to say that I was almost in a fog that first day, partly from jet lag, partly from culture shock, partly from the stifling heat. Mostly for the task at hand - planning the ceremony for my father.

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I'm hopping around Europe as I write this, an ocean away from the WSOP and Las Vegas.

It seems like the Main Event is also an ocean away, and I still don't know how this big break will go.

The final table is filled with poker pros, even if they are pros that most people haven't heard of. So is Las Vegas, for that matter.

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Most days off in tournament poker mean that you've busted out of an event and are waiting for another.

It's nice at the Main Event, when you have a few days before heading back to the Amazon Room to unbag your chips.

I played Saturday on Day 1c, specifically choosing that day as I assumed there would be a combination of weaker players who had the weekend off from work combined with guys who'd gotten drunk on the Fourth of July.

Men, beware of smiling women the day after a holiday!

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What a list of winners we've had this WSOP.

As the World Series winds down to the Main Event this week, here are a few of the pros who have grabbed bracelets away from the mob of poker wannabes who've crowded into the Rio the last five weeks:

John Phan, Erick Lindgren, Barry Greenstein, David Benyamine, J.C. Tran, Nenad Medic, David Singer, Layne Flack, Dario Minieri, Blair Hinkle, Daniel Negreanu, Vanessa Selbst, Mike Matusow, Max Pescatori, David Woo, Kenny Tran, Phil Galfond and the ageless Scotty Nguyen.

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The center of the poker universe right now is the Amazon Room at the Rio. So why do I have such a tough time driving there?

The Rio has been humming along with event after event, but I can tell you I've enjoyed not being there day after day.

It's a situation that I think is a struggle for many pros. There are so many tournaments going on, it's easy to simply keep signing up hoping for the big score.

And that makes sense in some ways. You can't win a bracelet if you're not in an event, and there are some big payoffs waiting for those who can take one down.

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Liz Lieu, Las Vegas, 28th place for $14,138. So very frustrating to head to the cashier and collect that when the final table is so very close.

And I'm still debating my last hand, of course.

I slept really well Saturday night and stayed in bed for a couple hours Sunday morning, making calls and working a bit (including the post about Day 1). It's a great feeling to wake up and still be in the poker tournament you played the night before.

It never gets old, although I'd love to be able to verify that!

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I'm feverishly typing this as I get ready to head to the Rio in a couple hours to take my seat at Table 48 for Day 2 of the $2.5k NLHE event.

Let me catch you up on my week since I posted here last.

There are some players who almost literally never leave the Rio, busting out of one event only to head to another one, day after day.

I am not one of these people, preferring to mix WSOP events with cash games. I've been playing at the Bellagio, although they've been unable to spread big games. I've spent my time at either $100/200 or $200/400 LHE.

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I didn't want to alert my friends at PokerListings that I was playing in WSOP Event 2.

Frankly, I didn't want to get my own hopes up I would feel physically up to playing poker.

After playing in my first WSOP event, I can say that I feel as good as I did earlier this year - even though I had my aces cracked yet again to send me from another tournament!

I wasn't really sure about when I would start playing until my fellow Chilipoker team member, Fabrice Soulier, called me on Wednesday. At first, Fabrice asked me how I was feeling and how many events I was going to play.

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