A Big Leak Nobody Can Avoid

There are many leaks poker players have to avoid. Sometimes they're specific situations or starting hands, like overplaying big pocket pairs or overplaying draws.

For others, bankroll management is the big leak that leads to ruin. Still other players have vices away from the table, whether it be other table games or our reckless pursuit of pleasure.

But there is one situation common to all players that can cause big leaks in play: being sick.

Poker rooms are a lot like a kindergarten class. Any illness one player brings to the table can sweep through regular players quickly.

Couple that with being in close proximity to others, poor diets, little exercise and consecutive long days with little rest, and you have a breeding ground for the poker flu.

And I got it a couple days before the L.A. Poker Classic main event.

The cash games have been so juicy I just stayed glued to the table night after night for a couple weeks, and it finally caught up with me. My body ached, my throat was sore, and I knew I had to head to bed if I was to have any chance of playing in the main event.

By the time Saturday rolled around, I was feeling better when I sat down at Table 25 to get started. I was still a little worn out - that feeling you have after you've been in bed for a couple days - but I was ready to get started.

Roy "the Oracle" Winston: Hot for poker.

I had a few familiar players at my table, including Miami John Cernuto, Vince Van Patten and Roy Winston. Roy has been especially hot over the last year, including finishing 26th for $333k at the 2007 WSOP Main Event, plus a WPT Borgata win last September for almost $1.6 million and another $230k at a Bellagio Five Diamond tourney in December.

Of course, it was none of these men who made me sick again; it was another player who got into a raising war on a flop of K 10 9 when I held A A. And of course, he flipped over K 9, and I was finished on Day 1.

I told a friend yesterday that the next time I get aces in a tournament, I intend to muck them face up! Maybe that will break my bad streak, although I'm sure the other players at the table would call for a psychiatrist to see if I was crazy!

Throughout the LAPC, the cash games stayed heavy at Commerce. One big-spending, action player kept the big game's list extremely long, and they didn't have a spare table to spread our $400/800 game.

We called the Bike and quickly took our game over there, where the blinds swiftly climbed to $500/$1,000. I had a nice $40k win the first day followed by a $5k loss.

Lieu: Feeling great again, plus a nice $40k win before Malta.

I'm feeling great again physically, but my days in L.A. are over. I'm heading to Vegas to get some more clothes, then I leave for six weeks in Malta to work with my Chilipoker team.

We'll be working on a variety of new projects, including a DVD that I'll have more about later. Stop by www.lizlieu.net, and drop by www.Chilipoker.com whenever you have a chance.

One of my good friends, Quinn Do, also made it to the final table of the LAPC main event, along with Phil Ivey, Nam Le and Phil Hellmuth. Woo-hoo!! It should be a terrific final table and a great television show for the WPT.

-- Liz Lieu
Pro Poker Player - Poker Diva

More Blogs from Liz Lieu:

• Explaining Crossbooking
• Still in Love...With High-Stakes Cash Games
• Commerce Teeming, But Big Games Struggling
• My First World Series Final Table Part II
• My First World Series Final Table Part I