Back from Macau and Itching to Play

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).

He called; the flop comes K-rag-rag; he immediately bet out $2,650; I had to lay it down.

After a couple levels, I was the BB and Lee, to my left, made it $1,100 with the blinds at $200/$400. David Saab and Barry Greenstein called, and I picked up pocket queens. I raised another $3,800.

Lee took over a minute, kept looking at me, then smooth-called my raise. David and Barry folded and the flop came Ac-Jc-3x. I had to choke.

Lee Nelson: Only he knows if he was running the bluff.

When the ace came out, I had about $5,800 left. I checked; he bet $2,850. I thought about it - one of those days I had queens five times, and every time an ace or king came out.

I figured he couldn't be on a bluff. He likely had a huge hand and wanted to suck me in. If he had crap, he wasn't going to do that.

I showed Quinn my queens after mucking, and he said I had the winning hand. Of course, only Lee knows, but I'm 100% I was beat.

Steicke seemed to hit every single flop and played some sick poker while I was there. In one hand against a player I didn't recognize, he got heads-up with the board reading 5♣ K♦ 6♣ 2♦.

On the turn, Steicke led out from the big blind for $3,500 before his opponent moved all-in for about $13k. Steicke thought for several minutes, then called to show his pocket sevens. The other guy turned over a big bluff and Steicke stacked the chips to double up.

He took my chips later. I got short and went up against him with A-J to his pocket sevens again. 2-2-3 came on the flop and a seven hit the turn. No outs; bye-bye Liz.

I stayed around for the final table when two of my friends, Quinn Do and Nam Le, made it. They are both terrific players, and I was so impressed with Nam's play on a short stack.

Nam Le: Short-stack ruler.

Quinn had $320k and Nam had $67k in chips going to dinner break. After dinner, all the guys decided to play baccarat to keep everyone loose and relaxed. Everyone except Nam. He got so focused during that time. "The game's not over yet," he told us, and it sure wasn't.

Quinn ended up finishing third, and Nam took down the title after getting heads-up against Andrew Scott. Nam had a 2-1 chip advantage when they were heads-up and he used his experience to drive to the win.

One little bit of dirt: Quinn, Nam and J.C. Tran were wearing Asian Poker Tour logos throughout the final table. The two tours are in a fierce battle to become the leader of live poker in Asia.

Of course, I made both final tables at APPT Macau last year, so I'll always play there if it can fit into my schedule. But the APT was just first-class all the way in terms of taking care of players. I really hope there is enough room for both of them in Asia, and the players are definitely improving.

Macau is a tough place, though. I ended up flying to Hong Kong because there still is not much to do in Macau other than gamble.

Once I checked into my hotel in Hong Kong, I found a great place to get my nails done, then went club-hopping with some old friends from Singapore and several friends of Alex at Chilipoker.

Lieu: Itching to play.

The night life in Hong Kong is to die for, believe me! I'm definitely ready to head back there when I get a chance.

My other quick trip was to Thailand. No clubbing; I was there on a mission: a new tattoo! Thailand is one of the only places in the world to get a tattoo with bamboo rather than a mechanical tattoo.

The artist has to pierce your skin with a bamboo point, so it takes much longer (3 ½ hours, give or take a few). What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? Look for a sneak peak of my new tattoo coming soon.

I'm spending some time with my mom and family, and you know I'll sneak in some time at The Commerce to get my cash game back in line. I'm itching to play - it's been over two months since I sat in a juicy cash game.

I can't wait!

Cheers!

-- Liz Lieu - Poker Diva

www.LizLieu.net
www.iPokerCal.com

More Blogs from Liz Lieu:

• Sleepless in Macau
• On to Poker in Macau
• Good-Bye, Dad
• Alone with my Father