Still in Love... With High-Stakes Cash Games

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. I'm still in love, and I have to tell you that it's with the cash games at the Commerce.

The game usually starts off at $200/$400 and consistently moves up to $400/$800 most days, although we've also played as high as $500/$1000. There aren't many of us who are playing these games, and it can get a bit desperate if you get stuck.

A few days ago, I jumped into a $400/$800 game that was seven-handed. Two hours later, I was down $19k. If you were playing $4/$8 that would be like being down $190, and swings like this are fairly typical.

That's especially the case as the table gets short-handed, forcing everyone to play more pots. Each player left until it was just me and Kenny from New Jersey playing heads-up. In poker, things can change quickly if you're focused.

Here is a big hand I think shows how well I started playing heads-up. I was in the big blind with K-Qo, and Kenny raised on the button. I called and the flop came A-3-4. I checked, Kenny led out and I called.

Commerce Casino: Pumping out cash game softies like Kenny as the L.A. Poker Classic ramps up.

I felt like I had a good read on him and didn't put him on an ace. The turn was another blank that didn't help either of us and I checked again. He bet quickly and I went into the tank.

When you're playing, you have to bring in information from all of your senses. The speed of the bet, the force of handling chips, all of these little things start to mean something.

Normally when I go into the tank like that, I muck. Especially in Limit, as there really aren't many options for you. This was a fairly standard fold here as I had nothing but a king in my hand.

Suddenly, Kenny says, "Oh, your king-high is good." Well, that was enough for me and I decided to raise. I had nothing; but that hand, to me, he had nothing as well. He gave me a look and then started laughing as he mucked his hand, and I did as well!

"Show me a bluff!" he said, and I told the dealer to flip over my cards. "King-high; you were right Kenny!"

By the end of our heads-up battle, I'd erased my $19k loss plus grabbed another $35k - a terrific gift for Valentine's Day.

Lieu: Seriously Kenny. "Your king-high is good" is a bit of a tell.

There have also been several players who have taken down some nice scores in the LAPC tournaments the last two weeks. Vanessa Selbst captured the $1k No-Limit Hold'em Ladies Tournament. Vanessa is an extremely aggressive player who was a semi-finalist this summer in the WSOP No-Limit Hold'em Heads-Up event and made the final table of the WSOP Ladies Event.

Paul Darden won the $1k Omaha Hi-Lo event and Men "The Master" Nguyen has won three events - $300 Seven-Card Stud Hi/Lo, $1.5k No-Limit Hold'em and $2,500 Limit Hold'em.

There are still many events before the Main Event starts on February 23. These cash games are just too juicy for me to pass up, though, so you'll probably keep seeing me there.

Stop by www.lizlieu.net and drop by www.Chilipoker.com whenever you have a chance. Or come by the Commerce.

And here's hoping you get something special for Valentine's Day. Cheers!

-- Liz Lieu
Pro Poker Player - Poker Diva

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