The Cream Rises to the Top

I'm writing this from Malta where I'm hard at work with my ChiliPoker team. We're working on many new marketing and player programs, and I'm excited about our partnership.

I've been playing on the ChiliPoker site after hours as well, so you can always stop by there to make a run at my chips!

While I was flying to London from L.A., I couldn't stop thinking about the final table of the L.A. Poker Classic and what it tells me about the state of poker.

From the 665 players who paid their $10k, the players who made it to the end were again some of the best in the world.

Charles Moore (third) and Scott Montgomery (fifth) were new to scene, but the other four are proven winners.

People like to pick on Phil Hellmuth (sixth), and he obviously is a lightning rod for criticism. But you don't win the most WSOP bracelets and have the most WSOP cashes in history by accident.

Nam Le (fourth) is a quiet, unassuming assassin when it comes to tournament poker. With the '06 Bay 101 WPT title under his belt, along with numerous final tables at large- and small-buy-in events, Nam is really a pro's pro among up-and-comers.

You know Quinn Do? You should: he's a terrific finisher and fearless when it comes to the end of an event.

You simply can't consistently finish deep in tournaments without having a complete tournament game, and he's one of those players you don't want to see moved to your table.

My good friend Quinn Do's runner-up finish put over $900k into his bank account and is a smashing start to 2008 that already makes this his best year in tournament poker - even bettering his first year, 2005, in which he won a WSOP bracelet and had three six-figure cashes for over $800k.

You may not know him, and he's not as recognizable as others, but he is a terrific finisher who is fearless when it comes to the end of an event.

And order has been restored in the poker world when Phil Ivey takes down a major title. I was actually surprised to find out this was his biggest tournament cash ever ($1,596,100). The trophy will sit nicely next to his five WSOP bracelets.

Phil's triumph really shows how the best player in the world can use his skill to dominate a tournament and a final table. It doesn't mean great players don't emerge all the time nor that a new player can't make a great run, but I'm seeing more and more that the cream rises to the top.

The diva: eyeing the final table at EPT Warsaw.

I'll be here in Malta for several weeks with a quick jump to Warsaw for the EPT Poland event March 11-15. Katja Thater, from Germany, who won her first WSOP bracelet last summer in Razz, made the final table last year. I'm hoping I can do the same this year!

I'll write later about how I prepare for a tournament when I haven't been playing a lot of poker - a situation I'm more accustomed to now with my heavy travel schedule. I hope it will be interesting and helpful to all of you aspiring tournament players who come here to PokerListings.

Thanks for stopping by here, and thanks to all of you who have checked out www.iPokerCal.com, the new online poker calendar I'm involved in. It's a great source for what's happening when in the world of poker, whether it's online or live all around the world.

Cheers!

-- Liz Lieu
Pro Poker Player - Poker Diva

More Blogs from Liz Lieu:

• A Big Leak Nobody Can Avoid
• Explaining Crossbooking
• Still in Love...With High-Stakes Cash Games
• Commerce Teeming, But Big Games Struggling