What a Difference a Year Makes!

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.

It was a mysterious, amazing time for me, a time that I will never forget. I learned things about my family that I'd never known.

I walked the street where we lived when I was born, and met neighbors who knew my family when I was still an infant.

It was a magical time. Magic can be evil, and it can be good. I've seen both. I don't know if I understand the last four weeks but I have finally found peace. I took that peace to Manila where I played in the Asian Poker Tour.

I made it through Day 1b, bagged chips on Day 2 and somehow managed to last long enough to earn a seat at the final table of the APT Manila main event, before eventually being busted out in seventh place.

It wasn't a magical run that ended in a first-place finish, but it was my first baby steps in the right direction. Perhaps it's a sign of things to come. Everything that eluded me in 2008 will be corrected in 2009. There will be poker hands and bad beats and good reads in days to come. Today, I'll just sit here, at peace.

Liz in Vietnam.

So what did I do differently in Manila that I didn't do in 2008?! Absolutely nothing.

Maybe I just have a little more lady luck on my side. I started the APT Main Event by doubling up pretty early in the tournament. I believe it was Level 3 and I had A 9. I limped under the gun and it was folded around to the blinds; they both saw the flop.

The flop came down K J Q. I pick up a gut-shot and nut-flush draw. I got into a little raising battle with Richard Mari before he shoved all-in. I decided he didn't have a straight and I really felt like he had a queen with a flush draw or some other type of draw. If I was wrong, I had some pretty strong draws myself.

Turns out I was correct and had him dominated. He flipped over 3 5 for a lower flush draw and zero pairs. The turn and river bricked out and I doubled up to approximately $22,000.

I eventually chipped up some more on Day 1b and ended up with a healthy $44,300 in chips. I couldn't really get much going on Day 2. I started to dwindle down to about $30,000 in chips before I ran into the following hand.

Ivan Tan tried to make a move on me in the small blind with T-7 on a pure steal and I looked down to see pocket jacks. So I quickly called, and moved back up to a respectable $62,000 in chips.

I did get a little lucky as we drew near the end of the day and got closer to the final table.

The Klubmeister.

With approximately 11 players left and a stack of about $87,000, blinds $4,000/$8,000, I decided to make a move. Ron Kluber limps for $8,000 and I decide to shove my entire stack, hoping to pick up the bet and all of the blinds.

Norihito Suzuki moves all-in for $75,000 in the small blind, and Kluber folds. Suzuki flips over A-Q and I flip over J-T. The board runs out J-T-3-4-T rainbow and I make a full house!

In 2008 I was usually the one going in with the best of it and losing to the worst hand. In 2009 I go in with the worst hand and beat the best hand. Go figure.

I had approximately $180,000 chips at that point and I got into a very tough hand minutes later.

Blinds are now $5,000/$10,000. Ron Kluber completes the small blind and I check my option. I'm holding 4 7.

The flop is J 6 T. Kluber bets out for $20,000 and I decide to just call him. The turn comes the 5 and now I have picked up an open-ender to my flush draw.

Kluber leads out again, this time for $95,000 into a $65,000 pot. I have about $155,000 left and he's really overbet the pot. I am pretty confident he has a jack based on his previous plays. I end up folding because I'm simply not getting the odds to call here and we're at 11 players in the field.

I didn't feel like Kluber was bluffing, so by calling if I didn't hit my hand, I'd be crippled with very high blinds, and there was no certainty that my low flush draw was even any good. He made a very good bet in that situation.

If Kluber had bet out again a small amount on the turn, then I would have immediately pushed all my chips in.

We lost one more player and I ended up making the final table. I went into the final table with the seventh-largest chip stack and coincidentally, I ended up taking seventh place.

That was my trip to the Philippines. I am back in L.A. right now and ready to play in the LAPC. I think I am going to play in some smaller events and see if I can keep this momentum moving forward and warm up for the $10k main event toward the end of the month.

I look forward to some more magic in Los Angeles and will keep everyone posted on what is happening in L.A. during the LAPC.

Liz Lieu - Poker Diva
www.LizLieu.net
www.iPokerCal.com

Drop by Liz's home site, ChiliPoker, and take advantage of PokerListings.com's exclusive sign-up bonus.

More Liz Lieu Blog Entries:

• Liz Lieu's Advice for the New Year
• Liz Lieu's WPT Five Diamond Main Event Part 2
  
• Liz Lieu's WPT Five Diamond Main Event Part 1
  
• Warming Up in the Online Arena