The Rio or the Bellagio?

The center of the poker universe right now is the Amazon Room at the Rio. So why do I have such a tough time driving there?

The Rio has been humming along with event after event, but I can tell you I've enjoyed not being there day after day.

It's a situation that I think is a struggle for many pros. There are so many tournaments going on, it's easy to simply keep signing up hoping for the big score.

And that makes sense in some ways. You can't win a bracelet if you're not in an event, and there are some big payoffs waiting for those who can take one down.

The problem with that is you have to go really deep to maximize the payoff. Sneak into the cash and it doesn't do much for you.

I've taken a different path. I'm trying to mix WSOP events with cash games at the Bellagio and time away from poker. It's kept me fresh and I think playing much better than if I were just grinding day after day at the World Series.

The Rio's humming day after day, but it can definitely be a buzz kill.

Event 30, $10,000 Limit Hold'em, was probably the event I was looking forward to the most. If there is any game I'd say I'm an expert at, it is Limit Hold'em. With a deep stack, I felt it was a great shot for me.

I was the chip leader after Level 3, and then I went through four levels of being card dead. I also ran up against some pretty strange customers.

Here's an example. A guy raised before me, and I three-bet on the button with 8♦ 9♦. The flop was beautiful for me, a T-J-3 rainbow. He checked, and I bet with his call. The turn was some rag and he again check-called my bet.

The K♣ came on the river. Again, he checked, and I bet with my busted straight draw. He thought for a bit, then finally called. His cards: A♣ 6♣. How could he have made all those calls with only an ace-high and no draws? I still have no clue!

Here's another example. I clawed back to $25k when this hand came up. I raised with K♥ T♥; then the lady in the four seat makes it three bets, Minh Ly on the blind calls, then I call. The flop comes A♥ 8♥ T♠, which is a great flop for my hand.

Minh Ly. As confused as Liz by the strange play you find at the WSOP.

Minh Ly and I both check to the lady in the four seat; she bets out, Minh Ly calls, I check-raise, and the lady three-bets. Minh folds, and I call. The turn is a blank and I check-call to her.

T♣ comes on the river, giving me trip tens. I bet for value and she just calls. Her hand: pocket aces. River call with top boat. Bizarre.

That put me almost out, and with just about three minutes left on the clock until everyone started bagging up their chips for Day 2, I ended up going all-in blind with a small raise holding 4♣ 5♣, one of my favorite hands.

The flop came 55x, and I had to stick around a bit more, having to end Day 1 with $8,600 in chips. I went out soon after Day 2 started, short of the cash by far and a bit frustrated that I couldn't make my way through the land mines.

I also played Event 21, $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em and had probably the funniest tournament table I've ever been at. My table included Andy Black, Greg Raymer and Eli Elezra, only to be joined later by Gavin Smith.

Good times when Birdguts gets going with the wisecracks.

I kept grinning throughout the first two levels as they kept making wisecracks back and forth. Of course, it wasn't too great a time as none of us cashed in the event ...

I took three days off and played cash games at the Bellagio this week. The games have gotten a bit bigger, and I played in a $400/$800 game that included Mike Schneider, Eddie Ting, Shawn Keller and Joe Malcolm.

Another guy who joined us later came from Bobby's Room, where he'd gotten stuck. He was a maniac, blind three-betting and flipping the table into a maniac zone. I got unstuck myself by the end of the session.

I used one of my tricks to keep me focused in this game. I had some tough hand (I can't exactly remember), and I got up and left the poker room, pulled out a $100 bill, stuffed it into a slot machine, then plopped down to get started.

It's my little secret way to keep the tilt demons away. I figure donking off $100 at slots is much better than tilting off a few grand. I don't know if other players do this, but it works for me.

Nick Schulman: Juicing things up.

Another $400/$800 session included Jennifer Harman, Nick Schulman, Greg Mueller, Hansu Chu and Van Diesel (no, not the actor). To make the game a bit juicier, Nick suggested that we add a $100 ante pre-flop.

Eddie Ting and Minh Ly joined the game later in the night, and I think I played pretty well. I stuck with the game until 7:30 a.m. and ended up booking a very nice win:).

I had my personal assistant from Asia, Zach, in town along with Alvin, one of his friends. They'd never been to Las Vegas before, so I took them out and treated them to see "O" at the Bellagio.

I fell asleep twice and almost got my camera taken away! They told us no photography was permitted, but I snuck my camera out (without the flash) and snapped five shots for Zach.

Out of nowhere, a security guard came up to me. "I'm not going to take your camera away," he said, "but you have to put it away." I did, believe me! I have to say I have turned away from my criminal ways. Thank you, Bellagio!

Lieu: Too hot for PL this time.

I had a great night with six of my girlfriends in town from L.A., but you'll have to head to www.lizlieu.net to hear all about that. It's a little too scandalous for PokerListings!

I did want to congratulate all of the top pros taking down bracelets. I also want to congratulate Barry for winning the $1.5k Razz event, and my dear John Phan took down the $3k NLHE title.

And I told you to watch Vanessa Selbst. A great job with her PLO bracelet and another semifinal finish at the $10k HU championship.

Every final table is full of pros this year, and the events are hardly pushovers. I'm itching to jump back into an event, but I'll keep picking my spots.

I love when you guys post comments, so let me ask your opinion. Cash games or WSOP events? What do you think?

Cheers!

-- Liz Lieu
Pro Poker Player- Poker Diva

More Blogs from Liz Lieu:

• 28th is Not Quite First
• Bagging Chips for the First Time!
• Feeling Good at WSOP but Aces Cracked Again
• My Thoughts on WSOP ME Final-Table Delay