Friday, Aug. 31, 2007

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J.J. Liu ready to defend her WPT title

J.J. Liu returns to the Bicycle Casino today to defend her WPT title.

By Sarah Polson

The World Poker Tour Ladies Night V is filming today at the Bicycle Casino in California, and despite having just had a baby Aug. 22, J.J. Liu is ready to defend her title.

Last year she took on returning champ Jennifer Tilly, Erica Schoenberg, Anahit Galajian and Kelly Griggs, after more than earning her invitation to the game with a final table in a WPT event, a cash in another WPT event and three World Series of Poker cashes.

The ladies came out swinging that day, but it was Liu who put to work the knowledge she gained from reading Sun Tzu's The Art of War to take home the victory.

Liu has previously attributed her poker success to the classic strategy book. Playing poker is like going to war, she said, and there are lots of different strategies from the book that apply.

She gives an example of an anecdote about a very smart general who acts really relaxed and confident, as if he has a huge army behind him, as the enemy's army approaches. The enemy sees this as a sign of strength and retreats instead of fights.

"You don't always have to fight a war," Liu said. "You can scare people away."

That philosophy and many other strategies in the book are very useful to poker competition. Today Liu will have a chance to apply them again against a new field of poker's top women.

"I hope I can defend my championship, but you never know," she said.

If past history is any indicator, Liu will have her work cut out for her. Clonie Gowen was the first woman to win a WPT Ladies Night event, and she followed that up the next year by busting out first. Instead Isabelle Mercier took home the title, but she didn't fare much better the following year.

For the Ladies Night III, Mercier busted in fifth place while Jennifer Tilly's aggressive play took her into the winner's circle.

The curse of the returning champion reared its ugly head for the WPT Ladies Night IV, seeing Tilly out in sixth place and the final battle came down to Liu versus Kelli Griggs, who had won her way into the invitational event by winning the ladies event at the Bicycle Casino.

Perhaps that's one reason why Liu is more worried about this year's winner from the Bike's ladies event than she is of the seasoned pros she'll be facing - Mimi Tran, Linda Johnson, Kristy Gazes and Melissa Hayden.

Of course, it probably makes a difference that the qualifier from the Bike this year is Pam Brunson, Doyle Brunson's daughter.

"It's going to be tough playing against someone with such a strong family background in poker," Liu said. Her other concern is that she's never played or even met Pam Brunson so she knows nothing about her playing style.

She said she's had plenty of experience with the other women who'll be at the poker table. She's even been on one of Linda Johnson's poker cruises where the "First Lady of Poker" taught Liu's sister how to play.

So what's her strategy against such high-caliber opponents? It's nothing different than how she would normally play. Her game plan is always about figuring out the players and what will be the best style of play against them.

The only thing that might disrupt her is leaving her newborn daughter at home for the day. She said doesn't expect it to be as hard as it might be, because she has a family member who will look after the infant, but she'll be thinking about her a lot, which could disrupt her concentration.

Win or lose, though, Liu plans to get back on the poker circuit again soon, baby and all. She's already making plans to take in the WPT Borgata Poker Classic and the WPT Turks and Caicos poker classic coming up in September.

After coming in second at the WPT Bay 101 championship event in March, Liu became the top-placing female in a WPT event, and she's eager to become the first woman to win one as well.

She missed out on an opportunity at the Legends of Poker this week in California, where a legend in his own right - Dan Harrington - proved he could do more than just teach poker in books.

Stay tuned to PokerListings.com to see how Liu does in her quest to make it into the history books this WPT season. We'll be bringing you live coverage from events in our Live Tournaments Section.

Related Articles:

• Brunson Wins Seat at Ladies Night V
• Liu Falls to Forrest
• J.J. Liu Wins WPT Ladies Night IV

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