Jennifer Harman poker throwdown charity event for the Nevada SPCA

I just got back from Reno where I was invited to be a featured pro playing for the Jennifer Harman poker throw down charity event benefiting the Nevada SPCA. The event took place last Saturday at the Peppermill Resort and Casino where a record 568 poker pros, amateurs, & celebs participated in the poker tournament to raise money for this great cause. For those who do not know, Poker Throw Down is a unique concept of no-limit hold’em poker competition featuring a ten-player team format, but yet also allows for individual player participation. I was the team captain for the LIPS (ladies international poker series) team #3. The event was a huge success. Lips team #2 made the most points and Matt Vinks won the tournament. A lot of money was raised through tournament buy-ins, re-buys/add-ons, generous donations and a silent auction. You can still make a donation at www.nevadaspca.org

Prior to the tournament we had a little red carpet walk for the teams, the pro's and the celebrities. The Nevada SPCA brought up some of the adoptable pets to bring on the red carpet. They had all kinds of amazingly cute animals, dogs, cats, bunnies and even MINIATURE BABY GOATS!!! Oh My God! I fell in love with the latter! As a vegan, I always try to bring awareness that all animals are equals, they all have feelings and feel pain so that people think twice before putting them on their plate. Therefore, I always dreamed of owning an animal that is considered livestock to show people that they also can be great pets. Mini pygmy goats fall right in that category! They were so small, they grow up to be about 16 to 23 inches, they are not aggressive by nature and are very playful. I might try to foster one of the babies to see how it goes and try to convince Mike to keep it as they have about 8 at the SPCA up for adoption at the moment. They got rescued from a sect that was raising them to slaughter them as "Sacrifices"... I know, crazy people out there!

The whole day was about bringing awareness to the public on adopting animals that are homeless instead of buying from stores that usually buy from unethical puppy mills. Sadly, between 3 to 4 million dogs and cats are euthanized each year in the United States because too many people give up their pets and too few people adopt from shelters. One way to reduce this number is to adopt a pet instead of buying and spay/neuter your pets. The event was a great success and I was very proud to be part of it. :)

The event was followed by a VIP cocktail party, it was nice to mingle with all the players in a relaxed atmosphere. It was definitely a fun week end. Big thanks to Jennifer Harman, Lisa Wheeler, GreasieWheels productions, the Peppermill Casino and the Nevada SPCA for putting it all together!




I am gearing up for the WSOP and Deepstacks event at the Venetian, I am feeling really good about my game at the moment as I chopped another tournament at the Aria last week where I got the biggest chunk of money due to a good chip lead. Ideally, I want to play 1 WSOP per week and 1 Venetian deeptacks per week and spend the other days playing cash games as they are so juicy during that period. But I might add more tournaments if I do really good.

I am so grateful for my life and everything that is going on right now. I am one lucky girl!
:)

Mikey's birthday in Seneca Falls

I just got back from Seneca Falls where the Deepstacks crew hosted a boot camp and a tournament series. There was a main event with a $1,350 buy-in. The boot camp was a huge success, many top pro's were there teaching for the weekend. The poker director at Seneca Niagara was so impressed that they decided to book another boot camp and tournament series for the upcoming fall.

I played cash games while I was there and all I can say is the staff in that room is incredibly awesome. Everybody had a nice smile on, the room was full of action and they even were catering food to the players at dinner time. It is a great place to play that's for sure!

The rooms at the hotel are very spacious and comfortable, the spa was great and the gym was very well equipped which made time between playing poker very enjoyable. The restaurants were also very good. We ate at the Italian restaurant one night, La Cascata, where they went out of their way to make me something delicious and vegan. Which I really appreciated!



It was Mikey's birthday that weekend so we all went to Pure nightclub in Buffalo, NY.
Most of the crew was there except for a few that were still in the main event. The place was pretty slow considering it was a Saturday night, but it worked out great as they gave us 2 booths and it totally felt like a private party! Mikey had a great time and so did everybody else.



I am finally home, with the pets. I was in Quebec and Ottawa, Canada, the week prior to that to visit my family for Easter. These last weeks have been full of traveling. Which is fun, but it is also nice to be home after being gone so much! I am probably gonna play live poker in the weeks to come and maybe a few WPT preliminary events at Bellagio. Not having online poker to fill up some hours in the day is sinking in but I have found myself reading a lot more, playing more live and being productive on projects that I had kept putting off.

As always... life is good :)