Mixing business with pleasure

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. :)

Thanksgiving is the day where we should stop and be thankful for what we have. I think we should be thankful everyday but it's nice to also have a special day around family/friends to make a point of it. Once we really take the time to think about all we are grateful for, it can become overwhelming... All the little things we take for granted can add up very quickly to something pretty big.

I have had many people asking me what I was eating on that day since I am vegan. There is actually a wide variety of things on the market nowadays, you can find tofurkey (vegan turkey), celebration roast (my personal favorite) and vegan ham (have not tried it yet but will soon) along with many side dishes and homemade goodies. We went to Mike's parent house for thanksgiving. I ended up bringing a celebration roast to share and gravy. They had a turkey for themselves but they all tried the roast and absolutely loved it! I have to admit, it is pretty good stuff :)

As I have done as a Thanksgiving tradition those past few years, I have also sponsored a few turkey from Farm sanctuary. Mike and I sponsored 3 this year. Those are turkey that were save from slaughter, usually because they somehow escape, who end up at the sanctuary, living a spoiled life, eating well and mingling with people and other animals. Never having to worry about being abused ever again. If you want to adopt one or want more info you can look up www.adoptaturkey.org.
I like different charities for different time of the year, being a vegan, this is my Thanksgiving one, Christmas will be all about kids with toys for tots.

I did miss my daughter for thanksgiving, It's weird not having her around. But she is doing great in Canada and I am thankful for that. I think next year I will try to fly her up for a few days. She misses American Thanksgiving. It is a different date in Canada, a month early actually and not very celebrated in Quebec where we are from.

The week prior to Thanksgiving I went to Lake Tahoe to play the WSOP circuit event.
I was being sponsored by Five Figure scores and Haust energy drink while over there. Five figure score is a company that finds sponsors (Haust energy drinks in this case) and good mid-stakes players. They then connect them together for promotion purpose in the poker industry through the wear of logos while playing tournaments. You can look them up at www.fivefigurescore.com for more info.

I played a few events that week, Main event included. I did final table the ladies event while I was there. I ended up 6Th, I probably would have done better as I came in to the final table with the chip lead but I did picked a wrong spot at one point to make a "move" that costed me quite a few chips. I didn't quite recover after and busted a little later. Oh well, I try not to kick my butt too much about it but take the lesson from it instead.

The fun thing about going out of town for poker is the camaraderie, Everybody is very friendly, after poker we often hang out with few friends and make new ones. At the end of the week we almost all know each other. It's almost like going away for camp like kids do, except this one is all about poker!

Mike came to meet me at the end of the week as he was conveniently shooting a movie scene in Reno. We ended up staying in Tahoe for a few days after the series to ski.
I LOVE heavenly ski mountain! It does not get better that... Fresh snow, mild temperature, sunshine, beautiful lake views. Pure awesomeness! We had so much fun on the slopes. Mike is actually a very good skier, I did not expect that! I am definitely looking forward to skiing more this winter :)

While in Tahoe I also met Sean Mullaly, who is a personal trainer/poker player. I got him to start training Mike. I tag along because I love working out but its great to see my boyfriend out doing some exercise and getting motivated. Being healthy is so important!

I took a nice small break for thanksgiving as far as poker goes. I did get back at it last Saturday and went to the Epic poker tournaments last night. My friend Stacey was the bounty and a bunch of our crew all went down to try and bust her. Unfortunately she was at another table so I didn't get the chance. Her boyfriend, Don, ended up winning and then took us all out to dinner. It was definitely fun times with friends.

For those interested in the Epic Pro/am $1500 tournament, it is on the 10Th of December. So there are still a few chance to satellite it in. That $1500 tournament is the only way to get into the 20K main event if you are not an invited guest. You guys can go to www.epicpoker.com if you want more info on the upcoming tournaments schedule.

I am pretty much gonna focus on cash games in the weeks to come. It is more of a bread and "vegan" butter for me. And with the Holidays coming up, I rather built my bankroll than watch it bleed from tournament buy-ins!

What time is it? Living like a vampire

Lately I have been mostly playing cash games, pretty late as I kind of like the graveyard shift, and I have been doing really good. I did play a nightly tourney at Aria last week which I ended up winning so that was sweet to add to my "rungood".

I see a lot of players starting to play early in the evening, waiting all night for the "fish" and then going home tired an frustrated that they had only a ``soso`` profit.

I don't understand why some people are so stubborn to play early. The games are so good at 3am! It's usually a mix of drunk guys, players that are stuck and on tilt, amateurs coming out of the club or players who have played all night and are now tired. Of course, there are going to be some sharp players, but they are easy to spot and there are so few of them. In most part, majority of the players are pretty bad and make for a good game.

Obviously, when playing so late, there are some downsides... You become somewhat of a vampire. You barely sleep before 9am, you sleep through most of the day and miss on a lot of the day time activities. But poker is about making money. To me, that's where the money is.

The other downside as a graveyard shift poker player is trying to play the tournament circuits. It's REALLY hard to make a 12pm start when you went to bed at 8 or 9am! You would think that the tournament directors would take that in consideration after being in business for so long, seeing that most players are not morning people! I usually need to figure out what tournament I really want to play ahead of time and take it easy 1 or 2 nights before. Even by doing that, it is STILL hard to make it in time!

My upcoming schedule is pretty much playing the Deepstacks Extravaganza this coming Wednesday as well as Thursday at the Venetian, Cash games this week end and afterwards I am off to Lake Tahoe next week for the WSOP circuit event. I will probably play 4-5 events while I am there. I am planning on saving a day or 2 to go skiing at Heavenly, which is by far my favorite ski resort. I will obviously also play some cash games in my free time, but probably on a earlier schedule since I will need to be up early a few times for those tournaments *sigh*

I hope my poker "rungood" keeps up for many more weeks, it's always nice to go on a very long stretch without a losing session in cash games. It kind of makes us feel like gods wanna-be. But regardless of what the future holds and even though my life might seem weird to some people, at the end of the day, I do the things I love to do. I am healthy and happy. I play poker, I am working on a few other projects that I am very passionate about, I have a supportive and loving family, great boyfriend and the most awesome pets.

That's actually better than "running good". :)

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!
:)

Goodbye online poker... for now.

I went to Hawaii 2 weeks ago with Mike, we had a great time! We stayed at the Kahala Resort and really got a chance to relax and enjoy the sun. We have friends who live there and it was also nice to catch up with them. It was a very last minute trip. Mike had been talking about wanting to go but we never got around to planning it. He called me one day and said he finally had booked it and that we were leaving that night on a red eye! Talk about spontaneous! I am so glad we went. It got our heads in the right mindset for the months to come and the WSOP.

By now, I’m assuming that everybody heard the news that last Friday the government and the feds shut down 3 of the major poker sites: Full Tilt, Pokerstars and UB/Absolute Poker. They made a few arrests and are suing the sites for money laundering. Everyone in the poker world went crazy; it got called the Black Friday of the poker industry and was the main conversation topic on Facebook and Twitter over the whole weekend.

I know that I will miss loging into my account and playing on my own hours, in the comfort of my home, some of my favorite games, but, is it the end of the world? Probably not. It's time to think about what's next and what other options there are.

Living in Vegas, I am very lucky to have casinos that offer different styles of cash games at many levels. Same goes with tournaments. With online poker gone, one has to realize how good and juicy the live games are going to get. Lots of online pros are talking about relocating to cities with casinos, after all, big CEO of companies do it all the time. They move their family where the jobs are and where the money is. Online pros are great players, they are not going to "donk off" their money easily. However, they are usually more aggressive and they play a loser style of poker which is excellent for the game. The weaker players do not know how to adjust to that and usually start playing bad. Those weaker players are the ones we are playing against. So it's a great thing! There are going to be more games, more action and more money on the tables. I can't complain!

The day after "Black Friday" I decided to go to the Aria to see if there was already a difference in the volume of players in the room. I opted to play the tournament that day. The place was packed but then again it was a Saturday. While playing the tournament, I could not believe how easy the field was. I ended up chopping it 3 ways which was pretty cool. The following day, Sunday, I decided to play live cash games and that is when I really saw the difference... Sunday nights are usually not that busy, there was a list for each games and every table was full. Live poker is going be off the hook!

I will miss online poker but, I am looking forward to playing live, being more focused, out of the house, and on more of a schedule. I am looking forward to the upcoming WSOP. The tournament circuit is also looking more attractive. I’m pretty confident that soon enough the online games will be regulated and we will be playing in the comfort of our homes again, legally and safely. In the meantime, let's fight for our rights, look for solutions, keep positive and keep playing the game we love in live games.

See you at the tables. :)

Back in Vegas and Super turbo's strategy

I hope you all had a great beginning of 2011. It's been a while since I have blogged and feel a little rusty. I was on vacation with my family for nearly 3 weeks over the holidays and came back a little over a week ago. We went to San Juan Puerto Rico for a few days, did a cruise in the Caribbean and then stayed some more in San Juan . It was so nice to get away and see my family. The cruise part was also awesome, we where on Celebrity Cruises and stopped in a bunch of Caribbean Islands . My favorite island was definitely Barbados . The beach there was by far the most beautiful and I really hope to go back there one day!

I came back and unfortunately found myself sick for almost a week. I was in bed pretty much and did not do too many exciting things. I played a little bit of poker online, but since I was not feeling great couldn't stay on for long tournaments or cash games that are too juicy to leave, so the super turbo's on Full Tilt were pretty much my game of choice. They are fast, easy to beat and pretty lucrative. I was capable of playing some, and then would head back to bed when feeling yucky. Mike and I have been playing quite a lot of them, he plays the biggest buy-in ones while I find my niche in the mid stakes ones. There's definitely quite some strategy to them and a lack of good players. So here's a few insight if you want to give them a try:

Since you will start with only 300 in chips and blinds at 30/15, it makes for a very fast tournament but it doesn't mean you have to shove with crap! Remember a lot of people will play bad hands and bust quickly, there is no rush for you to do the same. You can allow yourself to go all the way down to 5 blinds to find that ideal hand or situation that will hold well in a coin flip so that you can double up. Sometimes it won't come and you will need to gamble, but you have to understand that the money in these comes from quantity, you will lose a lot of them but as long as you win almost as many you will show a profit. I personally like AQ and up and 10's and up in the early rounds to move in with, lowering the range as you get closer to the button. Remember: You want to be the aggressor, not the caller. To call you will need to consider the position of your opponent. The earlier his position, the more you need of a premium hand to make the call.



Position is also really important as you have less people behind to worry about. If I get on the button or big blind vs small blind and no one has acted before me, I will show a LOT of aggression with weaker hands, as long as it's playable, I will go all in. More likely the one or two players left behind won't wake up with a hand to call me with and this will give me another round. It is really important to try and double up in those early round of the super turbo's so those first hand you chose and the position you play really matters.

Once you find yourself on the bubble, you need to be extremely aggressive. This was my biggest leak and Mike helped me a lot with it. I used to play tighter and think: "I don't want to bubble", well, guess what... neither do they! So that is the perfect time to put them to the test. They cannot (and should not) call unless they have a PREMIUM hand. So why not take advantage of it and move in on them every time you have the button or position on them? The only time we need to be careful is if the person we are putting pressure on have a huge chip lead on us, as they might call us since it doesn't hurt them so much.

Once in the money, just keep the aggression level up. You will be surprise of the fold equity these tournaments have. Play your position, attack the short stack, widen your range of cards, at this point all pairs and any face cards have bigger values, and accumulate the chips!

For those wanting to take it up a notch, look up Sit and Go Wizard. Software made to help your call/fold decision based on statistics. You can go to their web site, http://www.sngwiz.com/tiki/tiki-index.php, to download a free 30 days trial.

Good luck!

Feeling good

I can't help but wonder how some people can be so unhealthy when playing poker. I totally understand that it is probably convenient as we sit at the table for hours to order food to the table and eat there. I see guys that are way overweight, drinking soda, eating burgers and fries on a daily basis. Even though they might be successful at the time, I do not see it as a recipe for success in the long run!

It is proven that a healthy balanced diet and regular exercise increases stamina and focus. Not only that, I also believe that heart attacks, high cholesterol, some diabetes & some cancers are directly related to what someone eats. If you are going to eat bad and eventually get sick, how are you going to produce at the poker table?

It just takes a little of willpower and very little time to eat right and stay active. I personally eat a vegan diet, which I believe to be the healthiest of all. But while you might not be ready to go 100% that route, eating that way a few times a week or adding veggies to your menu will definitely make a difference on your health! When ordering at the table, there are plenty of salads to chose from, soups or anything that is low fat & has a side of veggies would work. Please stay away from fried stuff, greasy fast food and simple carbohydrates (sugar, white pasta, white bread). Also, it only takes an hour of your day to exercise! There are so many fun ways to do it too: Hiking, yoga, walking, jogging, gym or any sports such as tennis, baseball and hockey. The hardest part is actually putting your mind into it! Once you find something you like, it's actually fun, it feels good and gets you out of the house.

Obviously, drugs and/or alcohol on a regular basis are also a bad idea. There is no way your brain can function properly if you are affected or on the after affects of drugs or alcohol. Even if it seems like a no-brainer, I keep seeing it and sadly those people eventually come out losing.

Feeling good is everything when hitting the tables. If you feel good, you will make the right decisions, you will be focused and in the end you will be a winning player.

Cash games: Table selection

Remember the real state saying: Location, location, location? Well, I couldn't agree more in regards to poker. Table selection is everything in cash games if you want to show a continuous profit.

Since the WSOP, I have been focusing back on what I do best: cash games and I’ve been on an amazing winning rush this whole time. I started to think I was indestructible. However, can you be that lucky for that long or is there something that you do that others do not?


I know that I am really good at selecting the right game. I usually play small to medium stakes game, anything between 1/3 NL, 2/5 NL and 5/10 NL. I strongly believe that I was not "lucky" for two months straight, I just picked the softest game and kept showing a profit in the end. When doing so, one must leave the ego at the door. Let me give you some examples:

-If you sit in a smaller game while waiting for a seat in the bigger one and start winning very easily, when the seat does open up in the bigger game, there is NO reason you should take it. If you are running over that lower stake table, stay there. You are in it to make money, and you are.

-If you are playing in a game and you know all the players and they are all solid, why would you want to play that game? You want to pick a softer one. It's OK if there are a few solid players at the table, but you need a few that are weaker so that you get paid off when you do get a great hand. There is nothing worse than flopping a monster and having a great player making a hero fold with the 2nd nuts!

-Look around the casino... which table is having fun, drinking, gambling & playing big pots? That's the table you want! No matter what the limit is, as long as it fits your bankroll, jump in!

-If things are not going your way, do not hesitate to ask for a table change. If there are no good games, you are not doing great and it doesn't look like it's going to improve: Quit! Come back later, go to a different casino or take the day off, poker is not going anywhere. There's always tomorrow!

So that's why I get seen playing different size games. If you call yourself a 5/10 NL player and are not willing to lower your limit to pick the right game, you will encounter many losses on days that could have been lucrative if you had not let your self-esteem get in the way.

Time of the day is also important. Weekends can be good but you have to think that ALL the pro's are out playing. It's important to keep a log of your winnings, but also a log of where and when you play; to know which hours are the best for you.

I personally think that weekends are good in the afternoon. Most man at the table have dinner plans with their wife at around 7pm and only have a few hours to play. This makes them willing to gamble. They will overplay hands to try and make fast money, which unfortunately for them, is not the way to go!

Also on the weekend, most tourist go clubbing, they do not hit the tables before 2-3am, before that time, you will most likely (of course not always) find yourself with pro's waiting for the action to start. Sometimes after 2-3am the game can get really juicy.

Sundays are excellent! If you are not grinding online, you should hit the casino. It's usually most people's last day off and they are willing to play and gamble! There won't be as many games, but they should be great!

Weekdays can be hit or miss. Therefore you must be even more vigilant in your game selection and even more willing to play lower stakes.

Look for casinos with big conventions, after 6pm when their show is over, many business men will play for fun. Look for schedules online and follow the big ones.

Promotional tournaments (WPT, Deepstacks, etc.) also bring great action! They can also be great to follow.

I hope these tips helped you. You don't run lucky for so many months straight; you just pick your spots better than most.

Living the dream!

My head is spinning trying to think of everything that's happened since my last blog!

Well, for one thing, there was lots and lots of poker. But what else is new? Oh yes, I got back to practicing yoga... And it's totally awesome! I find that when I go through stressful periods and I have lots on my mind, all I need to do is just go to a yoga class and through stretching, doing the poses, breathing and meditating, everything seems to clear up and then it becomes obvious as of what I should do and where I should put my focus. It's hard to explain but as I let go of what's on my mind, the answers come to me. I used to do heaps of yoga and the 2 studios I liked going closed down so I stopped practicing. I found a few new places lately that I have tried and liked and I am definitely back into it. I feel so much more empowered and relaxed after a good class!

I have also tried very hard to get into the WSOP main event. From backing deals to trying and satellite my seat. I did not want to spend 10k on a seat, as much as I believe in myself, a lot can happen in a tournament that is beyond my control and the price of that tournament is way over what I allow myself considering the size of my bankroll!!

So this week, I grinder my way up...I played a one table satellite for $175 and chopped it where I got about $800 and decided to invest in the $550 mega satellite. I didn't do too well in the first one but tried the same routine the following day. Now, you guys have to understand that lately, I have been doing a lot of visualization about the WSOP Main Event and I could actually see myself playing it. I felt very strongly about this to a point that it seemed nearly impossible that I was not going to make it. I was extremely positive about playing it and doing well at it. Well, sure enough, as I was playing my second Mega, I got a text from a friend with an offer for a full backing deal for the WSOP Main Event. I was very happy and accepted the offer! Then, of course, with all this boosting, I went on and did really good in the tournament. We made a deal at the end when we reached 27 players and split the total prize pool for $8700 each with a little less for the short stack and more for the few bigger ones (out of 500 entries, 23 players were supposed to be getting a 10k seat). I couldn't be happier! A good cash and a full staking deal on the same night!!

I am obviously all pumped up as I am writing this and can't wait to play day 1-D of the Main event at the World Series on Thursday! In the mean time... Yoga, positive thinking, visualization (I actually am gonna sleep with a bunch of chips in my bed to feel being surrounded by them! No joke!) I am totally grateful for all the opportunities that are coming my way and my friends who are cheering for me!

Life is goooooooood!

Happy Birthday to me!

What a busy week!

Last weekend was mainly focused on ladies events so my friend Doralee Rae (aka Lady Pink) decided to throw a party for all of the gals at her fabulous house on Monday night after all the ladies events were over. It was a lady’s only evening and everyone had to wear pink. All I can say is that girl sure knows how to host a party! Wow! She had lots of food and a full bar with fancy drinks for everyone, really hot cabana boys in jeans, black camisoles and pink cowboy hats to serve us. Marcos Questas and Ruta Maria came over to do a Tango demonstration. Doralee read us a special poem that she wrote for poker. It was also perfect timing to celebrate Stacy Nutini's victory as she won the Ladies LIPS Championship the night before... way to go Stacy! It was so nice to catch up with all the ladies in a different setting than poker.

This week was also my birthday!
I turned 22 years old for the 16th time! :)
I was not planning on celebrating since my focus was mainly on poker as I was playing the $1500 No Limit Hold'em event #30 at WSOP on the day of. However, the night before I ended up going out with friends to a last minute birthday dinner at Yard House in Town Square. I was actually surprised, being last minute and in the middle of the WSOP that most of them could make it! The food was good, the company was great and to my surprise there was a vegan cake made for me! It was awesome!





I was playing the WSOP on the very day of my birthday. Everything was going smoothly and I built up my stack pretty high. I had around 30 to 40 big blinds for most of the tournament and birthday luck was on my side. Unfortunately, I got crippled in one of the last levels of the day with KK vs 1010 all in pre-flop. He flopped a set and I was left short stack. I then got a table change, which I must say was one of the most fun tables I have played in a long time. Everyone was friendly and joking around which is great to see at the end of the night. I played short stack strategy and survived for quite a while as nobody ever called me when I went all in. During the last level of the night my birthday luck left me and I got knock out after 12 hours of play at 335th out of 2394 players. Unfortunately they were paying only 243 players.





It's getting a little frustrating for me as I have been getting deep in every single event I played only to bust in the very end of the day, close to the money. I believe that if lady luck would be on my side a little more I would do amazing and get to the final table. I have been playing really good, but getting really unlucky in those late levels. I actually feel the Phil Hellmuth quote: "If there weren't luck involved, I would win every time."

I am gonna take a few days off to refocus and prepare myself for the next tournament. Until then I will be playing cash games & satellites, going to yoga and having some ME time!

Event 16 WSOP deep run... but not good enough!

My WSOP started this week with event 16, 6-handed No-Limit Hold'em. I was very excited to play that one as 6-handed is my game of choice when playing cash games or «sit and go's » online. I also like to play a lot of hands, so, being shorthanded works great for me!

The first table I got was absolutely fantastic! No known names and the players were fairly weak. I was running them over! My reads where great, my bluff worked my hands hold up. I could not ask for anything better! Unfortunately, the table broke and I was sent to a new table.

My new table was a lot tougher, I had Bryan Micon to my right along with a few internet pros. Now for those who don't know Micon, he is this great winning player who also owns a podcast radio show that talks about Poker, girls, sex and anything that can be a little X-rated... He's kind of the Howard Stern of online radio with a focus on poker. You guys can actually listen to him on Wednesday nights at 7:30 Pacific time at www.donkdown.com/radio. Micon, like me, has also trained with "The Maven" in the past. So, it was kind of cool and strange at the same time to play next to someone who knew the same style of play and tricks. We didn't really get involved in too many big pots together, so I guess that was a good thing!

The tournament started with 1662 players and I was holding my own for most of the time but I ended up busting in the early 300th. Unfortunately they where paying only 162... So, not quite enough! The level before dinner break was not great for me and I started chipping down. I ended up coming back from dinner break with a small stack and went all in with AJ preflop. Got called by KQ, the flop became a King and the rest is history.

I actually have to give some kudos to the WSOP. The new kitchen now has a new wrap/salad bar which is awesome. Players can finally eat well in there! I also love how the rooms are now set up, and that there is a wider variety of buy -ins to fit every budget. I am definitely even more excited to play this year!

This week is going to be a fun one as all the ladies events are in town. I am especially looking forward to the WSOP one on Friday. I have a great feeling about that one... It's my time to take it down. I am ready!!!

It's finally that time of the year!

It's been quite a slow start for me this WSOP season as I was feeling under the weather. I didn't really want to waste money in a big buy-in event knowing that I was not feeling my best. I was very disappointed not to be part of the first week of tournament action, but I was good and stayed home.

I finally felt a little better by Tuesday and decided to play the Mega Stack at Caesar's Palace. They had a pretty good turnout with 544 players. The tournament was only $225 and we got $15k in tournament chips to start, which for such a low buy-in is a lot of chips! First prize was over $22k, so I had my eyes on that! The only thing that was kind of strange to me is that there were no antes until we reached 600/1200 blinds. I love playing with antes, so I could have used them a little earlier than that!!!

Everything was pretty good and I was cruising through each level accumulating chips. I had about 45k in chips by level 7 which was about twice the average when everything started going wrong!!! The guy sitting in seat 9 started going on a rush and became my nemesis. Every time I tried to bluff, he re-raised me, every-time I had a good hand, he had a better one! So it goes without saying that I was chipping down fairly quickly. I ended up short stacked and went all in with QQ and he called me with nothing less than KK. That whole level was a fiasco for me! Ugggggh!

Later on I went to cheer Sam Bensinger's final table where he took 4th at the Venetian for $14k! After that we went to the Rio to watch Michael Mizrachi play heads up in the 50K HORSE and take it down for $1.5 million! That was such a great moment!!! His whole family was there and lots of his friends. The place was filled with great vibes towards him.

---Some other exciting news is that my PETA interview is up on their website!
Here is the web address to it: http://blog.peta.org/archives/2010/06/annie_lepage.php
I hope you enjoy!!!

I am planning on playing mainly satellites the rest of the week. My 1st event should be the $1k this weekend. Although I might wait until Monday and play the 6 handed NL as it is a better game for my style of play and it's my game of choice when playing online. I am also playing the Ladies event next Friday and probably a Venetian Deep Stack tournament somewhere in between.

I will keep you all updated. I'm ready for my 1st WSOP bracelet!

The McEvoy's wedding

Ahhh... what better way to start the WSOP season than going to the wedding of a poker champ and his beautiful love! Tom McEvoy married Yolanda Stock this week at the Cornerstone Fellowship Christian Church. The ceremony was very sweet and romantic. I always like going to weddings; there’s an amazing feeling that comes from being part of such a special moment between two people. The reception had over 200 guests and obviously a lot of the who’s who of the poker world was there. There was some Mexican tradition mixed into the party which made it very unique. The bride and groom were glowing of happiness and everyone had a great time.

The celebration did not end that day... Tom hosted a poker tournament held in the Caesars Palace poker room the next afternoon called, "McEvoy's Ultimate Gamble Poker Tournament." The buy in was $230, ten poker celebrities (Tom McEvoy, Susie Isaacs, TJ Cloutier, Kathy Liebert, Mike Matasow, Chad Brown, Dennis Phillips, Barbara Enright, Barry Shulman) were "bounties" with a $1k prize on their heads and the place was packed with poker pros! It definitely was nice to see everyone in such a nice setting before the WSOP craziness! Wishing many years of happiness to the McEvoy’s!

The glass is half full.

There are times as a poker player when cards will not come your way or when you will find yourself not getting the results you are looking for. I have been there many times and it can get frustrating! Lately I have found myself a little discouraged as I was making the transition from cash games into tournament poker. You see, poker tournaments can be very rewarding, but that is if you make it to the top three. Other than that you find yourself playing all day for little or no money. It can be very hard on someone’s positive outlook at the game. It definitely was for me who is used to having a really good win rate and getting instant reward from playing cash games.

So how does a player like me stay focused and positive during these times?

Here is what works for me:
-I keep learning. There are many styles of play, so I try to learn new ones from different players. I get out of my comfort zone and try some of their tricks on occasion.
-I workout/stay active while not playing. I find myself having much more stamina and much more focus when I engage in physical activities a few times a week. Plus it is proven that people who are more active are happier.
-I eat well. Again, when I eat healthy I have more energy and I am more positive. I also have more stamina and play better.
-I try to keep a positive attitude. It sounds easy but it’s quite a task! I try to rephrase words when I say something negative. I would change, "I
can't believe I just played all day and busted just outside the final table for a small cash." To, "Wow, I am definitely getting closer. I outlasted over 5,000 players. I can feel that my time is coming soon! I am going to win!"
-I believe in myself, I do not listen to those trying to put me down, and there are lots of those! Like Roosevelt said, "Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
-I take some time off every now and again and I give myself some "ME" time. I enjoy my life, family and friends. It gives more balance to my life and I usually come back stronger and ready to take over the world. I find my inner peace.
-I understand that "bad beats" are part of the game. I give some, I get some. They happen... and when they do, I put them behind me and focus on the present.
-I stay away from parties and alcohol. Partying makes me tired and alcohol is known to have a depressant effect, all of which keep me away from playing my "A" game and staying positive. I do see my friends, but rather chose a dinner to catch up over a night at the club.
-I keep short term and long term goals. I SEE myself achieving them. I think about them every day when I wake up and go to bed. I think of how to achieve them and I know that I can and will. I keep pictures that remind me of those goals. I tell myself that these goals are mine and that it's my year to get them.
-When I think things are going bad, I find 5 to 10 things in my life that I am happy about, it makes me realize that things aren't that bad and that I do have a lot to look forward too.
-I keep trying, I know my capability and I know I will get there!

It seems like a big list, but it only takes a little discipline and time to adjust to this way of doing things. I know that it makes my life a much better place. It's not being delusional... it's being persistent and positive. That's how I know I will get the results I want and find happiness in the pursuit of success.

"There is no telling how many miles you will have to run
while chasing a dream."

Throw down tournament for the Kidney foundation in Reno

I just got back from Reno, where I was invited to participate in the Jennifer Harman "Throw Down" charity tournament benefitting the National Kidney Foundation. I actually quite like Reno. Some people say negative things about it, but I like the "Old Vegas" feel it has. Plus, every time I go there I make money! The games are really soft. :-) I stayed at the Peppermill, where the event was held, and the room was really nice and comfortable with a huge Jacuzzi tub which I looked forward to jumping into at night!

The event was a huge success with about 515 players participating in a "team concept" tournament. I was on the Ultimate Bet team, but my points were also counting for the LIPS team. I played pretty well the whole time, but the structure was fast (as in most charity events). I unfortunately lost a few hands in a row and was left a little short stacked. I got moved to new tables quite often which made it hard having to adjust to new players. At my last table, I was placed to the left of David "The Maven" Chicotsky, with whom I have been training with lately. Knowing his aggressive style, I knew his range of hands were large and I ended up calling him all in pre-flop with KQ suited, he had 33. His pocket pair held up and I was out. He ended up making the final table which was pretty cool. This student is not surpassing the teacher yet, but it's only a question of time! *smile*

Team Peppermill ended up winning and Jeff Harrington was the last man standing. The foundation means a lot to him, as his wife is recovering from a 2nd kidney transplant. Great job Jeff!! His win also got him a seat to the WSOP main event worth $10,000! The event rose over $200,000 for the National Kidney Foundation. I am definitely looking forward to going again next year!

I am going to focus on playing online this week. I had some issues with my PokerStars account because someone tried to hack into it during my last trip to the Commerce Casino. The account had been frozen for security reasons since, but finally I can use it again. I just needed to send some proof of who I was to their security team. I hear it's a common problem traveling into different casino/hotels. Apparently the solution is to have your own WIFI card, (never use the public WIFI) and to have an email address that is only for poker such as an ISP account which is better than a free account (msn, gmail, hotmail, etc.).

This week I will be playing a lot of the SCOOP events, MiniFTOPS and good guarantees all around. My pets are happy to have mummy home even though I will be staring at the screen most of the time! I am definitely looking forward to taking some events down!!!

Photo-Shoot, interview for PETA and Palm Springs.

This has been such a great week for me! I left for Los Angeles last Sunday night after my training with David "The Maven" Chicotsky and headed to the Commerce Casino. I had a busy few days ahead of me planned and thought it would be nice to stay there so that I could play poker on my spare time. Little did I know, there was no spare time and I didn't get a chance to hit the tables; but it's ok... poker will always be there. Sometimes we need to take care of other things.

I had a photo-shoot scheduled for Monday with photographer Collin Clark. He was highly recommended by many of my peeps who are in the fashion and entertainment industry. I have wanted to do some promotional pictures for awhile and was very excited to finally get them done. The studio was really cute and Collin was great to work with. We did four different looks and played with props to keep it poker themed in some of them. I am really looking forward to seeing them; there should be some great ones. I used to model in Toronto in my 20's and this took me way back. I always enjoy being in front of a camera and getting my hair and make-up done. Very girlie of me... I know! *smile* Speaking of hair and make-up, my friend Tommy Cyr did all of my looks. He is a great make-up artist who works for Access Hollywood and various celebrities. I especially loved my last look and can't wait to show you all the pics! It will have to wait until next week. I’m sure it will be well worth it!

The following day, I headed to the PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animal) office for a video interview. I have worked with PETA in the past to help promote vegetarianism as most of you know; I am a vegan and animal activist. I had never been to their Los Angeles offices, so I was quite excited about it all. I was very impressed when I walked in. The place is colorful and modern. There's a "loungy" feel to it. Anyone working there is free to bring their pets to work, so there were a few (very lucky) dogs sitting around enjoying the day while their "mum" or "dad" were working. The interview went very well. We talked about how I became vegan, a few issues that I have taken to heart, such as the veal industry, foie gras and how big corporate chains such as McDonald’s and KFC unfortunately do not apply less suffering regulations to their ways of raising and slaughtering the animals. We also discussed the positive aspects of being vegan while playing poker. The video will be up on their website at www.peta.org in a few weeks. Another thing I look forward to seeing!

After the interview I headed to Palm Springs for a few days for a mini vacation. I don't have time to take a few weeks to go away, so I like to squeeze a little time in here and there instead. I've always loved Palm Springs; it's the perfect place to relax. They have cute little hotels with nice pools, a fun downtown area, great factory outlets, good restaurants, the Morongo Casino (with very easy to kill poker games) and great weather. What's not to love?

I’m now back in Las Vegas and getting ready to play poker this week. I definitely will try to satellite into the main event of the WSOP circuit event taking place Tuesday the 27th of April at Caesars Palace. So good luck me :-)

I was invited this week to be a celebrity player in the Throw Down poker charity tournament hosted by Jennifer Harman benefiting the National Kidney foundation at the Peppermill Reno, Saturday, May 8th. I hope to see you all there as it is a fun tournament for a great cause. You can get more info on the Greasie Wheels website. http://www.greasiewheels.com/events/Jennifer_Harman_CPT_NKF.html

My training with "the Maven"

I have been playing poker for almost 6 years now. My ex is the one who got me into it; he was at the time playing non-stop and I was what I like to call a "poker widow”. He would spend night after night playing online while I would either design, cook, play solitaire or Sudoku. One night we had my family over and he decided to teach us how to play poker so that we could have a home game. I found the game so fun and I loved the unlimited amount of concepts one could learn. I was immediately hooked!

Over the next few days I read my first poker and started playing on Doyle’s Room with the "play money" applying everything I was taught from the book. I very quickly build that "play money" to over 3 million in chips. Little optimistic me thought I could do just as good playing with real money and gave it a shot. Which I, to this date, am still trying to make that 3 million! *smile*

I started playing micro stakes online, during that learning process I was reading pretty much every poker book I could get my hands on. I was playing every night, and went from a "poker widow" to a "poker junkie" after all, there's a saying: "If you can't beat them, join them"! I eventually felt confident enough and started playing live. I started with $1-2 NLH and occasionally played low buy-in tournaments. I lost some; won some eventually got better, and moved up in stakes. Every time I moved up I went through the same win/lose process until I would get better, and believe me, the winning parts were more fun than the losing ones! I continued my learning process trying boot camps, virtual classes, and reading poker forums.

Cash games were my favorite, so I focused more on them. I eventually got good enough where I was capable of making a living from cash games. After all these years of playing cash, this year I decided that I wanted to make the switch and play more tournaments. The transition has definitely been a roller coaster!! From getting deep and bubbling, to getting heaps of bad beats from great hands, to seldom making the final table on smaller stakes buy-ins and doing horrible in the larger buy-ins. It has been pretty crazy! Also, let's be honest, if I am gonna do well in a tournament, I'd much rather it be a major one than a small one!!!

After a while I started asking around what I should do, I knew the game, but was obviously doing something wrong. I needed something more advanced to take me to the next level. It seems like a lot of pros I talked to where pointing in the direction of "The Maven" David Chicotsky, who was BLUFF magazine's player of the year in 2008. Everyone I knew that studied his technique had seriously improved their game. So I got in contact with David. We talked a few times about my game, where I wanted to be and what he could do to help me. Other than being a really nice guy, I thought he was very knowledgeable and had lots of new concepts, so I decided to go ahead and train with him.

I took "The MavenVT" 3 day boot camp this past weekend and it was a great learning experience! The training center is located in the 26th floor of the luxury condominium "Panorama" which offers great views of the city, surroundings and is very modern. I wouldn't mind living there at all!! The main room is set up for 20 students with huge Dell computer screens. We started with heaps of theory followed by watching hands history on the screen. Then David played live and walked us through his thought process. The amount of information I got was enormous to a point where I thought my cute little blond head would explode! His style of playing is totally different than anything I have ever learned. However, there is a method to his aggressive way of playing and definitely lots of simple, but effective math and statistics. It's obviously the new generation poker!

It doesn't matter how long one has been playing poker, to have an edge in this always evolving game, you have to keep up with new concepts and keep on learning and growing as a player. I can't wait to go play, as I feel so much stronger about my game. I am definitely looking forward to the few private lessons I’m having with David in the weeks to come!

Jennifer Harman 4th annual Charity poker tournamant for the SPCA

This week was the 4th Annual Jennifer Harman Charity Poker Tournament for the Nevada SPCA. Being a vegan animal activist and a poker player, I figured it would be a great way to have fun playing and raising money for a good cause.

The event started with all of the celebrities walking the red carpet with their own pets or ones that were up for adoption from the SPCA. Some of the famous names included Holly Madison, Doyle Brunson along with his daughter Pamela and daughter-in-law Anjela, Carrot Top, Louie Anderson, Tiffany Michelle, Howard Lederer, Tom McEvoy, Tyson Griffin, and "TheMaven" David Chicotski.

I walked down the carpet with my precious little dog Bijou who was a little nervous, but did great. I would have liked to take Lola since she is a rescue but unfortunately, she is a little hyperactive and might have gotten a little out of control with all the people and animals around!

The event had around 149 players and raised about $100,000. The tournament was $330 with re-buys and players started with a 1,000 in chips. There was an add-on after the 3rd level for an extra 2,000 chips. With that small amount of chips to start it made for a very fast structure and little did I know I was in for 2 re-buys and one add-on! Somehow I managed to built my stack to 7k by the 3rd level, but lost it all a few levels later when I unfortunately misplayed a hand that left me short stacked with 1,700. I later woke up with AA and moved all in only to get cracked by K,10. At least it was all for a great cause!

Little Bijou was on my lap the whole time, getting heaps of attention from the media. She did great and stayed calm except for one time where she jumped on the table which gave everyone but the dealer a good laugh!

There was also a silent auction, but I did not bid on anything. Even though the items where great, they where all sport oriented and nothing appealed to me.

High stakes poker pro Chau Giang won the tournament and the 1st prize which was a 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event seat. I would have like to have been the winner, but I am happy that I supported the Nevada SPCA in their efforts to find homes for all those poor homeless animals.

If I didn't already have a full house, 2 dogs of my own and a rabbit plus my roommate's 2 dogs, I probably would have taken one more home! The Nevada SPCA updates their websites daily with pictures of their available animals, so if you are looking for a companion you should check it out! http://nevadaspca.org/

I know that my pets are my babies and they bring a lot of joy to my life!