Las Vegas Highs Lows & Extortion - WSOP Trip Two 2017 Update

Las Vegas Highs Lows & Extortion - WSOP Trip Two 2017 Update

By the pool with a Pina Colada FTW!

I have tried to remain extremely positive about my last Las Vegas experience but after day seven of my return home still quite sick with holes in me from blood tests & fear of mutated flu viruses inside my aching body, its tough! I figured now I have risen from my bed I would not just complain, nor would I concentrate on following up on all of the fabulous things that happened, rather, even it all out with some highs and lows and what really got to me the most which can only be classed as time extortion and trickery!

I will start with the highs! I had the most fabulous people around me whilst in Vegas during my time at the WSOP! Not only were these people bright poker players, poker executives, writers and media staff but they were fun loving and never ceased to give smiles and a welcoming feeling! The WSOP and 888 poker crews sure have their stuff in order and I can only extend my congratulations to them all for what can only be classed as a very successful World Series of Poker, which went without a hiccup.

I owe a very big thank you and also some book reviews to D&B Poker for the books they gave to me to read over, sadly, I wasn't able to do on air interviews as promised. I will ensure I make it up to
them by screaming out the books I love most, from the mountain tops, as soon as I am well and writing every few days again.Pictured is Chris Moormans book published by D&B as well as a matching congratulatory cake! Brilliance!

Of all poker highs, one would have to be a little biased and mention the brilliant Heidi May taking down the WSOP ladies event as my all personal favorite. I had always wanted to watch the ladies event conclude and to see a fellow Australian take it down was something that had me jumping up and down and running the halls like a crazy woman (after I went under the rail snapping pics as quick as I could, of course!). Heidi sure has done Australia proud, along with James Obst who I really shouldn't leave out! Back to Heidi, she makes my high of the decade with my two favorite poker aspects joined together: women and Australia. I don't think this can be ever beaten, unless we have a future article title which says something like:

Australian Woman Wins WSOP Main Event Bracelet!

I was very smart, lucky and blessed to sign up as a diamond member of the Las Vegas Advisor which you can read about in my past blog posts. The Las Vegas Advisor gives some beyond fabulous deals, coupons and money savers that I just could never live without again. It is also a wealth of information which helped me along my way, where my friend was absent. Furthermore I was again blessed to go on an excursion to Huntington Press and gawk at the covers of gaming books galore and refresh, rewind and relax for a short while.

I had a lot of relax and rest time whilst in Vegas with again, the most amazing company I could wish for. I had beautiful lunches, dinners, pool side drinks, endless discussions and a lot of fun trekking the streets of Vegas & the casinos as well as going to a fabulous show (comedy hypnotist at V Theater), shopping and laying in bed (theater and shops pictured). My accommodation (talking of laying in bed) was fabulous! Every place I stayed, in fact! I simply can not complain about my personal time in Vegas, other to say that I just didn't have enough of it! I don't think a life time would be enough time anymore! If I could turn back time I would change only one thing, I would have had less sneaky cigarette breaks. It wastes time, life and fun as well as precious moments. Needless to say, I really miss the place and the people already.

When it comes to lows, I will try not to concentrate too much on them and give them much attention, negativity isn't going to make me feel any better. Firstly, the plane trips are always nightmares. I can not wait until they cut the flight time in half, somehow, surely its going to happen one day soon! I think I made my trip a little worse after drinking copious amounts of alcohol (per my body size at least) in order to sleep! Landing in LA wasn't pleasant, though much more pleasant then flying! My next low would be the shock to my system die to the climate difference! From -4 to 48c - HOLY COW! Enough said!

Crazy Aussie Lady needs some more poker action. Hehe!

Poker wise, I was quite disappointed that I didn't do more coverage of the WSOP, I was also disappointed I missed the main event, but there is always next year which may even bigger and better than this years all round record breaker! Either way, I am going to do my very best to get back there, punctually in 2018! I am also disappointed that I missed seeing James Obst win his WSOP bracelet, though, I was there in spirit I suppose and did watch a lot of his play. I am also annoyed as hell I didn't be poker groupie like and annoy the worlds best players for photographs. They are something I will likely treasure one day and well, I was too busy talking and not busy enough thinking! In all honesty, who talks to Negreanu multiple times, interviews him and doesn't get a pic? I suppose I'm just not poker groupie minded? Likewise with Chris Moorman, goodness gracious! Why didn't I get a picture with these great players? Not forgetting, I played no events, another disappointment but an expected outcome. In fact, I played no poker at all (Except a friendly heads up match)... Who does that?

A most disappointing thing that happened was falling victim to what I can only call trickery and to some level, extortion, mostly time extortion. In previous blog posts I mentioned the benefits of MyVegas rewards. Its an application I wont be using so frequently again! I had all the spending of my points penned out for when I arrived in Vegas. Unfortunately on arrival, nothing I wanted was available from my location. I contacted my sister who was in Australia and these reward options were still there for her. Buy before you leave! Some did re-appear again but with price extortion. The helicopter ride worked out cheaper without using the rewards and the Beatles Love show at MGM also worked out cheaper. Maybe it was poor timing for me, I have a lot of friends who use the app. Regardless, I wont be relying on it again for benefits or discounts and I take back everything I have previously said for now.

Ladies, gents, carry masks and have your hands sanitized constantly during travel! I know of three friends from the land down under that became seriously ill while transiting or playing poker. I am sure there are a lot more, I have not really spoken to too many people. I will leave that as my last note and a little tip.

Thank you to each and every one of you that accommodated me in any way during my 2017 WSOP experience. Thank you even more to those that invested a personal interest, added a personal touch or continued to be the very best friends / people that they are. You guys are what makes Vegas so very special and dear to my heart, from now to eternity! You are stars! Until I return again, I will continue to think as I work my way back: Ad astra per aspera. 💗

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Poker Journey Where Did I Come From? Journey Part 1

Poker Journey Where Did I Come From? Journey Part 1

I was pretty shocked today to be asked by a colleague and friend just how I started out in this wonderful world of poker. It prompted me to jump to my blog and do some all needed writing. I figured it was time to mark my poker journey. Where did I come from? How did it start? What have I achieved and where have I come to? The first part of a journey is always where it starts. So where did i come from? How did my poker life begin?

Once upon a time in far away Australia there lived a lady in her mid twenties who had some wonderful kids, no partner, no money and no social life. She spent many a night at home after the children retired to bed bored out of her mind for hours on end. Not being able to afford much at all this lady pulled out an old PC and started tinkering away on it on her newly ordered dialup internet connection. She was a big reader so spent most of her nights simply reading things on various internet sites.

One day she had read enough, she couldn't be bothered reading anything else, she felt like playing games and with no man around had no one to play with (lol). She typed in the words "online games" hoping to find something like a mind games site, something like Mensa mind games. Instead of Mensa Mind Games in front of her curious eyes popped up the words "Play Free Online Poker, Download Poker For Free, Play with Real Live people." The lady clicked the link and went to the download page and after waiting about an hour for her dialup connection to download the new poker game she made an account.

The curious lady went straight ahead and found a free money table she could join. There was one she found with 1 seat available and she could see the people on it all chatting very nicely to each other. She joined the table and immediately was welcomed and asked where she came from. Poker wasn't new to her, she had seen the game played as a child and had played many a draw game but playing online poker, keeping up with these weird betting techniques as well as the chat (which may as well have been like that at a BBQ) she found pretty hard.

Over the following hours she got to know a little about the people she had joined and also those who came along as the night grew. She found out that these people all gathered daily. At one stage they pointed out that there was a very long wait line to join the table and it was always a resident friend. The young lady was pointed in the direction of the buddy list and told to add them all and find them tomorrow by clicking their name. She did just that!

The same time the very next evening, the evening after and many, many, many evenings after the lady joined the same people to play a nightly game of poker and chat with her friends about love, life and all the things that came with it. She then found a freeroll tournaments tab and wouldn't you know it! She played her very first tournament with more then 800 players and WON!

Realizing there was not only fun, but also money in online poker the young lady decided she would take a punt and play each night after her kids went to bed to see how much money she could make. Before she knew it she was playing and winning a nice $300 a week which sure as hell made her life a little more comfortable.

The kids loved the bonuses, the lady started saving and she was no longer bored out of her brain. The lady and her family lived happily ever after! Actually; they lived happily ever after until today as she writes this blog post. This is just the start of an amazing poker journey. More tales from both sides of the felt of how my life became where it is today coming up!

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Poker Journalism, Reporting and Interviews – Is it for You?

Poker Journalism, Reporting and Interviews – Is it for You?

As mentioned in my blog post “Your Poker Career”, there are many different career bases in the poker industry besides the obvious; being a player. One of these bases is the journalism side. For those of you who know me, journalism has been a big part of my poker career.

Without journalists poker wouldn’t be as big as it is today! For the record, the job of a journo is NOT an easy one either! Players think it is a marathon to sit and play poker for 12 hours, indeed they are correct. Let’s think of the marathon the journalists run though! Oh my! For that entire 12 hours, the journalists are also using both their mind and body.

I covered two tournaments at Star City Casino once, with the aid of an assistant / photographer only. We had both poker tournaments running at once and although the players were exhausted I was almost dead! Chip counting, all in reports, knock out reports, photography. In reality I and my assistant indeed ran a marathon. I wish I had a step counter on that day! I think I walked around 20kms – probably more!

Remember that there are post tourney reports to do so the tournament doesnt end for a journalist with the last person standing. There are also things such as interviews to take care of!

If you broadcast on radio or TV alike myself you also have that to arrange. Giving results and run downs via voice recording is not as easy as it sounds. It can be very stressful and let's face it; remembering it all off the top of your head can be more then difficult. Some journalists prefer to do this and this only while others avoid this type of work at all costs.

Anyway, journalism is another area in the poker world that people can step into. Remember there are many areas of journalism, from the basic chip counting positions to the live broadcasting and publication writing. Regardless of your schooling level, if you know poker, are good at English and maths – you can fit into the poker journalism base somewhere.

There are some great venues, parties and functions that journalists get to attend which is the bright side of the job, on the other hand - partying is kept to a minimum if you are working and reporting the function.

If you are interested in a position in poker journalism of any kind check around the big online news sites to see what’s happening from time to time, they sometimes need chip counters (as an example) for tourneys which may be in your area and this is one way for you to get a foot in the door!

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My Poker Road, Poker Dreams and Poker Destiny

My Poker Road, Poker Dreams and Poker Destiny

Poker has been a game played around me since childhood; but my actual poker journey started due to a down time in my life. I had lost everything after being the victim of a brutal attack. I left an executive high profile career behind, lost my house, my husband and my dignity.

One lonely night I sat by my PC, a mother of 4 kids; I didn’t get out very much and was sick of my dormant life. I found party poker play money and on the very first night of registering and playing managed to wind up on a table full of Aussies. These Aussie's told me how they played every night online as they had a beer and chilled. There was also a few Americans and Europeans as part of the tight nit group. I played on party poker with these people (who remain close friends to this day) every night for 6 months.

As I played on these tables I looked at the poker industry, I saw it suitable for all walks of life and I thought to myself “I am getting pretty good at this, I should play for real money!” I deposited on FTP instead of party poker as when reading forums it seemed that’s where everyone played. I also joined Gus Hansen’s theplayr.com. I was given a ton of advice from the forum members and read a lot of strategy. I went onto be moderator and news writer at the forum after they discovered my writing talent. I was put down and abused for this by a man in my life. “Why are you playing so much poker? You are an idiot! You won’t ever make a razoo, you’re useless in every way and you think you can go and talk to Gus Hansen?”. That day of “words” I made a bet that I would be “known” by Australian Poker players in 12 months.

I was noticed at the playr.com by Jack Mcadoo and after a 5 minute interview snapped up by pokerpodradio.com as the co-host with my segment covering areas of Australia, Asia and New Zealand. I also helped co-author some chapters in a poker book on poker forums and Seven Card Stud Hi.

This saw me make headlines (It’s All about Poker for Hot Aussie Chick) in a new Australian Poker Publication (APW). I then started covering Hot Topics in Australia and beyond and doing interviews with winners and professional poker players when required and sometimes by choice. Forgive me if any of this is out of order, it all happened very fast.

I then became a mod, admin and guest at DrCheckraise.com and various other online sites. I covered what I could media wise for each place, I felt I now had a life beyond 4 walls and a brutal attack horror story.

My journey then saw me move to Cybertech an online gaming software development company as the Manager of Aus/ N/z Division and then Global Director of PR. I was selected due to my poker knowledge, I.T. , marketing and accounting qualifications.

I have now been joyfully snapped up by womanpokerplayer mag covering poker in Australia and also started WTF Poker and Women’s Poker News. I have had a nice few trips away including a beautiful cruise boat tour followed by dinner at the Rockpool in Sydney with Barry Shulman and Allyn Shulman (Cardplayer and Spadeclub and Allyn a legal and director of the Poker Players Alliance). Making great friends in the poker industry is something I will treasure forever.

I have no destination; and no pit stops. What I do have is a love for the game, writing about it and being in this phenomenal industry. My final phase in my poker road will take me to live tourney tables and to the online majors weekly. A few big wins will evidently send me on my way to the ANZPT and APPT tours.

To date I have battled boardrooms, tables illnesses, motherhood and haters. I am definitely in the minority group in the industry and it has been very tough to continue along this road of roadblocks and pot holes because of it. Marsha Waggoner is a great remote mentor without her even trying; just by watching her and getting some inspiring comments from her I know that being a woman with children you can strive to whatever level on mountains heights you like if you set your mind to it. One day; a small dream I will be like her, a beautiful person a mentor and a recognised player (not just poker personality) in Australia.

I for now pursue the top of the mountain climb with full knowledge I will get there. When I succeed at this climb it will show other ladies and also gents it can be done, regardless of the falls, stumbles, health issues and family issues they may face.

I am like everyone that reads this; human. I am not a robotic piece of machinery or junk; things beyond my control still step in my way; my health right now an obvious one. I have feelings and thoughts too; associated with my presence amongst others and how they perceive me. One day I am hoping I get merely the respect I deserve by everyone around me for achieving for myself, my family and others some level of success and for my input and support to other players and businesses in this crazy poker world. I guess it won’t come until I erase some “names” from tables as I climb the final step of my mountain in bounds. I may not be the best tomorrow but I am pushing myself and hoping it won’t be long until I am at least up there with Aussies finest players.

My last timeline bet was 12 months; it took me 3 months to achieve my objective. This time I am saving the backing until I deal with health and other private matters being a new major roadblock in my way. Here’s hoping I can drop that time down too! AMEN to the PPA!

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