Midwest Gaming & Travel has
come upon a unique opportunity
to obtain an in-depth look at
the lives of professional
poker players. By following
two consummate pros through
two entire days in the poker
world, it sheds new light upon
the ups and downs of an
interesting lifestyle. Liz
Lieu is the first in this
two-part series that gives a
candid look into the
much-discussed and envied
career that is professional
poker. Her life is a unique
one as she manages cash games,
tournaments, family life,
marketing, fan relations, and
business opportunities, all
from her laptop. While some
look at her from the outside
and believe that she has an
easy life, a great deal of
hard work and struggle are an
integral part of the equation
that she uses to achieve her
goals.
Liz Lieu never had a simple
life. She worked diligently
for everything she
accomplished, and she now
reigns as the poker
community’s poker diva with a
growing list of tournament
wins and cashes to add to her
already successful career as a
cash game professional. It may
appear to be a leisurely
lifestyle, playing tournaments
here and there, traveling to
exotic locations, shopping for
designer clothes, but none of
it comes without consistent,
hard work.
Since she was 18 years old,
Liz has made a living as a
cash game player, raising the
stakes over the years from the
$20-$40 games to become a
high-limit player who
regularly seeks out $400-$800
limit tables. She pushed
herself to learn strategy and
succeed at the game because
she wanted to take care of her
parents. After they worked
several jobs to put her and
her sister through school and
give them a good life, her
father suffered a heart
attack, and it was then that
Liz shifted to high gear. She
instructed her parents to quit
working, she would support
them through her poker
winnings. If that wasn’t
motivation enough, Liz’s own
goals drove her to succeed.
Her best friend, fellow
professional poker player John
Phan, also encouraged her to
reach beyond cash games and
strive to broaden her
repertoire. She turned to
tournaments in 2005 and
immediately cashed in three
WSOP events that summer,
including a final table finish
in the $1500 no-limit hold’em
tournament. She went on to win
the $1000 limit hold’em event
at the L.A. Poker Classic in
2006, then the $1000 no-limit
hold’em at the 2007 LAPC, with
multiple cashes at various
tournaments in between the
wins. Most recently, she
placed fourth at the Premiere
League Poker event held in
London where only 12 of
today’s top pros were invited
to play. Her reputation as a
skilled cash game player, a
total of almost $600,000 in
tournament winnings, and her
exceptional popularity are a
testament to her efforts over
the years.
Liz hasn’t achieved such
success by any virtue other
than her enterprising nature.
She doesn’t have an assistant
to help her, and she only
recently signed with an
international agent to begin a
worldwide marketing campaign
as a sports celebrity.
Everything she has
accomplished to date has been
done by her own methods,
networking, photography,
blogging, fan responses, all
adding up to long hours at her
computer on a daily basis. All
of this added to playing
enough poker to make a living
and support loved ones makes
the life of Liz Lieu an
interesting one.
A day in Liz’s life is not
like many other poker pros in
that she handles much of her
day-to-day business activities
personally. She agreed to let
the readers of Midwest Gaming
& Travel into her life for two
days in March: the day prior
to a $10,000 buy-in WPT
tournament and the first day
of the event itself.
Sunday, March 11
7:30 am: Liz woke up early,
contrary to the schedule of
many pro poker players, as she
sometimes does when her
workload weighs heavy on her
mind. She immediately turned
on her computer and began to
organize the photos that were
sent to her by the
photographer at the Premiere
League Poker tournament, the
event that she attended during
the previous week in London.
She categorized the pictures
in folders by quality, size,
and style (close-up, table
shot, etc.), then posted some
on her MySpace page (www.MySpace.com/LizLieu)
and Flickr (www.Flickr.com/Liz_Lieu)
site. She also e-mailed some
to her agent, Stephen, for
future marketing
possibilities.
9:30 am: While snacking on
some breakfast foods, Liz
attended to her MySpace and
Flickr sites by approving
people who have requested
subscriptions, paging through
new comments and e-mails, and
posting comments and replying
to messages. She feels that it
is important to correspond
with those who take the time
to contact her, and she finds
that most of them truly
appreciate her personal
responses.
11 am: Liz receives a phone
call from Charles Thompson
with Bay 101 about her
participation as one of the
Shooting Stars at the
following day’s World Poker
Tour tournament. She speaks to
him about the details of being
a bounty player, which gives
any player a $5000 reward for
eliminating her, and she
forwards her bio and photo to
him via e-mail for promotional
purposes. Upon the
confirmation, she attempts to
make flight and hotel plans
for her trip to San Jose. As
she is scheduled to play on
Day 1A (Monday) at 11:15 am,
she has to arrange to arrive
in San Jose today but needs
time to pack.
11:30 am: Liz calls a number
of hotels in the area, but
finds that they are booked and
unable to accept last-minute
reservations. She calls a
friend in the area who offers
accommodations. She is also
able to secure the last flight
of the day from the main
airport in Los Angeles, LAX,
to San Jose tonight, which
will take off at 11pm. This
gives her extra time to do
some business and pack before
leaving home for what could be
a full week.
4 pm: After answering phone
calls and e-mails all
afternoon, including some from
fellow poker players and
members of the media to ask if
she will be playing the Bay
101 event, Liz finally starts
to pick out clothes for the
trip, but realizes she must do
laundry. She does this while
talking to her mother on the
phone, making sure the woman
has enough money to last til
the end of the month.
7:30 pm: Liz makes a phone
call to the company that
maintains her website (www.LizLieu.net)
because she’s been noticing
problems throughout the day.
She has a lengthy conversation
about their agreement and
insists that the problems be
fixed. At the same time, she
is putting her hair into a
ponytail, applying makeup, and
getting dressed for her trip.
8 pm: The bellman is called to
help Liz bring her suitcases
down to the car. When he
arrives, he takes the luggage,
and she grabs her computer,
phone, purse, and some
business files. They take the
elevator down to the garage,
pack the car, and she leaves
for the airport.
9:30 pm: Though Liz didn’t
arrive at the airport with
much time to spare, she made
it to her gate and boarded the
Southwest flight on time. The
plane now sits on the runway,
ready for takeoff, and Liz
looks through contracts and
proposals from her agent that
will keep her busy for the
hour she’ll be in the air.
10:45 pm: Upon her arrival in
San Jose, she proceeds to the
baggage claim area, waits for
her bags, then calls her
friend to see if she has
arrived to pick her up yet.
She is at the curb, and Liz
walks out to meet her and load
her luggage into the car.
11:30 pm: Liz calls the
Doubletree Hotel near Bay 101
to see if they had any
last-minute cancellations, and
they did, making a room
available for her. Though she
is appreciative of her
friend’s offer, she likes her
own space during travel, and
they drive to the hotel where
Liz checks into her room.
1:30 am: Her friend leaves
after some catching up, and
Liz settles in. She unpacks
some of her clothing that
needs to be hung in the
closet, checks her e-mail
accounts one last time for the
day, and hits the pillow to
get some much-needed rest
before the tournament.
Monday, March 12
7:30 am: Liz wakes up and
quickly turns on the computer
to check for e-mails that may
require immediate attention.
One such message is from her
contact at
Ladbrokes.com, a European
poker company with whom she
made contact during the
Premiere League Poker event in
London. She responds to the
invitation to play as a
special guest in the televised
Ladbrokes European Ladies
Championship tournament on May
4 and she exchanges messages
about the specifics so she can
mark the event on her calendar
and make travel arrangements.
8:30 am: Checking the clock,
Liz realizes she should be at
the casino in two hours, so
she dives into her suitcase
for a chic pair of brown
jeans, then checks her closet
for a gold shirt to match.
9 am: After a shower, Liz
spends some time on her hair
and makeup. All the while, she
is speaking with her agent on
the phone, checking her Flickr
and MySpace sites, and waiting
for room service to bring her
breakfast. She knows that she
needs a solid meal instead of
snacks before playing a big
tournament, and she has plenty
of time to eat before leaving
the hotel.
10:15 am: Liz calls the front
desk to ask that they call a
cab to drive her to Bay 101.
While putting the finishing
touches on her outfit and
finding just the right heeled
boots in her bag, she closes
down her computer.
10:25 am: The front desk calls
to say that the cab arrived
and is waiting for her. She
grabs her phone and purse,
takes one last look in the
mirror, and leaves the hotel
room.
10:40 am: Liz arrives at Bay
101 and exits the cab to
throngs of fans. Though it is
typical to be approached by
some fans inside casinos, the
crowds that gather outside the
doors of Bay 101 during the
Shooting Stars tournament are
larger than at other casinos.
Well over 50 people approach
her as she shuts the door to
the cab; some are motioning
for autographs to be signed,
others are asking for pictures
of her or with her. She is a
little taken aback by the
number of people coming at
her, but she tries to satisfy
everyone’s request.
11 am: After 20 minutes of
chatting with fans, Liz
encourages the remaining fans
to accompany her inside as she
signs and takes photos while
slowly moving into the casino
and toward the tournament
floor. She spots some friends
in the media and exchanges
quick hugs, then finds her
seat in the tournament.
11:15 am: Just as she finally
reaches her seat and greets
her opponents, the tournament
director announces the start
of the event. “Shuffle up and
deal!” No matter what is on
Liz’s mind regarding business
or personal matters, when she
takes her seat, riffles those
chips, and the cards are
dealt, she is focused solely
on the game. She takes pride
in her career and in her poker
abilities.
11:40 am: One of the players
at Liz’s table, Ernie Sherer,
moves all in on a board of
J-J-8. Liz has him covered and
turns over J-10 for trips.
Ernie shows a flush draw. The
turn shows a fourth Jack for
quads. She eliminates her
first opponent of the day and
feels good about starting off
the tournament in such a
strong way.
1:15 pm: All of the players
are on a break. As Liz walks
toward the lobby, she is
swarmed by more fans who would
like autographs and pictures.
She obliges, then walks
outside to get some fresh air,
and more fans approach her
there. She really doesn’t mind
and is flattered by the
requests. Finally, she asks
for a little privacy as she
returns to the casino, makes
her way to the ladies’ room,
then heads back to her seat in
the tournament.
3:15 pm: During another break,
she encounters more fans in a
repeat of the last break.
4 pm: Liz calls another all-in
bet, this time pre-flop
against David “The Dragon”
Pham. David shows pocket J’s,
and Liz shows A-10. The cards
come Q-9-7, then an Ace on the
turn for her top pair, and a 4
on the river to seal the deal.
She is the first bounty player
to eliminate another, so David
takes the shirt with his
picture on it and signs it for
Liz. Her chip stack is now
above average.
5:15 pm: During this break,
she does take a few moments to
sign autographs and step
outside the front doors of the
casino, but she returns to
spend some time with the WPT
Live Updates media team. She
is informed that the headline
for her last big hand was
“Diva Slays the Dragon,” and
she laughs. She receives some
words of encouragement from
some friends, then returns to
her seat.
6:15 pm: Liz heads to the
dinner break at Sutter’s, the
small restaurant inside Bay
101. She takes a seat with
several members of the media
and fellow player Eric “Rizen”
Lynch. She orders an eggplant
and tofu dish with rice. She
eats some of it, though she’s
not happy with the taste.
Conversation has made the time
fly by. She takes the bill for
the entire table and pays it
quietly on her way outside for
a breath of spring-like air
before the tournament resumes.
6:30 pm: Sitting on a shorter
stack due to a few losing
hands prior to the dinner
break, Liz looks for some good
cards. On a board of A-10-9-6,
a player at her table moves
all in for $23,025, and Liz
calls with K-J suited for a
flush draw and gut shot
straight draw. Her opponent
shows A-K for top pair, the
river is a 2, and Liz is
eliminated from the
tournament. She signs the
shirt for her opponent who
will collect the $5,000 for
knocking her out of the event,
and she makes her way outside
to contemplate her
elimination. She doesn’t take
it too hard, but she isn’t
happy about coming out of the
gate so strong, then being
ousted before the end of the
first day.
6:45 pm: Liz returns to the
casino to say goodbye to
friends, then asks the casino
staff to call a cab for her
return to the hotel.
7:30 pm: After calling some
close friends who live in the
San Jose area, Liz waits for
them to pick her up. They
decided to go to dinner, then
possibly a local nightclub.
While waiting, she receives an
e-mail from a nightclub
promoter who asks her if she
is interested in making a
special public appearance at a
club later in the week. Liz
contemplates this, though she
was considering a return to
L.A. the following morning.
9:30 pm: By the end of the
dinner, Liz decides to agree
to the invitation to appear at
Vivid Nightclub on Thursday
night. She would get the
details from the promoter
later, but the arrangement
would include an appearance
fee, flyers distributed
announcing her as a special
guest appearing at the club,
and a professional
photographer would be on hand
to take photos. She calls her
hotel to arrange to keep the
room until Friday, then
proceeds to enjoy the rest of
the evening with her friends.
1 am: Liz is driven back to
her hotel. Once in her room,
she can’t help but turn on her
computer, check and answer
e-mails, and try to wind down
and relax from a long day of
playing poker, socializing,
and doing business.
Such is a day in the life of
professional poker player Liz
Lieu. Following her for two
days allowed a view inside a
complicated life of
multi-tasking, handling her
own public relations, playing
tournament poker, and taking
care of general day-to-day
activities such as laundry and
e-mails. Her motivation to
succeed keeps her going on
little sleep and a hectic
schedule, and after all is
said and done, she still has a
smile for anyone that
approaches.
“Thanks for taking the time to
write about my crazy world,”
Liz said. Our thanks to Liz
for a glimpse into the life of
a true pro. Next month,
Midwest Gaming & Travel will
report on two days in the life
of a male poker pro, Freddy
Deeb. With days that involve a
mix of tournament poker, cash
games, and maintaining a
healthy lifestyle, there is
never a dull moment with this
well-respected and
recognizable seasoned poker
player.
