What are they playing?

In November 2001 my husband and I went to Las Vegas for the first time. We had a budget of $100.00 each per day for all of our expenses including gambling. We pretty much stuck with five dollar blackjack and some slots.

One day we were walking around Binion’s Horseshoe Casino when we passed by the poker room. My husband used to play Stud every Sunday with a group of friends when we were first married. He wanted to check it out. They weren’t playing Stud though it was some game called Omaha and Hold em. We didn’t have a clue what these games were and how to play them. We watched for a while but were too chicken to play.

After we arrived home from our trip the interest in what they were playing was still there. At this time poker on the internet was just getting up and running. My husband researched the games and found that a game called limit hold em was becoming popular. He learned how to play the game and signed up at Party Poker. I was too worried about security for my money and nervous about playing. My husband kept nagging me to learn so that we could play together. After awhile I gave in and said okay. He taught me the basics of the game and would beat me every time we played together. I would have given it up if not for the competitiveness between us. He tends to beat me at most competitions such as Jeopardy, cards, scrabble etc.

A few months later we heard that the casino across the river from us was opening a small poker room. We decided to give it a try. It really wasn’t a poker room so much as a couple of tables in a roped off area. They only had 5/10 limit hold. That was a little steep for me but it was the only choice for live poker. We each sat down with $100.00 each. I was very nervous and sat by the dealer so that he could help me with betting etc.

I made lots of mistakes and got yelled at by the dinosaurs who made up the rest of the table. I let their words flow around me. One of the first things my husband said was that I would need a tougher skin to play poker. I had to learn to put up with the snide comments about my play, being a women etc. I did river my husband a couple of times which pissed him off. I told him I was going to play him just like everyone else from the beginning or I would be too intimidated. Underneath it I was thinking “Yeah baby, I finally found a sport I can beat you at.”

We both went home with double our buy-in. That was it for me I was hooked. I would practice every chance I could get. We would play poker once or twice a week. I would watch poker on tv and try to copy what the pros were doing. I subscribed to Card Player and read it from front to back. I stuck with the articles on hold em. I read Super System and drove my husband nuts with all of my questions. I was on my way to being a poker player.

Next time I will talk about winning my first tournament.
Lisa "Shion" Torres

So...you got a job yet?

Although I would never class myself as a professional poker player, it’s really all that I do now to earn money. What started out as fun nights out after work has slowly developed into my passion.

After we sold our business, I was left with a great deal of time on my hands and I went back to work doing temporary work as an accountant. Not being experienced in the SOX legislation and being out of the profession a few years, it was extremely difficult to get a job that paid enough to warrant going back to work fulltime. I was playing poker more and more between assignments. I was making more money playing cards than I was on the temporary assignments and I didn’t have to deal with the way temps are treated by co-workers. After much soul searching and discussion with my husband, we decided that I wouldn’t go back to work and just play poker fulltime. His paycheck covered our expenses and allowed me the flexibility to pursue this venue. Thanks to premade frozen dinners or double meals made, there is usually dinner for the family on the nights that I’m not home. I set myself a goal of earnings each week but met with much up and down success. In January, I took a poker camp, which turned on a “light” for me and I’ve had more consistent success ever since.

Unfortunately, my husband was let go 2 months ago and the safety net that I’ve always had was gone! Senior management positions are fewer and we both know that it may take awhile before he returns to work. The onus is now on me to provide income. This is a task much easier said than done. I had to get past….”my family is depending on me….don’t lose your money”….thoughts streaming through my mind. I must admit that I’ve tightened up my playing style but I try to push these thoughts away while playing. “Just play the game, think each hand through before you act”, this is what I concentrate on . I keep meticulous win/loss/expense records for our beloved IRS, which also allows me to track my own progress through the months. It has taken the pressure off of my husband and thus, lowered any related tensions. I know he is very proud of how well I am doing and has told me so many times.

Every time that I phone back home and talk to my father, he always asks “Do you have a job yet”, though I’ve told him several times what I do. “No, Dad” I answer, with a sigh. Maybe when I win the WSOP……….

How I got started

I have been playing poker for about 3 years now. I started in home games with family and friends. I shared the buy ins with my sister-in-law Lynne. I think everyone thought we really didn't add up to 1/2 a player with our knowledge of poker, so they allowed us to be one. We'd whisper in each others ears what we thought we should do when our cards were dealt. At first we would ask questions about what we needed help with and everyone was friendly but then after a few games and no improvement they said if you want to play spend time learning away from the table. Lynne would leave the table and socialize in the kitchen and leave me to play by myself. This made me nervous because I was playing with her money and I didn't want to lose it. So that started me questioning my husband about hands and position and folding and raising and so on. I was showing improvement and by this time and Lynne wasn’t making to the games and I started to play by myself. I was really b becoming a competitive force at the table.

My husband and I share poker as an interest and he is very supportive and good at coaching me. At one point I was really worn down physically and my husband was adamant about us not going to the Saturday poker night at my brothers. He wanted me to stay home and rest after working all day. He was right but of course I was longing for poker. What I didn't know was that he had signed us up and made a deposit on a poker site. All of a sudden missing Saturday poker night wasn’t so bad. My first really big win was when I was playing on pacific poker. They sent me $10 to play on their site and I turned that into around $977. OMG what a rush.....I remember the movie Rocky was playing in the background. How ironic! I've had many more winnings since then but never quite that surreal. Oh wait, maybe the APLady $1k shopping spree.... what woman doesn't like a shopping spree!

I work on my game everyday; I am trying to take myself to the next level. My focus has been off the past year, my Mom was battling lung cancer. She lost the battle, but lately I feel her presence in me so strong, it’s like I feel her strength helping me change my game for the better. I love playing on the internet. I am shy and not very confident so I think it's been good for me to be able to work on my game and build that confidence right in my own home.

But this month I found out our local casino has a ladies night every third Thursday. There aren't any women in the area that I know that really know how to play so I just took a deep breath and went...

Next first my B&M experience.

dizzi :) aka dizziartist, dizzi_artist, dizzinonna