WOMEN’S WSOP POKER ACADEMY AND TOURNAMENT

After doing so well at Binion’s Women’s Ultimate Poker Challenge I decided to attend the Women’s WSOP Poker Academy, June 8-9 in Las Vegas. The Academy was going to have a tournament that would send ten women to the WSOP women’s tournament. I took enough money to play in the WSOP women’s tournament even if I didn’t win my seat. I really wanted to play. In the time between trips I read many poker articles, watched poker on TV and played in my poker league to help keep me focused for the tournament.

Our plane was scheduled to leave early Thursday morning, June 7th. On Wednesday my husband and I dropped our son, Justin, off at the respite home he would be staying at. Our son was injured in an auto accident many years ago and we have to have specialized care for him when we go on vacation. Usually we only go on vacation once every 12 to 18 months. Because of medical problems we did not go last year. I was leery of leaving him again for a week but I really wanted to attend the academy and play in the WSOP. Everything turned out just fine for my son. He was well taken care of and very happy.

After getting the boys settled in, my youngest Aaron was staying with friends; we finished packing up our stuff and headed for the hotel. We decided to stay closer to the airport since our flight was leaving before 7:00 am the next day. It is so awesome to realize that we can do what ever we want from now until next Wednesday. No kids to worry about, no house to worry about, no bills, no pets, no nothing for six whole days.

We had reservations to eat with friends at Zingermens’ Road House Restaurant in Ann Arbor. The food was great and the company even better. We headed back to our hotel around 9:30 pm and relaxed until bedtime. It was a great start to our vacation. At 5:00 am we got up, got ready and headed out the door for the airport. Check-in went fast, we reserved Spirit Plus seats for the long flight out and regular seats for the ride back since it is usually not as crowded coming home. It was a good move since the regular line was loooooong when we got to the airport. Zipped through security pretty quickly, it would have been faster if two women hadn’t tried to bring make up cases on board full of large containers of shampoo etc. When will people learn to check everything except the bare necessities? Flight was uneventful except for some turbulence over Denver. Arrived in Las Vegas after four-hour flight at 8:00 am Vegas time. Woo hoo we gained three hours back.

We rode the white buses to the new rental terminal. Zipped out of there in ten minutes, register on line it will save you lots of time. Loaded up the luggage in the trunk of the car and headed to the South Point Casino, our home for the next six nights. It was too early for a room so we left our luggage with the bellhop and headed out for breakfast. It was already hot by my standards. I am half Canadian and do not like the heat. I knew it was going to be very hot but we must make sacrifices if we want to play in the big girl tournaments. I know it is a “dry” heat but it was still f****** hot!

We have developed a tradition of having an authentic Mexican meal for our first day. We used to eat at a dive near the Stratosphere, this time we ate at a place near the Orleans that my husband found. We did eat there in February and it was very good. We will eat there four times by the end of our trip and one time at the old place by the Stratosphere. We had steak tacos every time; they are very tasty and not too filling. The restaurant is open 24 hours a day so we ate there late at night a couple of times.

After breakfast, we headed back to the South Point Casino to play some slots. We had agreed before hand that we would not play any poker other than Video Poker so that we could enjoy our first day together. We had dinner plans at Pearl and tickets to see Wayne Brady in the evening. We put in a few dollars here and there with no big hits. I was playing slots here and there when I saw this one: It’s called “Hot Flashes”. I laughed so hard that people started staring. I had to play it. I played for a while when I hit the bonus which asks you to chose jobs for your man. I chose the ones I don’t like to do, laundry and cleaning toilets and won the most points or pennies for the bonus. I would play this slot on and off through out our trip. I didn’t make huge amounts of money on it but I did make twenty here and there. It was lots of fun. The men would whine and the girl friends would bitch!

My First Victory!

In September 2004, my husband and I went to Las Vegas to play in a friend’s tournament. This would be the second time we played in this tournament. The tournament was a three-day affair at the Sunset Station Casino in Henderson. This time we stayed in the hotel. It was very nice and had floor to ceiling windows across one wall that showed a fantastic view of the mountains. I left the curtains open the whole time we were there. On Friday we went to a small private welcome party in one of the conference rooms. It was very nice with good food and friendly people.

The first tournament was on Saturday. It had sixty participants and was also held in a conference room. We had prizes and gifts, even our own bartender. The dealers were fun, hilarious and very professional. We had the tournament director announcing some of the action. They even had a Sunset Station jacket for the first person out. It was funny watching a couple of the guys fight over who would win the jacket.

Even though we only had around sixty players they came from all over. We even had a young man from England come to play. He was very sweet and funny. I played tight and very basic poker. I was still new to the game and needed to work on my confidence in my decision-making.

When we got down to three tables I was moved to a table with M. from England, my husband and a girl friend named T. She is a very aggressive player and was running over the table. I watched her closely for a few rounds and started seeing a pattern to her betting. I started playing back at her by re raising and sometimes going all-in. After a few hands of this she re adjusted her play and started slow playing big hands. She got me a couple of times but not enough to put me out. I again had to adjust to her play and slow down. I knocked out M. from England with a hard to see boat. He didn’t believe that I would play anything before the flop other than premium hands and this allowed me to mask my hand.

He was so sweet he wanted to give me a hug after I knocked him out but wanted to make sure it was okay with my husband first. I laughed and said hug away I say it’s okay. There weren’t a lot of big hands after that and the table slowly whittled down to four people. After the forth person was out it left husband, T. and me. We decided to chop three ways and give the dealers a nice tip, then play on for the trophy and 1st place bragging rights.

It didn’t take long for T. to be out. Then it was just my husband and I. We had agreed before the tournament started that we would play each other just like anyone else if not harder. I wanted to beat him so bad. We went back and forth with lots of cheering from the railbirds. It was getting late and I felt that some of the people were getting a little antsy so I started pushing with any king, ace or connected cards. I finally knocked my husband out of the tournament with A6 and he held something like 87. I was so excited. I received a very nice trophy and a Sunset Station jacket. The bartender even made me a very yummy “fruity” drink, since I’m not a big drinker.

Overall it was a great experience. I really felt that we were treated like high rollers. It was well organized and lots of fun. The first trophy I have ever won in anything sits on my fireplace mantle. When my husband’s ego starts to get on my nerves I pick up my trophy and tell him I’m going to polish it.

Lisa "Shion" Torres

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

When Expectations Fail

Two weeks ago I planned a much needed poker trip to Mount Pleasant, a two-hour drive from my home. After a busy month I was looking forward to some alone time with some poker thrown in. I signed up for the end of the month tournament. It was $175.00 for 5000 in starting chips with thirty-minute rounds. The blinds did double instead of increasing slowly but I am used to this structure. 180 players entered.

I arrived a day early so that I could play some limit poker. I haven’t played live limit poker in ages. It didn’t go well at all. Hands such as K2 off suit etc called my raises. I would flop two pair and lose to rivered flushes and straights. You know how it goes. Sometimes you can’t buy a hand. After losing my buy-in I decided to take a break. I played another session in the evening and lost that one pretty much the same way as the first. I could not get any of my good hands to hold up. I was starting to get frustrated and impatient. I didn’t want to go on tilt before the tournament so I called it a night.

The next day started out much better. I was pleased to see a few women in the tournament, especially as it was on a Friday morning. I had a slow start in the chip building. I was moved a few times and nothing exciting to report for the first four levels. After the second break I was beginning to get short stacked when I got KK in the small blind and my all-in was called by QQ. My hand held up and I doubled my chip stack. I was moved after that hand again. Nothing much to report at the new table, I didn’t get many playable cards. After the next level I was moved again. I was really short stacked by this time I only had ten times the big blind. I got lucky though and had a table that was very tight. I had four players behind me who were tighter than me. If all of the players before me would fold I would raise four times the big blind to get the tight players to fold. They did and I stole the blinds three hands in a row.

I won a couple of hands out right and increased my stack to 21,000 with levels at 2000/4000. They paid out 20 places and at this time we got down to twenty-two players. An older gentleman in early position made a standard raise. Everyone folded to me in middle position. I have AK clubs. I have the raiser covered and all of the tight players behind me covered as well. I decide to go all in and the raiser calls me. He has 33 and his hand holds up. I am out in 22nd place. At the time I felt that I played the hand well. After talking to my husband and women on the forum, I think I could have played it better. The gentleman who called my all-in had stated when he first sat down that he knocked out two people by calling an all-in with pocket twos. I wasn’t worried about a call but I was pretty sure it would be a race. If I had just re raised him another 4000 he may have folded before the flop. He would still have 9000 in chips if he folded the hand and almost another round to pick up better cards. He may still have called but by just re raising him 4000 I would represent a stronger hand and be inviting him to call me.

I was not going to fold into the money. I feel that my game has improved enough to always play to win a tournament not just to get some of my investment back. I came home disappointed but still happy with my play. Sometimes our expectations don’t always come true but I think we should still keep them high.
Lisa "Shion" Torres

Lessons Learned

In February 2007 my grandfather passed away after living a long (age 93), happy life. One of my favorite memories of my grandfather was being taught how to play Gin at the age of eleven. Both of my grandparents loved to play cards, Gin Rummy and Pinochle being their favorites. The first thing I had to learn was how to hold eleven cards in one hand. “You have to learn how to play a game before you can become good at it”, said my grandfather. It took lots of fumbling and dropped cards for my small hands to control. But I did it because I wanted to play the game. For the next year I would bug my grandfather to play Gin with me at Christmas, Birthdays and Summer Vacations. After a year of playing and losing I finally beat my grandfather at a game of Gin Rummy. I was so happy. I smiled for weeks.

My grandmother also played cards. She would play Pinochle every Sunday. I never learned this game but I did learn other things from her. For as long as I can remember I would have to get pots and pans from the bottom cupboard at her house. She had arthritis and couldn’t bend down. She never complained but I knew that it was painful for her. She taught about quiet strength. In a recent conversation with my mom she told me that my grandmother loved to play cards and was a constant winner. They played for small stakes back then. She said that my grandmother would be proud of me.

Last Fall I joined a poker club. We play every other Saturday at a private home. I have recently been trying to focus on one area of weakness in my game each week. This time I wanted to concentrate on betting patterns. I am pretty good at changing my betting patterns but weak in recognizing patterns in others. I chose to observe one person who I believe had bluffed me off a couple of hands earlier in the game. After watching him I noticed that he seemed to play the “board”. Frequently he would show a weaker hand than what he was betting.

I decided to re raise him after he bet on a board that showed a flush draw. I didn’t think he had the draw but that he was “representing” it. He called my raise. When a blank came on the turn he checked and I bet three fourths of the pot, he folded. A couple of hands later he was in the small blind, I was in the big blind. He called, I raised, and I wasn’t playing my cards at this point but my opponent. He called my raise. The flop showed a straight and flush draw. He bet, I raised and he called. He wasn’t known for re raising or going all-in so I felt safe trying to push him off his hand. The turn was a blank. I bet he called. I thought he may have a small pair at this time or thought that I was on the draw only. River brought another blank. He checked I bet and after thinking for a few seconds he folded.

Later the same type of hand came up but we had a player between us. I had a pair of kings on a board of A K Q 10 8. I didn’t think he had the J or any of the board because he would check raise when he had a strong hand rather than just call. He did bet. I threw my hand away because I had a good player behind me. The other player folded too and the bettor showed a pair of threes. He didn’t change his betting pattern after hours of play.

Lisa "Shion" Torres