Diary of a Poker Diva – Liz Lieu

This week I want to cover the subject of patience. Something I have had to use a lot of in the past year. I am sure many people are having their patience tested right now in lieu of the difficult economy. I know many people have lost jobs and trying to persevere the best they can. I really feel for them as they struggle and do the best they can.

Patience is defined as the state of endurance under difficult circumstances. There are many different types of patience. Sitting at a pressure filled final table at the WSOP main event could be considered a test of endurance under difficult circumstances. This is of course the type of “patience” I would gladly welcome.

Most of us have to deal with a different type of patience. The patience to endure truly difficult circumstances. I cannot pretend to have it as bad as many because I’ve been very blessed in my life to have a lot of freedom, to travel a lot and make a lot of money. It does come with its downside however. I am constantly being approached by people with “business” opportunities. Some legit. Others not so legit. I have loaned out my fair share of money. I have not always been paid back.

I have had friends come and go depending on how much they could financially benefit from being around me. It is all a test of patience. “He that can have patience can have what he will.” – Benjamin Franklin.

Regardless, I am thankful for the opportunity to be tested daily. “Patience serves as a protection against wrongs as clothes do against cold. For if you put on more clothes as the cold increases, it will have no power to hurt you. So in like manner you must grow in patience when you meet with great wrongs, and they will then be powerless to vex your mind.” – Leonardo De Vinci

In patient times it’s important to remember what you are being patient for. I am being patient for better results this year on the poker table. The APT in Manila was a good start. Final table in my first tourney was pretty good especially since I never really accumulated many chips. I just seemed to be hanging in there the entire tourney and before you knew it I had outlasted most of the field.

I want to be patient enough to continue to surround myself with high value people. I’ve been able to surround myself with more quality people than ever before and I hope that trend continues in 2009. I want to be around people who are independent and charitable. People with good spirit and positive outlook on life.

In patient times, I want to persevere whatever loose ties I have with people in my past who haven’t had my best interest at heart. To endure long enough to put those relationships and failed business transactions completely behind me. To be patient enough to learn from the decisions I made.

Most of all I ask everyone to have patience in their own lives. To be patient with the ones they love. To be patient enough to endure whatever hardships you have and to continue to learn from life’s experiences and have a wonderful 2009. I have the LAPC coming up at the end of the month. Hopefully I will have enough patience to outlast the entire field and make another final table.

Cheers!

I’m back in the States everyone!! I just flew back earlier in the week from the Philippines. What a long and exhausting trip but in a very good way. I played in the APT event in Manila and was able to make my first final table in my first attempt of 2009! Hooray for me. Not a bad start to what I feel like is going to be a very good year.

(photos courtesy of Pokernews.com)

I am currently resting up in Vegas from the long trip in Vietnam and I look forward to driving to L.A. soon to play in some cash games at the Commerce and play in some Los Angeles Poker Classic (LAPC) events. Including the Main Event. I just need a little rest first.

I know many of us like to look at a new year as a fresh beginning and a break from the past even though it really doesn’t make as much sense as we think it does because life is just one long continuous series of days, weeks, months and years but like many of you I still believe in starting fresh and 2009 is no different. I have high expectations for a great year, both professionally and personally!!

I will start off by reporting some very good news. As you know in December I made a “Dear Santa” list about some possible gifts I would love to receive for Christmas. I want to let you know that many of those actually came true! Here is a quick update:

Visitation with my Dad in my dreams. I was able to have a spiritual visit with my Dad while I was in Vietnam. It’s a little difficult to explain but I definitely had a chance to spend some time with my Dad in a positive way.

Receive a little Puppy. Hopefully this will come true soon. A very special person in my life has purchased a puppy for me!! Yippeee. I haven’t received him yet but I have been told to expect my puppy very soon.

Secret Santa for my charity work in Vietnam. I have had one person step up and offered to contribute some money for the work I do in Vietnam. I would like to mention the name but I suspect they prefer to stay anonymous because they do the charity work for the good deeds and not for the recognition.

Good luck in Poker. I made the final table in my first poker tournament in 2009. Most importantly I was able to avoid bad luck and I did get quite lucky when we got down to 12 players to avoid elimination when I was short stacked and pushed all-in on the blinds with J-10. I already feel my luck changing for the better. Watch out!!

(photos courtesy of asianpt.com and pokernews.com)

I’d like to give a shout out to Chris Parker, Tom Hall, Martin Elliott, and all the floor staff at the APT Manila Event for the wonderful hospitality during my stay in the Philippines. As always, a fabulous event!

(photos courtesy of asianpt.com)

More time with family. Okay, I didn’t get to exactly spend more time with my immediate family but I did spend a lot of time with my family in Vietnam in January. I was able to get re-united with my half sister and of course I was able to have that visit with my Dad. I really value my family more than ever.

Happiness and health for my Mom. So far so good.

I also received a very high quality camera from my close friend Doc. Now that I am putting pen to paper, I am realizing that I pretty much received everything on my “Dear Santa” wish list. I guess that means I was a really good girl!!!

I also have something funny to share. If you remember I had a request in my “If I were a Boy” blog for a good guy to submit a resume. Well, I did receive a resume. I will keep his name anonymous but it was a good response to the blog and I found it quite a surprise!

Now that I am back home in Las Vegas, I look forward to prioritizing for the year. One of my first priorities is to get back to the cash games in Los Angeles and Las Vegas a little more often. I will be less distracted by stuff going on in my personal life which is really the most important goal.

I vow in 2009, the attention and time I spend thinking about people who have negative intentions will be minimal. I really do want to make a clean break from everything that went wrong in 2008 and really embrace everything that went right!! I have a great foundation of friends and supporters and I want to build on that.

I do want to have the proper perspective on everything that has happened in 2008. Tonight’s Grammy awards was a great example of that. I am not sure if you are familiar with Jennifer Hudson’s story but she had her brother, mother and nephew murdered in October of 2008. This is her rendition of the song “You pulled me through” at the Grammy’s earlier tonight. At the end of the song she was extremely emotional and I cannot imagine the strength and perseverance she’s needed to pull her through.

I think that is an important lesson for all of us to hold on to dearly. Keep life in perspective!! Sometimes our problems really aren’t that big in comparison to other people’s problems. Occasionally my blog will come across as a little melodramatic and it’s really not the intention. It’s just a cause and effect of sharing one’s inner personal thoughts. So, I would really like to share this following video because it’s very inspirational to me and it’s a reminder to keep life in perspective.

Read more about my poker experiences on the felt and The APT Manila ME at Pokerlistings.

Cheers everyone! I will keep you posted about L.A. and the LAPC soon!!