Online Poker Girl with Poker Jill

James Woods at the National Heads-Up Poker Championship

2006-04-04T14:36:00.000-07:00

The National Heads-Up Poker Championship is coming soon to NBC. This second annual edition of the tournament is a Texas hold ‘em bonanza, leveraging the sport’s largest selection of elite players, including Daniel Negreanu, Chris Ferguson, Phil Hellmuth, Johnny Chan, Jennifer Tilly, and James Woods. The distinctive one-on-one format and the college basketball-style, single-elimination brackets add to the tension as the six-part series progresses. This one should be an interesting tournament. The first round (of 64) airs on April 16th, 2006. The second round, featuring Hollywood Poker's James Woods, airs on April 23rd, 2006. The championship round will be held on May 21st, 2006.

Bad beats... and bad memories.

2006-04-03T13:53:00.000-07:00

The next time you think you got beat with a bad suckout, take a look at this to make yourself feel better... and imagine the pain.

Before the Flop:

There are 3 people in front of me that call the $8 bet (double the big blind). I am thinking some of them are probably sitting on AQ, AJ, A10, KQ, or a middle or lower pair. I raise to $15 to see if I can shake any of them out and see if anyone is holding something stronger like AA, KK, QQ that will come over the top. I got three callers. That's a nice pot already, but it doesn't tell me too much about their hands.

F:

This flop could be trouble since there is a possibility of someone hitting the straight, hitting 2 pairs, or having a flush draw. I have the over cards, a nut straight draw, and a back door nut flush draw. More importantly, I was the aggressor preflop. I want to take a stab at this pot or see if the reaction to my bet reveals more about their cards. I bet $30 which looks like I want to get some action. It is a post oak bluff that will not hurt me too much if I get raised. I can then get out of the hand without too much damage. Most good players would have made a large raise if they hit a good part of the flop since it has a flush draw and a straight out there and the pot was already large. One player just calls my bet. I now think he probably doesn't have much. He is probably on a draw (straight or flush)

T:

Another heart. I make a large bet to see if he was playing the flush. I have the ace, so he couldn't have the nut flush. I got raised $120. I now think he has the flush or straight, and I was trapped. Regardless, another $120 is not too much when I could have his flush beaten. I do not reraise, because he only has like $50 or so left on a $591 pot. I wouldn't have been able to get him off his hand, and I thought I may be beaten anyway.

R:

Blank comes on river, right? We just checked it out. As you can see he hit a 7 on the river to take a $591 pot with a pair of 7s. He was playing rags the entire time! He had no flush draw, no straight draw, no pair, or even cards to draw with. WTF was he doing in this pot? He should have never called $15 preflop. Even so, only an idiot would have called $30 when he hit nothing and had no draws on the flop.

This may just be some of the worst play I have ever seen at a medium limit table ($400 NL). He made terrible plays, and yet he was rewarded with $591. He wasn't on tilt, and I didn't have a table image as a loose player or a bluffer. This one hurt, and cost me a pretty penny over the next few weeks.

Lost Poker

2006-03-31T09:25:00.000-08:00

The Poker Explosion, as I like to call it, has invaded my favourite television show. Lost may take place on a deserted island, but they can still enjoy some poker now and then... and that's exactly what they did on this weeks episode. Of course, that wasn't the focus of the episode - but Jack and Sawyer played some head to head 5 card stud - betting with mangos and medicine.

It was pretty funny, and I figured that as good a player as Jack might be, he was gonna get pummeled by Sawyer. I mean, it's a doctor versus a con artist - who do you expect to win?

Hellmuth takes over the Showdown

2006-03-27T10:32:00.000-08:00

So Phil Hellmuth is going to be hosting the popular Celebrity Poker Showdown series now, alongside good ol' Dave Foley. I'm imagining a lot of people just livid about this change, and a lot of those who watched the show will likely tune out based on this alone. I personally think it's a good movie. Phil will add a whole new dimension to a show that lacks a hard edge. Phil Gordon was a great host - don't get me wrong, but he was too much like Foley... a nice guy. We don't need more nice guys on this show... what we need is a bitch, a real perspective. Hopefully Hellmuth can bring it.

Walk The Line and Jarhead

2006-03-13T10:55:00.000-08:00

The weather finally turned spring-like this weekend, so I got a chance to go out and enjoy it on Saturday. Since most of my work at the store was done, I also got a chance to watch a couple movies this weekend that I've been meaning to see. The first was "Walk The Line", a biopic of Johnny Cash. It was a great film starring Joaquin Pheonix and Reese Witherspoon. I'm usually not a big fan of Reese, but she was really fantastic in this movie as June Carter, the lifelong love interest of Johnny Cash.

The second movie I watched was Jarhead... a poetic story about the war in Iraq (think Desert Storm, not Iraqi Freedom). The movie was good, but it reminded me a lot of another movie about Vietnam called Full Metal Jacket - probably just because of the opening scene with the marines being berated by a loud and obnoxious drill instructor.

Both movies were great though... so check them out.

Friel heats up Maxim

2006-03-06T10:23:00.000-08:00

My girl - takin' it to the online world! Courtney Friel seems like she knows how to work it.

The blonde bombshell was bound to show up in a men's magazine eventually, so we knew it was just a matter of time before we saw more of Friel than her pretty face on the WPT. And where you gonna see it? Maxim Online.

Friel will be busting out with a newly-released video on Maxim Online. The men's lifestyle magazine chose to feature the curvaceous Courtney in a video shoot that is sure to make your average male poker player forget what cards he's holding.

Courtney Friel is the new WPT hostess

2006-02-27T10:09:00.000-08:00

Looks like Shana Hiatt has finally taken her leave from the WPT, and in her place will be Courtney Friel, a broadcasting professional and blonde bombshell. Courtney Friel now has a page over at Online Poker Girl.

James Woods at the LA Poker Classic

2006-02-20T13:59:00.000-08:00

I just found out (a little late, of course) that James Woods was at the LA Poker Classic. He was playing in the No-Limit Hold'em Championship, and he actually did really well. I think this was the first time he made it through and got right to day four, but was knocked out in 24th place in the end. Still, a good effort.

I'm told he was chip leader a few times on day three. Way to go Jimmy!

LA Poker Classic 2006

2006-02-17T11:41:00.000-08:00

The LA Classic No-Limit Hold'em Championship is taking place right now, and the chip count for day one has been posted. Good ol' James Woods (from my favorite site Hollywood Poker) has made it through, with $37k in chips. He's just four spots behind our very own poker girl Jennifer Harman who's holding $43k in chips. LET'S GO JIMMY!

Olympic weekend

2006-02-13T10:12:00.000-08:00

I've been watching the Olympics most of this past weekend... just trying to keep up with everything that's going on over there in Torino. It's tough, unless you get up at 5am, to follow the day's events... but I was really impressed with our snowboarders. I also saw some of the Canada/Russia women's hockey game. Those Canadian girls are smokin' hot... bring those medals home ladies!

Lavinna Zhang's finest moment - a spot on Online Poker Girl!

2006-02-06T11:51:00.000-08:00

This weekend my boyfriend and I went for a really nice hike out at the park, which is about an hour and half from home. It was a little chilly but we were both dressed warm and even brought some coffee along in a thermos. When we came home I watched an old episode of Ladies Night and saw Lavinna Zhang giving Isabelle Mercier a run for her money. Lavinna looked so cool and collected that I thought - Hey, this girl should get a page on Online Poker Girl... so that's what I did. While I was going through and updating that, I figured I'd add another Ladies Night player... Lily Elviro. You can see both of them at my website.

Here we go! 24, season... 4!?

2006-01-30T13:19:00.000-08:00

I finally caved. My co-workers have been talking about the latest episodes of 24 (Season 5) and I've been in the dark. I stopped watching after Season 2, which I really enjoyed - but I was just Jack Bauer'ed out. Season 3 came and went, along with 4, and suddenly I'm in the mood for more.

So instead of jumping in with 24 Season 5, I went out and bought Season 4 on DVD and am in the process of watching them. Only thing is, I missed Season 3... but I'm too lazy to go back that far.

Season 4 is turning out to be good, but I'm obviously missing things from Season 3 because I don't recognize any of the faces, with the exception of Kiefer's. Maybe I should stall Season 4 and go buy Season 3? No... again, I'm too lazy. That means 48 hours of TV to catch up on instead of 24. By that time, Season 5 will be over.

It's all so complicated, but then again, that's what 24 is all about.

Women Find Poker Is Their Strongest Suit

2006-01-23T09:46:00.000-08:00

I found this interesting article over at the Poker Web and could resist commenting on it. It basically illustrates how dramatically the female portion of the poker populace has risen, saying that 1/3 of all players are now women.

I'd like to think that I had a little hand in that - in bringing poker to the attention of the girls, but I doubt it. I'm just another one of the statistics. Still, it's a good read, and worth checking out.

Women Find Poker Is Their Strongest Suit

Poker Jill's Tip #4: Testing your opponent's hand

2006-01-18T10:50:00.000-08:00

Why should you take big risks when playing Texas holdem? The idea behind this move in no limit Hold'em is to put the other player to the test, risking their whole stack, without risking yours. For example, suppose there are two of you in a pot, the opponent has 1000 in chips, and you have twice that.

Suppose that there are 1000 in chips in the pot. If you bet 700 chips, your opponent can’t really call and see what comes on the next card, then fold if it’s not favorable. The pot will be too big compared to the size of his stack – he's become “pot committed.” However, if you bet 700 and he raises all-in, if you have no hand at all then you can still fold. So you’re essentially asking, “Are you willing to get your whole stack in?” and you’re only paying 700 to ask, not your whole stack.

Poker Jill's Tip #3: Betting (part 2)

2006-01-16T09:42:00.000-08:00

In a previous tip, I talked about not betting marginal hands in a holdem poker game, playing about 20% of your hands, and betting a minimum of 3x your bet. So when should you bet?

When you have a very strong hand, you should bet.

If you hold 44 on a board on KQ432 you have a very powerful hand and should bet to extract value from hands like KJ or even KQ. You can also consider betting if you have a horrible hand, one that almost certainly won’t win if you check. An example would be jack-ten. You’ve missed your straight draw, but your opponent checks to you on the river. You have almost no chance to win by checking, but you may be able to bluff your opponent out if she holds a hand like 77, QJ, or just AJ.

You shouldn't be bluffing every time in that situation (because, of course, someone will suss out what's going on). However, in this particular situation, it's a spot where you can strongly condering bluffing.

New Lost episode with Mr. Eko!

2006-01-12T11:48:00.000-08:00

I watched LOST last night, it was the first new episode in 5 or 6 weeks... and it was a really good one. We got to finally see Mr. Eko's backstory, and it turns out he was a rather vicious drug running warlord in Nigeria. When he's paid to move some drugs, he devises a plan to disguise himself and his mates as priests (who can freely travel by air as missionaries).

Of course, this ties into the plane that Locke and Boone found in the first season, and also with Charlie and his heroine filled virgin mary statues.

The best part of the episode, though - was the return of "the monster"... which was shown more clearly and up close than ever before. It looks like a mysterious and living cloud of black smoke with electrical properties, and Mr. Eko stares it down, unafraid.

I really just want them to start the hunt for Walt - but I know what's going to happen. The season will end with them finding Walt (in whatever condition he's in). God, I hate this show.

Stern gone to satellite

2006-01-10T10:05:00.000-08:00

I used to listen to the Howard Stern show on my way in to work in the morning, and then he got pulled, in favour of Sirius Satellite Radio. My boyfriend has an XM radio in his car which he can bring inside, but I haven't been able to tell if it can bring in the Stern show at all.

Stern's kind of the low class shock jock type. I couldn't stand him at first, but honestly, he has the proper kind of fire in his belly to work a morning show. I would listen anyways, even though I didn't like him. After a while, I realized that I didn't hate him, I just hated a few of his antics.

Hopefully FM radio will take this as a wake up call.

Slow weekend, poker tourny next weekend

2006-01-09T10:31:00.000-08:00

Over a slow weekend, with no apparent need for me to devote any of my time to anything in particular, I decided that it was time I got out for a walk, or did some other form of physical activity (since I've been moping around inside since before the holidays started). We had a beautiful day here on Sunday so I made it out to the park and enjoyed some fresh air.

I also watched a couple new movies (Broken Flowers, and Grizzly Man). Both were good, and quite different from the blockbuster hollywood type films that I've been watching lately. I needed to hop into work on Saturday afternoon to take care of a few things.

Poker Tournament next weekend! $20 buy in, and I've sharpened my chops with a few games on Hollywood Poker this week. They better look out.

Discovered Firefly... what a great show!

2006-01-03T11:59:00.000-08:00

Over the holiday's I discovered this great TV show - now cancelled. It's called Firefly, and it's sort of a sci-fi/western (think, Millenium Falcon meets The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly). I'm not generally a huge fan of science fiction television, and I'm even more rarely a fan of westerns... so it came as a huge surprise that I just adored this show and couldn't stop watching it. A friend had let me watch an episode and I went out and picked up the DVD set (it got to be about 12 episodes old before it was cancelled).

Even better, I just found out there's a movie (which was made recently) that takes place after the show called Serenity, so I'll definitely be picking that up soon.

If you get a chance, check out Firefly or Serenity. It's made by Joss Whedon (who created Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel shows prior to this) and doesn't really have any stars in it, though the cast is all fantastic. The biggest name in the show is likely Adam Baldwin (not a Baldwin brother), who has done work with Stanley Kubrick and was in Independence Day, The Patriot, and a few other well known films.

If you're a Star Wars fan, or even if you aren't, Firefly is definitely worth your time (and money). It's funny, engaging, action packed, and smart. It's everything a good show should be (except still on).

Christmas Shopping Time

2005-12-19T16:46:00.000-08:00

It's almost Christmas time, and quite honestly - I haven't even gotten close to starting my Christmas shopping. Granted, I don't have near as much to do as some people, but I don't even have a list made up, and no time designated for said shopping.

It's not really the shopping itself that I mind - it's the lineups and throngs of people who get in your way, take your time, and make it difficult to do anything efficiently.

This should be a really interesting week, and one with very little in the way of free time. Can't wait to get started. Better yet, I can't wait to finish it, and make it through to December 26th.

Quiet weekend by the fire

2005-12-12T14:58:00.000-08:00

It was snowing here almost all weekend - and that was just fine by me since I didn't feel like going anywhere anyways. Instead, I rented a couple movies and relaxed by the fireplace. The first movie I watched was Mr and Mrs Smith, which wasn't exactly a "good movie" but was fun enough. The second movie I watched was March Of The Penguins, a documentary about how penguins migrate from their homes to their breeding grounds in Antarctica. It was fascinating, funny, and touching... and I'm really glad to have seen it.

MythBuster mania!

2005-12-05T15:34:00.000-08:00

I found this great TV show that people have been telling me about for a long time, but I've only just recently seen. It's called MythBusters - and it's a couple of ex-special effects guys who use their talents to - well... bust some myths. :)

In this episode they were trying to find out whether or not a penny dropped from a great height would embed itself into concrete or break human bone (it doesn't). They also did another experiment where they played around with microwaves. They busted the myth that a microwave cooks from the inside out (which is obviously untrue... and if you've ever used a microwave you should know that). They also confirmed the exploding water myth (but only with purified water... tap water won't explode).

Poker Jill's Tip #2: Is he/she bluffing?

2005-11-21T10:57:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite aspects of No Limit Poker is bluffing, when you have misplayed a hand and have a large portion of your chips in the pot you can often escape by bluffing. Online you can really only bluff using your chips as you cannot physically see your opponents (obviously).

Here are a few examples of bluffing situations to look for:

The busted flush draw bluff

Players love to chase flush draws online, so much so that they often commit to heavily to them and are forced to bluff at the pot when they don’t hit. The flop comes down K,4,2 with two hearts, you have A,K (no hearts) you make a pot size bet and your opponent just calls. The turn comes 9(not a heart) you make another pot size bet, your opponent just calls again. The river brings an 8 (no heart) you make another large bet but your opponent goes “all in” over the top of your bet…. This is an obvious “busted flush bluff” attempt; you should certainly call the all in for this scenario. The only hand to worry about in this situation would be pocket Kings because your significant preflop raise will have made smaller pocket pairs fold. The likelihood of the player having pocket Kings when you are holding one is very very slim.

The blatant over bet

This is a fairly common bluff attempt as players tend to get overly committed to hands like AQ, AK, JJ, and AK suited. You are holding A10 soooooted and the flop comes 10, 5, 2 (rainbow) you make a pot size bet and your opponent calls. The turn brings a 7, you make another sizeable bet and your opponent goes all in over the top of you (resulting in a much larger than pot sized bet). The only 2 hands that concern me here are JJ or possibly a weakly played QQ, the reasoning here is that if they had AA or KK they should be reraising preflop. More times than not the player will hold two over cards such as AK, AQ or AJ. There is a chance that the player will spike the J,Q,K but that will only be about 15% of the time.

Good luck at the tables!

Poker Jill's Tip #1: Betting

2005-11-17T14:07:00.000-08:00

As a big believer in Karma I will offer up a couple of generally accepted poker tips that should help improve your games.

The 20% Rule

When playing at a full table (8 or more players) your average flop percentage seen should never be higher than 20%, 17% is considered optimal. So you should only be playing (seeing the flop) on average 1 out of every 5 of your starting hands. Play around with the statistics function in the DL version to help track this.

Minimum 3X bet

When betting or raising it is best to bet at least 3 times the big blind or actioned bet. For example if the big blind is $50 and you decide to raise try and bet $150. This bet size will push marginal hands off and help ensure that you minimize your opponents while also giving you a better understanding of what cards they might be holding.

So to summarize - play about 20% of your starting hands and when you do play a hand don’t be afraid to raise at least 3 times the initial bet size.

Good Luck at the tables!

I want a Puggle!

2005-11-14T10:37:00.000-08:00

I came across this story the other day on the news, and did a little search for them. The puggle is a fairly recent breed of dog - a cross between a pug and a beagle. I don't really like the pug on it's own, but now they can be made cute! lol

New rooms at Hollywood Poker

2005-11-11T14:28:00.000-08:00

So I was playing over at Hollywood Poker last night (in one of their new .50-.50 no limit rooms) and I was head to head with this joker who insisted on raising EVERYTHING and betting like a madman. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to chase my flush (I love chasing the flush) but just couldn't, and it turned out he was holding a Jack 4 unsuited, or some other useless hand that would have crumbled.

So finally I get pocket kings and flop another king, 3 and 9... and slow play him through to the turn, where the fourth king rears his little head. I slow play him ALL-IN and now he's pot committed and calls me.

He's carrying 5 3 unsuited. I think quad kings beats your pair, airhead. Buh bye.

Yeah, silly. But it made me feel good. :)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

2005-11-09T12:01:00.000-08:00

I watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory last night. I laughed so hard at Johnny Depp... he's hilarious in that creepy, stay away from kind of way. He really did put a new spin in Willy Wonka though, and I'm glad. I loved the original 70's movie (with Gene Wilder), but Tim Burton's version was well done.

I thought the all the kids did a wonderful job, particularly the little girl who played Veruca Salt. This movie is worth a rent for sure.

Halloween party!

2005-11-01T09:59:00.000-08:00

Halloween has come and gone, and it was a great year! I got dressed up as a cowgirl this year, with a couple of six shooters and all! I would guess I got about 150 kids - a lot of little Darth Vader's and Power Rangers. After a few hours, it finally got late enough that I could head out to a friend's costume party. Her house was so amazing. They had scary music, cobwebs, the whole bit. I met a bunch of new people too, including this one girl named Michelle who was born in Canada and came here for her job. We watched The Fly on TV (Jeff Goldblum is so creepy in that movie) and then we headed home.

Time to start thinking about next years costume. :)

Dana the Poker Girl!

2005-10-25T09:45:00.000-07:00

The internet is great. I recently got in contact with an old college friend, Dana - and we've been emailing each other. Last night we got on ICQ and chatted for about an hour. After a while we were getting bored, so I persuaded her to jump onto Hollywood Poker and play at a Sit n Go $100+10. We were only playing for play money last night (she's still a little new and nervous about betting real money). I forgot how awful the play money rooms are. Since there isn't too much at stake, play money people will call with anything and go straight to the river with nothing in their hand. It's so annoying. Anyways - Dana didn't do too bad, and she said she had a good time. Hopefully I can get her to invest a little next time. :)

Last night's Lost

2005-10-20T09:58:00.000-07:00

I'm a big fan of the TV show Lost. I couldn't wait for this season to start, but now I'm really starting to lose hope. Last nights was a good episode, but it didn't say really what is going on at all. I did enjoy the scene where Echo and Jin were hiding from the others. Overall though, not much seems to be happening - but they're building up to something for sure. The preview for the next episode looks crazy! They hinted that one of the original survivors is going to die, so I'm excited to see which one it's going to be.

There's also another show I've been following called House, which is really, really good. I usually don't like medical shows, but this one is more about investigation, so it reminds me a little more of CSI.

Hollywood Poker Sit n Go

2005-10-18T15:48:00.000-07:00

So I was playing a $10 - $1 Sit n Go at Hollywood Poker last night, until I got KK. Prior to this hand I never got very lucky, only once in awhile hitting a pair of the flop, but for the most part watching the other players at the table play. There were some very crazy calls and re-raises in the game which led me to believe I could get in the money for sure. Now back to my cowboys...Well there I am pre-flop with KK and I am the big blind. So there was a raise preflop and I called it along with someone else. The flop came 4-A-7. A player checked and the other force folded, so I bet twice the blind. The player called. Then the turn came K. WOW! I was so happy, I had put the other player on a pair of aces, and probably a decent kicker. So I checked and the other player went all-in!? So I had to rethink we she had. Could she have pocket 4's or 7's? Even AK? No way she had AA? That couldn't happen to me, could it? So I decided to call..she turned the cards over and she had A4. How did she raise with A4, I don't know! Anyways, so I was in great shape until the river...damn river...A!! She had Aces over fours while I had Kings over Aces! Well, I'll try again tonight and hopefully win that money back!!!

Jill

Python versus Alligator

2005-10-12T11:33:00.000-07:00

I came across this article about a python and an alligator trying to eat each other and thought it was worth posting.

A 13-foot Burmese python recently burst after it apparently tried to swallow a live, six-foot alligator whole, authorities said. The incident has heightened biologists' fears that the nonnative snakes could threaten a host of other animal species in the Everglades.

"It means nothing in the Everglades is safe from pythons, a top-down predator," said Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida wildlife professor. Over the years, many pythons have been abandoned in the Everglades by pet owners.

The gory evidence of the latest gator-python encounter -- the fourth documented in the past three years -- was discovered and photographed last week by a helicopter pilot and wildlife researcher.

The snake was found with the gator's hindquarters protruding from its midsection. Mazzotti said the alligator may have clawed at the python's stomach as the snake tried to digest it. In previous incidents, the alligator won or the battle was an apparent draw.

"There had been some hope that alligators can control Burmese pythons," Mazzotti said. "This indicates to me it's going to be an even draw. Sometimes alligators are going to win and sometimes the python will win."

It is unknown how many pythons are competing with the thousands of alligators in the Everglades, but at least 150 have been captured in the past two years, said Joe Wasilewski, a wildlife biologist and crocodile tracker.

Pythons could threaten many smaller species that conservationists are trying to protect, including other reptiles, otters, squirrels, woodstorks and sparrows, Mazzotti said.

Wasilewski said a 10- or 20-foot python also could pose a risk to an unwary human, especially a child. He added, however, "I don't think this is an imminent threat. This is not a `Be afraid, be very afraid' situation."'

The alligator now has some foreign competition at the top of the Everglades food chain, and the results of the struggle is perfect for a hollywood horror movie. I can't believe this happened, and those non-believers of Hollywood's Anaconda movies might be re-thinking their sance on human eating snakes!

Usual Suspects: Great Film

2005-10-07T10:55:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been awhile since my last post, been real busy lately. Finally got some time to sit down and watch one of my favourite movies, The Usual Suspects. One of Brian Singer's earlier movies, stars Kevin Spacey in one of his best roles. It's hard to talk much about the plot without giving much away, but suffice to say, the movie is phenomenal. If you havn't seen it, I definatly suggest seeing it as soon as possible. Havn't played much poker recently, but I played one game where I almost peed my pants laughing. I raised $1000 pre-flop, and only one other person called. I wasn't thinking, and accidentally then only bet $60, but the other person folded anyways! I couldn't believe it, as I had absolutly nothing.

Poker Bad Beat

2005-08-12T11:10:00.000-07:00

I have to talk to you all about a bad beat! I was playing at Hollywood Poker at a $5-$0.50 SitnGo Single Table Tournament and got to the final 5 players, 3 of which are paid. Well, I had 1,400 in chips and the next two players beside me had like 10 and 40 in chips...almost nothing. Blinds had just passed them and the blinds were at 300-600. Well I got JQ offsuit so I called, and A A rag showed on the board and someone raised, so I folded and lost 800 in chips. Then I became big blind with 28 offsuit and someone raised so I folded. I was then forced all in due to the blinds and so was the next guy and the next guy called with his 10 in chips, and then the chip leader called. So I had 78s, the next guy had JQs, the next guy had 99 and the leader had Q3. Flop comes J Q 2. I don't even remember the rest, I was screaming and pulling out my hair!!! I had 1,400 in chips and didn't make it in the money!!

Cecilia Nordenstam Biography on Online Poker Girl

2005-08-08T11:55:00.000-07:00

Cecilia Nordenstam Biography

OnlinePokerGirl.com has Cecilia Nordenstam's Biography.

Cecilia Nordenstam is a Swedish poker player from the European Poker Tour (EPT). She is currently dating fellow Swedish poker player Alexander Stevic.

Female Celebrity Poker Players: Allison Janney, Catherine O'hara, Heather Graham, Lacey Chabert, Mary McCormack, Sara Rue

2005-08-03T10:51:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone..

Online Poker Girl has been updated once more with 6 celebrity female poker players: Allison Janney, Catherine O'hara, Heather Graham, Lacey Chabert, Mary McCormack, Sara Rue.

Allison Janney was born in Dayton, Ohio and began acting in soap operas. Allison continued acting in many films including American Beauty, Primary Colors, Private Parts, Nurse Betty, The Hours, and Finding Nemo.

Catherine O'hara was born in Toronto, Ontario where Catherine became very involved in comedy. Catherine is probably best known for her role as Macaulay Culkin's mother in Home Alone and Home Alone 2.

Heather Graham was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Heather Graham has become famous since her performance in Boogie Nights as Roller Girl. Graham has played roles in many big movies including Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.

Lacey Chabert was born in Purvis, Mississippi, and made her acting debut playing young Cosette in Les Misérables on Broadway. Chabert is well known for her role in the television drama Party of Five. Lacey starred in films such as Not Another Teen Movie, Daddy Day Care, and Mean Girls.

Mary McCormack starred in many movies including; Deep Impact, Mystery, Alaska, Madison, K-PAX, Full Frontal, The West Wing, Traffic, Private Parts, and Miracle on 34th Street.

Sara Rue has appeared as a guest on television shows such as ER, Will & Grace and The Division. Sara can be seen in films such as, A Map of the World, Can't Hardly Wait, and Pearl Harbor.

University student wins $41,000 in College Poker Championship

2005-06-17T10:32:00.000-07:00

After the click of a mouse, the poker cards were revealed, and University student Chad Flood knew he had won the poker tournament. On his computer screen, he saw he had the best hand, and the last opponent was out of chips. He was the winner out of 25,000 college players from 55 countries, Flood won the 2005 College Poker Championship tournament May 22.

Female Poker Stars: Shana Hiatt, Evelyn Ng, Isabelle Mercier

2005-05-20T11:17:00.000-07:00

Hey, I have now updated Online Poker Girl and added three new female poker stars; Shana Hiatt, Evelyn Ng, and Isabelle Mercier.

Shana Hiatt hosts the World Poker Tour, featured on the Travel Channel, by introducing the audience to the world of poker and the life of many professional poker players. Hiatt travels around the world and takes the WPT audience on a guided tour inside many luxurious casinos.

Evelyn Ng has been a household name since she appeared on the World Poker Tour by placing second at the World Poker Tour Ladies Night.

Isabelle Mercier has become a force in European poker as well as women's poker. Isabelle is now 33rd in the European Poker Tour All Time Money List, 10th in the Women's All Time Money List, has 1 WPT Championship Title, and 1 EPT Finals victory.

Bluff Magazine Poker Tour

2005-05-16T10:28:00.000-07:00

Bluff Magazine, the world's leading poker publication, announced the launch of the online Bluff Poker Tour (BPT). The Bluff Poker Tour is an online poker tour that will stop at one online poker room weekly, and there will be an online poker tournament at the poker room.

The Bluff Poker Tour will operate in the following manner: every week there will be an online poker No Limit Texas Hold'emtournament at an Official Bluff Poker Tour online poker room. The registered players will earn poker player points, similar to the World Poker Tour, and will be ranked at the end of the online Bluff Poker Tour. The highest ranked players, most poker player points, at the end of the Bluff Poker Tour, will play in a championship tournament whereby the winner will earn a paid spot into three World Poker Tour tournaments...Read More about the Bluff Poker Tour.

Some cool Email Sounds

2005-05-10T15:08:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, I came across this cool site in my guestbook. It is called Email Sounds and they have some cool tv show email sounds.

Poker Additions to Poker Girl's Website

2005-04-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

I have now added a Poker Playing Style quiz to the site. This quiz will determine whether you are an agressive poker player, passive poker player, or somewhere in between.

The latest Online Poker Girl's Poker News discusses some online poker rooms created by professional poker players. The 2 latest professional poker players to jump into this online poker card room phase are Martin DeKnijff and Scott Fischman.

There is also an article about Daniel Negreanu and his status as the Professional Poker Player of 2004. This article shows the professional poker standings for the end of 2004, including total points, final tables, and winnings. David Pham finished second and will hopefully put up another good fight this year!!

I have also added a link to the More Poker section. The link goes to Movie Star Poker, Jillian's relatively new website about famous celebrity poker players.

The new Woman Poker Player issue has many great topics that are discussed concerning female poker players. These include:

An article about Rosie Richie, the top female finisher in the $10,000 Championship event of the 2004 WSOP. She is a 48 year old woman from St. Petersburg, Florida. She also finished 98th out of 2,576 poker players and received $20,000 in prize money.

An article explaining the rapid democratization of poker recently. Especially with the introduction and popularity of online poker, since it allows experienced players and relative new poker players shots at the big tournaments.

Woman Poker Player

2005-04-19T10:05:00.000-07:00

Woman Poker Player Magazine

A new poker magazine is debuting that will cater to the ever-growing number of female poker players. Woman Poker Player magazine is a one-of-a-kind, lifestyle publication covering issues unique to women who enjoy the sport of poker.

The magazine's chief editor is professional poker player Barbara Enright, the only woman ever to make the final table at the World Series of Poker championship event. The editorial merges powerful experiences from poker-playing women and men around the globe, the mathematics and strategies of poker, tournament trip reports, profiles of popular female professional players, and will include lifestyle concerns such as, fashion and wellness.

"Women may have a basic advantage over their male counterparts. Psychologists tell us that women possess a sixth sense, and this instinctiveness can be a valuable asset at the poker table. They have proven they can hold their own against men, and this was dramatically underscored when three women won gold bracelets at last year’s World Series of Poker, although women represented less than five per cent of the participants. Even so, women can be timid when they first enter a casino. This is where Woman Poker Player magazine comes in. We will be offering valuable pointers on general strategy, and strategy especially designed for women."

April’s premiere issue of Woman Poker Player includes profiles on professional women poker players, tips on playing with male players, and a glimpse into what to expect while playing your first live tournament.

Celebrity Poker Shootout Sponsored by Bodog

2005-04-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

Online casino and online poker site Bodog.com is sponsoring a charity poker event to benefit the Los Angeles Lakers Youth Foundation, which will bring together celebrities from a number of arenas. The Celebrity Poker Shootout at the 2nd Annual Treasure Island-Las Vegas Casino Night is scheduled for this Thursday, April 14th at the Santa Monica Airport's Barker Hanger.

Numerous celebrity poker aficionados including honorary Casino Queen Marge Hearn, members of the Lakers squad, Debra Messing, Shannon Elizabeth, Mimi Rogers, Will Sasso, Breckin Meyer, Chris, Danny and Jordan Masterson, Donovan Leitch, Gabrielle Union, and many more will be among the 1200 celebrities, socialites, tastemakers and Lakers fans making foundation donations to attend and play.

"We are thrilled to support the LA Lakers Youth Foundation at this exciting event," said Calvin Ayre, Founder and CEO of Bodog.com Sports Casino Poker. "Working together with Dr. Buss and the Lakers team to raise funds for the Youth Foundation’s at risk youth is an honor. Achieving this goal through our shared interest in sports and poker is a bonus."

Cathy “Cat” Hulbert: Professional Female Poker Player

2005-04-11T13:33:00.000-07:00

Cathy “Cat” Hulbert was one of the first women to be respected as a professional card player in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1996, Cathy was the only woman listed in Card Player magazine’s top seven-card-stud professional poker players. Prior to becoming a professional poker player and professional blackjack player, Hulbert traveled the world as one of the first and only female professional card counters and is well known as being a part of Ken Uston’s group. Cathy was arrested over 50 times for trespassing and was banned from casinos but that didn’t stop her. Hulbert then got a wig and a beard and took acting lessons so she could be disguised as a man. After learning blackjack and slots in 1986, Cathy met David Heyden and Rick Greider, two of the best seven-card-stud players in the world and began taking poker lessons.

Cathy now has a website that offers poker articles and poker news, as well as a poker lessons section. Hulbert also was featured recently in a Travel Channel special on Las Vegas titled “Las Vegas: Gambling with the Pro's”. This episode discussed professional gamblers, including Cathy Hulbert, sharing their secrets for beating the Las Vegas casinos. Cathy Hulbert now works to support women poker players by offering them lessons to learn her poker tricks as a means succeed at poker.

Hulbert said “In today's poker games, far more men play, but the women who do play, play rings around the men at middle limits. The highest limit is still dominated by men, but that will change. The advantages for women in poker are that we are a more observant gender, far more in tune with our emotions and are more conscious of how we are being perceived. Our male opponents usually fall into two categories: those who want to beat us and those who want to befriend us."

After the Sunset

2005-04-11T11:39:00.000-07:00

Hey I rented "After the Sunset" this weekend with Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek, Woody Harrelson and Don Cheadle. After the Sunset was a great movie, full of action and suspense and alot of comedy. Pierce was at his best, but when is he not, and Salma was a great addition to his acting. Pierce and Salma are diamond thieves that have stolen two of the three Napoleon diamonds while making FBI agent Woody Harrelson look like a fool. Yea, the script was great for that. Then Woody found the two retired thieves who happen to be living right where the third Napoleon diamond is making an appearance. So Woody actually informs the thieves that they have a chance to complete what the left unfinished. And so Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek make him pay for it by actually robbing the diamond by using Don Cheadle as a pawn. "After the Sunset" is a two thumbs up film and I would reccomend it to anyone. Maybe one day Pierce will be in a poker film, now that would be a good idea! Pierce Brosnan, professional poker player!! :D

Hi from Jill

2005-04-06T14:27:00.000-07:00

Hey, Just going shopping now!!

Hollywood Hold'em on E! Entertainment Television

2005-03-30T11:36:00.000-08:00

Apparently, one celebrity poker show isn't enough, so E! Entertainment television has launched a celebrity poker televised game called Hollywood Hold’em. The show allows viewers into the home of a celebrity host, and holds a poker game between celebrities, and their friends. They play for $10,000 in real cash, and they don't stop until somebody's got it all.

The first episode featured some of the best young actors, Danny Masterson and Chris Masterson, and a wonderful actress, Laura Prepon. Danny Masterson and Laura Prepon star in That 70’s Show, and Chris Masterson is in Malcolm in the Middle. Danny Masterson eventually won the poker game.

The second episode featured Macaulay Culkin, Mila Kunis and Wilmer Valderrama. Mila Kunis and Wilmer Valderrama are both That 70’s Show actors once again.

In the next episode of Hollywood Hold’em, on Thursday, we will get a chance to watch the creators of Hollywood Poker, Vince van Patten and James Woods, play poker against each other. Norm MacDonald and Nick Gonzalez are on the show as well, but I’m sure Vince van Patten and James Woods will steal the spotlight! Click here for more information on Hollywood Hold’em.

New Female Playing Poker Stars

2005-03-23T11:37:00.000-08:00

I have now added a female poker star page to Online Poker Girl for Clonie Gowen and Wendeen Eolis. These are two of the most dominant female poker players. Clonie Gowen, former travel agent is relatively new to the international poker scene. Clonie won the $25,000 Belagio World Poker Tour Championship seat at the World Poker Tour Ladies Night at the Bicycle casino this past September and finished 10th in the World Poker Tour Costa Rica Classic.

Wendeen Eolis was the first woman at the final table of a major tournament and the first woman to finish in the money of the World Series of Poker and she did it twice! Binion's Horseshoe World Series of Poker issued a commemorative poker chip in her likeness and name awarding her contribution to reaching the World Series of Poker final event. Also, she is the only woman to win European Open No Limit event. Most importantly, Wendeen is a member of the Women’s Poker Hall of Fame!

New Female Poker Player Information

2005-03-21T14:59:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, I am in the process of adding a couple new pages to my female poker stars section. One page for Wendeen Eolis, female poker Hall of Famer, and one the Cycalona "Clonie" Gowen, relative newcomer to poker. Both female poker star pages should be up in the next few days and I'll make sure to post here when they do. Thanks to some new members who have signed the Online Poker Girl Guestbook!! That's you Lee Anne and Joanne! It is nice to meet you and thank you both for those kind words.

I have recently joined a couple new poker forums to share my poker knowledge as well as to meet some new friends and hear their perspective on the poker scene! They include Card Player, The Poker Forum and Cardschat. I love talking poker to almost anyone and especially to poker buffs. The people on these forums are great are are really fun to talk to about poker styles and poker news. It's really funny to see how there are some many different ways people will play a hand in poker, even AA. I had posted in a thread about whether you prefer KK or AA. I said, "I'd go for AA over KK, because as was mentioned, if one A appears on the flop I have a feelin it's over!!:rolleyes: But I'll take KK over 27 offsuit anyday :D!" But other poker forum members said, "it never fails, whenever i have kk in the hole and ace hits on the flop..i cant count the times my kk has been beat by ace rag....and i dont slow play them...i raise 6 ,7 sometimes 10x the big blind..still get called down with ace rag" and "I always play K K but unfortunately it really cost me today. I was in the lead of a freeroll tourney on pacificpoker with 34 people left. I lost big to A A and ended up finishing 29. It sucks when it happens like that but its not gonna stop me from playing K K. Its still the second best hand you can have before the flop and it really doesnt happen that often. It just really sucks though if it does happen and you end up on the short end of the stick."

"Tilt" on ESPN

2005-03-16T14:42:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

I am sure everyone has an opinion on the new poker television show on ESPN, "Tilt", but I don't think it does anything good for the poker community. The NFL told ESPN to remove the Football version of "Tilt", "Playmakers", due to its extremely incorrect perception of professional football players. Now ESPN has focused that same poor perception on professional poker players. I hope that ESPN decides to cancel the show soon as the poker community in general doesn't really enjoy the negative publicity. I have an article on Online Poker Girl about Doyle Brunson's opinion on ESPN's Tilt.

Female Poker Player Kathy Liebert

2005-03-16T07:10:00.000-08:00

The final hand was dealt and Kathy Liebert pulled it off for the women, winning POKER ROYALE: BATTLE OF THE SEXES on GSN. After capturing every episode, the men were relegated to the sidelines to watch Liebert accept her $130,000, which she shared in part with her female teammates.

Settling the debate in the final episode, Liebert skillfully played her way around top poker players Amir Vahedi, Layne Flack and Antonio Esfandiari. She came from behind and led the women's team to victory after six episodes where the men triumphed over the women, earning them bragging rights until the final table was concluded.

"I used all of my acting skills" said winner Kathy Liebert. "At one
point I let them think I had a poor hand. I new if they smelled weakness, they would try to bluff me and I had "the nuts." The guys put all their chips in when I had the superior hand. Their egos got the best of them. It serves them right to get beaten by a woman."

POKER ROYALE: BATTLE OF THE SEXES is hosted by radio personality Tom
Leykis, along with co-host Kennedy, and color commentator and poker pro, Robert Williamson III. The previous six episode's winners were Amir Vahedi(two-time winner), Antonio Esfandiari, Layne Flack, Paul Wolfe and Greg Raymer.

That is wonderful news, Congratulations Kathy!! Check out Kathy's poker page on my website: Kathy Liebert I can't wait to watch the next Battle of the sexes Poker game. It's so funny to see how the guys can't believe we girls can play poker!!

Brad Garrett wins Online Poker Girl Poll

2005-03-14T09:57:00.000-08:00

Hey Girls,

The results are in from my Celebrity Poker Showdown Poll at Online Poker Girl. Brad Garrett was the top vote getter with 10 votes! Next was Malcolm-Jamal Warner with 8 votes, followed by Jason Alexander with 7 and Colin Quinn and Bonnie Hunt with 4 votes apiece. Thank you everyone for voting!

Brad Garrett won Celebrity Poker Showdown

The poll was correct! You girls and guys picked the right poker player to win the Celebrity Poker Showdown Tournament 5 Champion, Brad Garrett. The poker game was very exciting as Colin Quinn outwitted every celebrity poker player at the table until he faced Brad as the final two poker players. Then Brad beat Colin with a pair of 9's while Colin had nothing.

Poker Blogs

I have started to broaden my poker horizons and have been reading many other poker related blogs for interest sake and was amazed at how many people are blogging about online poker. I hope more people start poker blogs! Many blogs I read promoted PP, or Tilt, which are decent poker rooms, but I really hope those poker bloggers decide to try Hollywood Poker. Hollywood gives much more appeal to the online poker game and the poker community there is amazing...I have met alot of new friends, especially on Hollywood's Forum. More importantly, the Hollywood support is next to none as any issues get cleared up immediately and I get the respect I deserve as an online poker player on their site!!

Well, see you next time,

Online Poker Girl

Female Poker Player Kathy Liebert

2005-03-09T21:15:00.000-08:00

New and Improved Online Poker Girl

2005-03-01T12:11:00.000-08:00

I have recently updated my site Online Poker Girl by adding a weekly poll, a guestbook for all us poker girls to keep in touch with, and some more information on female poker stars and female celebrity poker players.

I added two new female poker stars: Cyndy Violette and Susie Isaacs. In 2004, Cyndy Violette finally achieved her dream of winning the 7 card stud high-low tournament of the World Series of Poker. She now can enjoy her World Series bracelet, the $135,900 in prize money, and the title as poker champion. Susie Isaacs ranks seventeenth on the All Time Women's Money List. Susie has won two World Series of Poker bracelets.

I also added Camryn Manheim to the female celebrity poker players list. Camryn Manheim has appeared on celebrity poker showdown.

Don't forget to sign Online Poker Girl's Guestbook!!

Online Poker Girl

2005-02-22T12:18:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone
I am really excited because I plan on working on my Online Poker Girl website in the next couple weeks and adding a few new features. I think I may add a poker poll to view all my guests and friends opinions on recent poker news, and possible a guestbook so all us *Poker Girls* can keep in touch.
The best part of feedback from all of you is talking about celebrities that we have played poker against at Hollywood Poker, the best site for Online Poker. It's such a great site because it allows you to play online poker for free, and then when you feel comfortable will allow you to join the real money online poker scene with Hollywood celebrities!!

Well that is all for today, and I hope to see you soon on my website, www.onlinepokergirl.com, or at Hollywood Poker, www.hollywoodpoker.com.

Bye for now

Poker Jill's Celebrity Poker Online

2005-02-16T06:24:00.000-08:00

Well,

I was watching Celebrity Poker Showdown last night and was impressed with the poker ladies, Brandi Chastain and Camryn Manheim. The Celebrity Poker Showdown is an exciting Poker tv show on Bravo where celebrities can play poker against each other. Colin Quinn beat Brandi Chastain in a poker hand to put her out of Poker Champion contention. Brandi had a straight draw and could win if she caught a jack or a six. But, another eight came on the turn.Then, when a four of hearts was on the river, it was all over for Brandi Chastain. I enjoy Colin's poker playing style, but I cheer for female poker players usually.

So now it was up to Camryn. With pocket sixes and the short stack, Camryn chose to go all-in before the flop — Colin quickly calls. The flop didn't hurt Camryn, but it gave Colin a straight draw in addition to his other two outs. The turn helped no one, but gets Camryn one card closer to a huge pot. Unfortunately, Colin (the man she deemed 'the devil') still had a bit of his crazy luck left and was given the ten he needed on the river. Camryn is out and Colin is on his way to the Championship Game.

I am proud of my poker girls Brandi Chastain and Camryn Manheim for putting on a good poker show. Right after watching Celebrity Poker Showdown I had to start playing real money poker against my favorite celebrities at Hollywood Poker (www.hollywoodpoker.com). Just in case you are new to my blog, Hollywood Poker is a real money online poker site where hollywood celebrities play online poker against people like us!! It's so fun being able to talk to celebrities like Matt Damon at a table! Most of the celebrities enjoy playing texas holdem.

And don't forget to check out my website, www.onlinepokergirl.com, and read some poker tips, and some poker news on wonderful female poker players.

Online Poker with Jill Buckley

2005-02-03T13:20:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

My name is Jill Buckley and I am an avid female poker player. I am known to some as the onlinepokergirl or simply as Poker Jill. My favorite poker game is texas holdem and I also enjoy omaha hilo.

I am very impressed as of the last few years as women have become more involved in the Poker scene; especially the online poker scene. And to make matters even better, these women are actually doing very well. I have also created a website (www.onlinepokergirl.com) that has some more information concerning females in the Poker scene. I mainly talk about the female celebrity poker players that play poker on the Celebrity Poker Showdown, as well as the real poker stars competing at events such as the World Series of Poker. I really hope you decide to visit the site and I would like any feedback concerning it.

Lastly, but most importantly, I feel it extremely important that I share with you my favorite online real money poker site, Hollywood Poker. James Woods and Vince van Patten promote this site and are common players at the tables. There are so many celebrities that play on the tables and they love to chat with us commonfolk. I have seen Ricki Lake, Scott Baio, Michael Woods, Michael Kane, Matt Damon and many other celebrities at the tables. You can chat more with the wonderful other poker players in their Green Room Forum.

Well I'll leave it at that and hope to see some of you at the Hollywood Poker tables soon!