Life is full of changes.  It in the “how we deal” with those changes that develop our character.

In these last months, I have drifted away from poker and joined the “let’s live life fully” crowd.  I do not regret my decision to stop traveling for poker for now.  How long will I linger at home with those I call my family?  This only God knows…

Lord, You are taking me on quite a ride and I love it.  I don’t know what I am doing or where you are leading but I know I am going. I am moving and obeying each step as you reveal it to me.  This is such a beautiful place to be with You.  Blessed be Your name.  Thank  You for saving me.  Without You I can do nothing, but with You I can do more than is possible.  O glory!

March is a month of celebration for my family.  These days are filled with the joys of being a Mom,  Grandma and Wife.  It is a blessing to see our children grow into adulthood.  I love seeing my four year old granddaughter evolve into a lovely child. But most of all, I am grateful to be continuing to walk these middle years with My Love.

I turned 48 years old on March 8.  My husband took me on a Carnival cruise to commemorate my birthday.  After winning my seat into the 2012 Carnival Texas Hold’em PokerPro Challenge, we visited some wonderful ports and spent many hours resting in each others presence. He treated me to a tour of the only cameo factory in the America’s and I now sport a beautiful example of those craftsman’s work.  The cameo is stunning.  Thank you, Mike!

My beloved son, Adam, turned 28  (gulp) on St. Patrick’s Day. Happy Birthday, Adam!  I love you, Son. He has become a wonderful daddy for his little girl.  Addyson knows she is loved and adored.  And this pleases this Grandma very much.

And these are some of the many reasons this season of my life has become the best of my days.

Continuing Ed Experience Like No Other

School will be out soon―and it’s not just students who are counting the days. Need a Teacher Appreciation Gift??  What better way to show appreciation for hardworking teachers than with the gift of two days of refreshment and renewal? This could be a great way to show your appreciation!

Go to http://gps.womenoffaith.com/glms/index.php/groups/finder/ and enter my group name “Women of Brevard” to find all the details.

Addy runs to Grandma

I am sitting in a chair watching Mike gather wood for a fire. I was following him around, but stopped when he laughed! I was carrying my purse round with me. Guess gathering firewood with a purse on your shoulder is a bit too fashionable for the trail.

When we were hiking in I realize how many errors I made planning my portion of the trip. I am wearing flip flops with shorts. So now I’m getting my legs scratched up and eaten by bugs. Sticks are poking my feet and I have no balance in these silly shoes.

Within 10 feet I was attacked by a swarm of mosquitos. I tried to run away from them only to have one land in my eye. Mike saved me by spraying me down with “Repel 100″. It worked instantaneously! I hope it lasts for a while.

We have never camped together before and I haven’t been in 25 years. Do you thinking camping is like riding a bike? That it will all come back go me? Sure hope so!

I arrived about an hour ago. My first order of business for the trip was to stop for a massage. My therapist Sue had a wonderful touch and the half hour flew by way too fast.

I was greeted by Kyle Villers and Adam Huch, our hosts for the weekend at baggage claim. We are waiting for the other ladies flights to arrive before catching the limo to the hotel.

As luck would have it, We spotted Maria Ho waiting in the baggage claim area, looking beautiful as ever!!
Tiffany “Hot Chips” Michelle showed up a few minutes later. The word is Jennifer Leigh has landed and is taxiing as I type this.

This is going to be awesome!

I was interviewed by Ashley Adams for the House of Cards.  We had a good laugh looking back on my start in poker.  You can catch the show on several radio stations and via internet.  Click here to see where to listen http://houseofcardsradio.com/pages/stationlist.shtml.  If you procrastinate, it will be archived for your listening pleasure in a couple weeks.   

Ashley is the author of Winning 7-Card Stud (Kensington Press 2003) and the new e-book, Winning at Low-Limit, No-Limit.  .Ashley contributes to  poker magazines such as Poker Player Newspaper and Poker News. 

Thanks for having me on the show!  I had a great time!

1/8/2011 8:02 am
Good Morning! When I awoke the morning I was full of idea to write about and things to expound on but that was an hour ago. Instead of coming right to my computer I allowed myself to be distracted by a few guiltless chores: making my bed led to folding up several days’ worth of pajamas. The pj folding became hanging up a few shirts, which invariably became, “Oh, I should check the dryer—turn it on for a fluff”, which then morphed into folding clothes followed by “Let’s try to match all the unpaired socks.” Next thing I know an hour has passed and I have no clue what I wanted to write about.

Isn’t that just like human nature? We fail to be purposeful in our actions and allow innocent distractions, however worthy, to take us off our planned purpose. To be a really good poker player or any other worthy pursuit, we must become disciplined in our actions. We cannot let the litany of the urgent rob us of our prime time. Our prime time must become sacred, allowing no one, activity, or thing to intrude. To get what we’ve never had, we must do what we’ve never done. ~Anonymous

I made the final table of the Borgata December Mini-Series yesterday.  This two day event $500+60 was a “one re-entry” tournament. This structure allowed for a person busting out in the first four levels to one more chance.  A re-entry structure differs from a re-buy event in that when busting, you leave your table and return to the cashier to buy in again.  This means you will get a new seating assignment, a new stack of chips, and pay the house another entry fee for a do- over.  In this case the re-entry fee was a fair $60.

One of the difficulties with traveling alone, especially for me as a married lady is the loneliness.  And this loneliness is never strong than when I run deep into a tournament. I keep my guy friends at arm’s length for several reasons: non-involved over lookers may interpret my actions incorrectly, the guy friends themselves may draw wrong conclusions, and to protect myself from unwanted advances.  Earlier in my poker travels, I tried to be one of the “guys”, but it only caused heartache and misunderstanding.  It is just to hard to separate the male-female thing when you are just hanging out in hotels and casinos—add any alcohol and the drama steps up! When a guy friend would ask me to dinner, I often missed the clues, and did not understand they were actually asking me out.  I made a lot of mistakes and hurt some feelings, so now I pretty much stay back as a loner by eating alone, no side trips, and no trips to the various bars!

This works pretty well until I find myself making a deep run and busting with an icky hand only to find myself really alone.  There really isn’t anyone there for me at that point except the only One who really matters: God.  But do I turn to Him in my hour of need?  No, I go seek solace in a beer (or three) only to feel even worse when I get back to my room.  I spend the next hours crying my eyes out, feeling so sorry for myself.  What a dumb ass I can be!  If only I had reached out to Him in my time of need, I would now feel rested and refreshed instead of bloated with a headache.  But God is good, He promises me that “weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).  And I did wake up with joy in my heart this morning.  I am so very blessed and that 5th place finished didn’t hurt one bit!

Now playing High Stakes No Limit Hold'em

Early Saturday morning I called Tina Tellone, a close friend of mine, to see about her joining me in Daytona Beach Kennel Club for a day of poker action.  Tina arrived 45 minutes late and on her 4^th hand found herself on the button with pocket kings.  Five women limped in to the hand with her and the blinds to go, she announced, “this is NOT a button raise I just happen to be sitting where it is located.”  With a raise of $600 everyone called including the blinds.  The flop came with an Ace, as if there would be any doubt.  The small blind let out with $600 and everyone folded to Tina you could see the steam shooting out of her ears and she called the bet.  Later I asked why and she said, “I had to see what Ace was so valuable on a 50/100 blind level with a pre-flop raise of $600“.  They checked it down from the flop and the woman turned over Ace/Eight off-suit.

After the hand I hear from the table where she was, “just so you know my chips have GPS tracking in them and I will be getting them back”.  Sure enough Tina did just that. The very next level got them all back and then some!  She did it by limping in with pocket 8’s and spiking a set on the flop! The poker gods were smiling as she boated against the woman’s nut flush at the river.  Tina doubled up through the very woman who cracked her Kings.

Way to go, Tina!

She was definitely on her game correctly calling hole cards hand after hand, she was unstoppable.  Accurately assessing the final table Tina offered the woman expected to make it to heads up a chop.  No thanks! Final table action lasted 45 minutes and it was Tina vs. the reluctant chopper. This woman wasn’t willing to concede the trophy or title even though Tina had the chip advantage.  Tina laughingly said, “That’s fine, I’ll win it outright” and it only took 14 hands.

I am reminded of a similar reluctant chopper story from my background.  It was the 2008 WSOP Ladies circuit event at Harrah’s New Orleans.  First place was $16,700 with $9,185 for second.  After clearing most of the final table I ended heads up.  I offered my opponent very generous even money deal with me retaining the title and the gold WSOP Circuit pendant necklace. She declined even though I had 85% of the chips. I won the tournament two hands later.

Tina was on Cloud 9 with her win and decided pickup some extra funds from the cash game.  I think she was more excited about winning the trophy than the cash.  Trophies are tangible reminders allowing  us bragging rights and reminiscent feelings of triumph.  Congratulations, Tina!  Love you!

I arrived early into the poker room and was warmly greeted by Salli. Salli is the tender touch that makes this particular ladies event special. The ladies are treated to gift bags, roses, and so much more which all comes from this beautiful woman’s touch. Thanks Aunt Salli for a lovely twist on a poker tournament.

Those registering early get 500 an extra “green rooster” chips in addition to a starting stack of 5,000 chips. A dealer add-on of $10 gets you another 1,000 chips. The $150 entry event has 20 minute levels.

Actions starts at 2 PM.

Title: “Luck Be a Lady” Daytona Beach- No Limit Hold ‘em Tournament
Location: Daytona Beach Kennel Club and Poker Room
Link out: Click here
Description: Once again the Daytona Beach Kennel Club and Poker Room will host a Ladies No Limit Hold ‘em tournament as a part of the Second Annual Daytona Beach International Poker Tournament.  Come join me as we have a wonderful time together playing our game, our way!

Saturday, November 13, 2010• Cards fly at 2:00pm
Daytona Beach Poker Room – Daytona Beach, FL
960 South Williamson Blvd
Daytona Beach, FL

$150 buy-in, 5k in chips, 20 minute blinds. LIPS is one of the sponsors for this event

November 1 – 5 are given over to $80 buy-in super satellites, with event play beginning November 6 and continuing through November 14. Event buy-ins range from $115 to $550 for the championship event, which will begin with two starting days, November 11 and 12, and conclude on Sunday, November 14.

For further information, contact the poker room at 960 S Williamson Blvd, Daytona Beach, Florida 32114 (386) 252-6484
Start Time: 14:00
Date: 2010-11-13