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WPT Information
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Women's Only Events
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Online
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The Heart of Poker
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
I remember the first real professional poker interview I did. It was with Annie Duke. Her enthusiasm for poker was like none that I had ever heard. I actually had goose bumps when she was telling me about the game and the reasons why she plays. I knew that there is nothing else in this world that she would rather be doing. There seemed to be no substitute for what she was doing right then and there which was playing poker. The following interviewees mimicked this same excitement. From Annie to Liz Lieu there is not one of those women in between who can see themselves not involved in the game in one form or another. It is beyond an enthusiasm. It is a passion.
I have always wondered what made professional players professionals, not just fly by nights who win a tournament and no one ever hears of them again, but true professionals. It finally hit me…the answer is heart. Annie Duke, Phil Helmuth, Doyle Brunson, Jennifer Harman. They all have one trait in common they have the heart of a poker player. Let’s face it. Life on the felt cannot be an easy one. One of my favorite pictures of Liz Lieu is of her sitting on a suitcase. To me it personified the poker life. If you ask any of them; the answer would be that they would want it no other way. Isabelle Mercier lives out of her suitcase and loves it. So the lifestyle is not all the glitz and glamour that you see on TV and in pictures. There is only one thing that can keep these men and women playing and living that lifestyle…heart.
My feeling is that the repeated success that these players have is due to their love of poker. No one attracts success more than someone who is doing what they love to do. Watch Kathy Liebert play poker sometime. Her eyes sparkle. You can tell she is doing what she loves to do and there is no substitution. Talk to Jennifer Tilly. She is just so excited and full of life. She has chosen her path and makes no excuses.
Any one can study and anyone can work hard. Anyone can play poker and even win at it but not everyone can be a true poker player. Heart is not something you can learn; it is not something you can find in any book about poker or about life. It is something that is way down deep. It is buried beneath the soul and is not always apparent. Think about the times that you are the happiest. The times that you knew that you were in your element and on top of the world.
For me it was when I have been in Vegas and in Atlantic City with Women’s Poker Club and with Woman Poker Player. And if I am really honest with myself…poker was a large part of it but not the center. It was the organizing and the interacting with other players who share the game of poker. It was watching the final table of the Women’s UPC event and knowing that in a small way I was partially responsible for them being there. That my contributions to WPC, WPP and to Maryann made all of that possible. I was in my element socializing, bridging gaps and motivating the amazing women of poker to share and to play and for all of them to know that I was there to support them.
It is a well known fact that the happiest people are those that get paid for what they love to do. But I don’t think that waiting to get paid is the answer. You might never get paid. But if you put off what you love to do, you might go through your entire life with out ever experiencing the astonishing feeling that comes with doing what you truly love.
