Poker Hottie - Liz Lieu

As suggested by the banner above, every week I will be featuring a female poker player or hostess to present a softer side of the poker world. Women rarely get the credit or attention that they deserve in the world of poker, here's my tribute to them.

This Weeks HOTTIE - Liz Lieu



Liz Lieu (born August 2, 1974 in Vietnam) was primarily a limit Texas hold 'em cash games player for a number of years, before embracing tournament play at the 2005 World Series of Poker. Close friend and fellow poker player John Phan encouraged her to enter the $1500 no-limit hold'em event, she ended up in fifth place with over $168,000 in prize money. She went on to place 12th in the $5000 no-limit hold'em event the same year and cashed in the $3000 tournament as well.

The next stop was the Bellagio's 2005 Festa Al Lago tournament, where she placed fourth in the $2500 no limit hold'em event and 16th in two other top tournaments in the series, taking home more than $80,000 for less than a week's worth of work. She went on to finish in the top ten spots at the World Poker Finals, Five Diamond World Poker Classic, and the Gold Strike World Poker Open.

Lieu's first tournament win came at the 2006 L.A. Poker Classic at Commerce Casino, where she won the $1000 limit hold'em event. Her second tournament win came when she won the same event in 2007.

In 2006, Lieu was honored by the WSOP and ESPN as a "Final Table Grand Marshall" along with Johnny Chan. Back in September 2007 Lieu signed an exclusive partnership with Chilipoker and acts as an Ambassador for the poker room. As of 2008, Lieu has earned over $690,000 in live tournament play.

Poker Hottie - Isabelle Mercier

As suggested by the banner above, every week I will be featuring a female poker player or hostess to present a softer side of the poker world. Women rarely get the credit or attention that they deserve in the world of poker, here's my tribute to them.

This Weeks HOTTIE - Isabelle "No Mercy" Mercier

Born in Victoriaville, Quebec, Isabelle did not always have her sights set on a career in poker. She earned a Law degree from the University of Montreal and practiced law for 6 months before moving to Paris, France to earn her Masters Degree. It was there that she worked as the Poker Room Manager of the famed Aviation Club de France, where she was twice nominated as Staff Person of the Year at the European Poker Awards.

In 2002, at the Masters Classic of Poker in Amsterdam, Isabelle finished 2nd in a large tournament and made more than 50 times her initial investment as a result. 2 years later, she won her first televised event in the 2004 WPT Ladies Night tournament, where Mike Sexton gave her the nickname "No Mercy".

Since then, Isabelle has cashed in at dozens of tournaments around the world. Her biggest prize total came in 2006, when she finished 5th in the $5,000 buy-in the World Series of Poker No Limit Hold'em event, taking home over $175,000.

More recently, Isabelle has released her own instructional DVD, and a biography entitled Profession : bluffeuse: Pokerstars has put together a very nice website for Isabelle, check it out at http://www.isabellemercier.com/

Poker Hottie - Shannon Elizabeth

As suggested by the banner above, every week I will be featuring a female poker player or hostess to present a softer side of the poker world. Women rarely get the credit or attention that they deserve in the world of poker, here's my tribute to them.

This Weeks HOTTIE - Shannon Elizabeth



I'm sure most people know who Shannon Elizabeth is. She is a very beautiful, very famous actress who has appeared in dozens of movies and TV shows. Most notably, in my opinion, is her appearance in the first American Pie film, where she attempts to seduce Jason Biggs' character in his bedroom. What many people don't know is that she has a tremendous passion for poker, and has had some success playing against the best in the world.

Elizabeth, who describes poker as her second career is one of the leading celebrity poker players around. She visits Las Vegas up to three times each month to participate in poker games with the top players to play in private games and televised events alike. Shannon played in the Main Event of the 2005 World Series of Poker and won a special tournament celebrating the opening of a new poker room at Caesars Palace hotel in January 2006, beating out 83 celebrities and poker professionals to win $55,000.

She has also cashed four times in the World Series of Poker in 2006 and 2007, but again busted out of the Main Event early. In 2007, she advanced to the semi-finals of the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship in a field consisting of the top poker professionals before losing to eventual champion Paul Wasicka. Among the four opponents she defeated were three World Series of Poker multiple bracelet winners: Jeff Madsen, Barry Greenstein, and Humberto Brenes.

Her success and popularity amongst the poker world had become so great that she was at one point sponsored by Full Tilt Poker.

Poker Hottie - Evelyn Ng

As suggested by the banner above, every week I will be featuring a female poker player or hostess to present a softer side of the poker world. Women rarely get the credit or attention that they deserve in the world of poker, here's my tribute to them.

This Weeks HOTTIE - Evelyn Ng

Born September 14, 1975 in Toronto, Evelyn is now one of the most recognizable faces in poker. By the age of 14, Evelyn was an accomplished pool player, similar to her the future boyfriend Daniel Negreanu. By age 17, she had expanded into dealing blackjack and poker games. It was artound this time that she met Daniel. He helped her develop a style of play designed to combat aggressive players. She achieved fame on the WPT circuit in 2003 after placing second in the Ladies' Night I tournament, beating out several top-ranked feamle poker players along the way.

Ng was included as one of the characters in the video game Stacked with Daniel Negreanu, and not just as eye-candy. Formerly associated with PokerStars, she is now part of Team Bodog along with fellow pros David Williams and Justin Bonomo.

She also appeared on Criss Angel Mindfreak as a professional poker player. Criss, having little experience in poker, attempted to psychologically persuade Ng to repeatedly pick a losing hand from a set of covered/open cards. As of 2008, her total live tournament winnings exceed $330,000.

On top of her skills on the poker table, she may be even more skilled at Guitar hero. Check out the video in the Youtube bar on the right. She rocks!