Liz Lieu "bought" her win at the LA PokerClassic.....any thoughts?

[gilbert]

in other poker bitch news, jennicide is still pretty smoking, and karina jett is still somewhat ugly.

[grandgnu]

From the link on her blog to the story:

[ QUOTE ]
Liz Lieu, a very tough, high-stakes cash game player who only recently began playing tournaments, had played 20 hands heads-up with Jason Heidema, a designer for eBay.in the 16th event of LAPC, $1,000 limit hold'em. Lieu had him crippled at one point, but then he won about 10 hands in a row. Earlier, a three-way deal had been made where Heidema was to get $45,013 to $37,453 for Lieu and $23,466 for Jack Boghossian. They agreed to play for $10,000 and the trophy, and Lieu announced she would donate 20 percent of her winnings to charity if she won the tournament. Now, to make sure that the promised money did go to charity mostly to multiple sclerosis, the remainder to Vietnam aid she offered to let Heidema take $7,000 of the $10,000 if she could have the win and trophy that went with it, or play on, and he took the deal. Lieu, who basically plays $400-$800 hold'em, entered her first tournaments at the 2005 World Series and had two cashes. The majority of her charity donation, she said, would go for multiple sclerosis, the remainder to help 'my country' (Vietnam).

[/ QUOTE ]

So, by making this deal she agrees to give 20% of her winnings, which are around 40K. So that's 8K. So she gets 3K of that payment from the deal, so it cost her 5K (potentially) to get the win and the bracelet.

Anyone who doesn't think that the potential publicity and sponsorship deals she can gain from a first place and donating to charity isn't worth 5K obviously isn't considering this seriously.

Hell, she'd probably give up the entire 40K for that type of publicity, considering the limits and games she plays.

[BarronVangorToth]

[ QUOTE ]
Her primary motive was to increase the value of "Liz" as a poker personality.

[/ QUOTE ]


"Winning" the event > the $ she gave up by "winning."

And it's not close.

Whether someone likes what she did or not, she was obviously allowed to do what she did, and what she did was the +EV play, so....

I wonder if this was John Q. 2+2'er doing this if people would have the same problem as Attractive Female Poker Player doing it.

Double standard ahoy?

Mayhaps.

[grandgnu]

[ QUOTE ]
I wonder if this was John Q. 2+2'er doing this if people would have the same problem as Attractive Female Poker Player doing it.

Double standard ahoy?

Mayhaps.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't have any problem with what she did. But I wouldn't go labeling it as if she's doing it for "charity". She's doing it to help herself much more than any other reason. Sounds like she'll make an excellent politician.

[Ray Zee]

players should be able to make any deals they want. they put up all the cash and dont get any extra so to speak. why shouldnt they split however they want to. when the sponsers pay the entry fees of players then they may have a say. but we as players put up all our own money and then get raked a part of it for the tournament fees and then are told what we can do as far as splitting. i dont think so.

[grandgnu]

[ QUOTE ]
players should be able to make any deals they want. they put up all the cash and dont get any extra so to speak. why shouldnt they split however they want to. when the sponsers pay the entry fees of players then they may have a say. but we as players put up all our own money and then get raked a part of it for the tournament fees and then are told what we can do as far as splitting. i dont think so.

[/ QUOTE ]

that-is-a-run-on-sentence/paragraph-and-I-still-need-to-read-your-hi/lo-book-i've-heard-good-things-and-I-agree-with-you-that-players-should-be-able-to-split-however-they-wish.

[ESKiMO-SiCKNE5S]

[ QUOTE ]
This imo is very wrong for a number of reasons. a.) it takes away from the spirit of the game, the win is not earned but bought for self serving & self promotional reasons b.) it causes issue with Player of the Year points because now they aren't correctly depictive of talent

[/ QUOTE ]

yes i agree with this 100%, the title should be decided in a true heads up poker match at the end of the tournament... this way the most skilled player is able to use their superior reading and playing abilities to be guaranteed to walk away with the tro... *straight face fading*....

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

sorry..... wait.....

hahahahahaahahahahahahahahahaha

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

Poker is about making money. If both players entered into the deal voluntarily, it has precisely zero impact on you.

It's poker, not the Olympics.

[Bolivia]

I think ray plays too many cash games. There is a certain spirit of competitiveness that is being lost which i think is kinda at the root of the tournaments, but maybe i'm wrong. If it were up to me it'd be winner take-all no tears. If I bought myself a trophy tho, i wouldn't go around claiming i won it.

[bigdog23]

Bolivia i agree with you man.
Would not mind the casino, like on pstars, make you play for a certain percentage of the pool. (Even if it would be small) Would be good for poker if the rankings systems counted for more (invitational tourneys, etc.)
I hate cash games but love tourneys, probably why i agree with you