Simply
the Best Better than All the
Rest
Widely Respected Las Vegas Tournament
Pro
Kathy Liebert Captures First
World Series of Poker Title
Watch
your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your
destiny.
-- Frank Outlaw
Kathy
Liebert�s name always comes up when the
question of �best female poker player�
arises. Now, it may be time to drop the
�female� denomination, and simply say
she is one of poker�s �best players.�
Period.
Liebert
made her case by winning the $1,500 buy-in
Limit Hold�em Shootout event at the 2004
World Series of Poker. She officially
received $110,180 for first place, along
with her first gold bracelet. �Best poker
players,� indeed. End of argument.
Throughout
her ten-year career as a touring poker
pro, Liebert has always maintained an
emotional equilibrium that sets her apart
from most of her competitors. Liebert
never told bad beat stories, complained
about bad luck, or misbehaved in the poker
room. She accepted the wins with the losses,
and took it all in stride. Her peaceful
demeanor personified a new breed of poker
player that began to emerge onto the tournament
scene during the early to mid 1990s.
Liebert
was born in Tennessee, grew up on Long
Island (New York) and graduated with a
business degree from Marist College. She
worked in investments at Dunn and Bradstreet
for a few years before realizing she was
not cut out for a career in a structured
9 to 5 work environment. She considered
going to law school, but changed her mind
when she discovered a new vocation that
would bring riches and even some personal
fame.
Liebert moved to California, then eventually
settled down in Colorado and began playing
in the local low-limit poker games. She
scratched out a living at the tables and
used her knowledge of investing to make
small fortune during the stock market
boom of the late 90s. She achieved financial
independence at an age when most of her
peers were just getting their first job
promotion. That put her on the launching
pad to a new career path.
Liebert
began playing poker tournaments and eventually
moved to Las Vegas. She ranked in the
top 12 of the Card Player Tournament Player
of the Year rankings, in both 1997 and
1998. She made final table appearances
at all the top events, including the World
Series of Poker. In 2000, she was the
chip leader after day two of the main
event. Her biggest win came in 2002, when
she won the main event of the inaugural
Party Poker Million. Liebert went a poker
cruise and came back home with a million
dollars. How many tourists can say that?
But
for all of her financial success and peer
respect, the one thing that eluded Liebert
(until this day) was the coveted gold
bracelet � presented to the winner of
each WSOP event. Liebert came very close
to winning last year. In 2003, she got
heads up in the $1,500 Limit Hold�em event
with an off-duty Horseshoe poker dealer
named John Arrage, who eventually won.
It was a tough loss for Liebert.
That
two-hour showdown between Arrage and Liebert
was truly remarkable, and featured an
ending that no one in the audience could
possibly have predicted (including Arrage,
perhaps). Arrage started off with roughly
a 3 to 1 chip advantage over Liebert,
but saw his lead crumble gradually over
the first hour. When Liebert built her
marginal chip lead into a 3 to 1 chip
advantage during the heads-up finale,
her victory seemed to be a foregone conclusion.
It appeared Arrage was content with the
second-prize showing and $91K, while Liebert
was primed for her first world championship.
Then,
the limits went up and the world might
as well have been turned upside down.
Liebert's dream was shattered. Arrage
went on a 25-minute run that left everyone
in the room shaking their heads in disbelief.
Liebert finished second.
Twelve
long months later, Liebert sat down to
her first WSOP final table of 2004. The
cards were dealt. Time for redemption.
The finalists were eliminated in the following
order:
9th
� HIPPI JON ANDLOVEC � The gambler from
Nevada�s capital, Carson City, was the
first player to be eliminated about an
hour into day two. The 59-year-old who
has won a few tournaments was making his
third WSOP final table, and first since
1991 (he has 4th and 6th place finishes
in two prior showings). Andlovec was down
to his last $5K and moved in with a weak
ace, which lost to Q-10 when a queen flopped.
Andlovec collected $6,620.
8th
� RONNIE EBANKS � The 40-year-old ex-jockey
and agent from Florida was making his
first-ever final table. Normally, a full-house
would be a great hand to go �all in� with
-- but not when your opponent has four-of-a-kind.
Ebanks �tens full of queens� lost to a
sledgehammer -- four tens. Ebanks added
$9,940 to his bank account.
7th
� ANDREW HALLENBECK � Hallenbeck, 29,
made it into the money earlier this year
(22nd in the $1,500 Limit Hold�em event).
He made his final bet of the night with
A-4, which was completely dominated by
A-K. A four failed to rescue Hallenbeck,
which translated into $13,240 for 7th
place.
6th
� IVO DONEV � The eccentric Austrian chessmaster,
Ivo Donev came in second in chips, but
was never able to gain much momentum at
the final table. His big hands were repeatedly
cracked by his opponents, most commonly
Kevin Song. His final hand was J-10 against
A-10. Although he caught a 10, the ace
kicker played and checkmated Donev into
6th place. Donev, who won the WSOP $1,500
buy-in Omaha event in 2000, took $16,560.
5th
� MICHAEL TASHMAN � A local retiree, Tashman
busted out in 5th place. He was severely
short-stacked and went �all in� with Q-9
against Q-10. Dominated hands usually
don�t fare too well heads up, and this
was no exception. Tashman received $19,880.
4th
� JOE CASSIDY � The young California poker
pro, Joe Cassidy went out next. He cashed
in the $1,500 Limit hold�em event earlier
this year, and made a respectable 4th-place
showing in this event. He lost to trip
deuces and added $23,180 to his poker
bankroll.
3rd
� BROCK PARKER � The youngest player at
the final table was Brock Parker -- age
22. He finished 10th in the previous event,
and came much closer to winning this one.
Parker, who lives in the Washington, DC
suburb of Silver Spring, MD, had his luck
finally run out when he lost his final
hand of the night to Kevin Song. Parker
collected $29,800.
When
heads up play began, Liebert faced the
veteran tournament pro, Kevin Song. The
chip counts were as follows.
LIEBERT:
$200K
SONG: $160K
It
took two and a half hours for Liebert
to defeat Song, and dispel the ghosts
of heads-up matches of the past. Liebert�s
critical hand took place when she called
repeated bets by Song, who was bluffing
� while holding a vulnerable small pair,
pocket threes. That hand gave Liebert
not only a massive chip lead, but the
confidence to close the victory.
Towards
the end, Liebert won five pots in a row.
Then, on the final hand of the night,
Liebert was dealt J-3 � not usually one
of hold�em best hands -- versus Song�s
A-Q. Song�s last $15K went into the pot
on a draw with two overcards when the
flop came 6-3-2, and Liebert called with
the small pair. An 8 and 5 came on the
turn and river respectively � no harm
to the Liebert�s pair of threes. Liebert
proved to be a popular winner, as she
was swarmed by many of her peers.
Korean-born
Kevin Song finished as the runner up.
The winner of the 1997 $2,000 buy-in Limit
Hold�em title, Song left the tournament
poker scene for three years to build a
successful retail business. He now limits
his poker playing to the World Series.
He received $58,300 for second place.
Liebert
now has 11 cashes at the WSOP, and is
now third on the Women�s top money winner
list. She was eager to cite 1983 world
champion Tom McEvoy as an inspiration,
both personally and as a teacher. Liebert
said she learned a lot about tournament
strategy from McEvoy�s numerous books
and writings on the game.
Afterward,
Liebert was asked to compare her tournament
victories. �The World Series of Poker
is the premier poker tournament, so winning
an event here is a big accomplishment,�
she said. �It might not be as much money
(as I won in the Party Poker Million),
but it�s a bigger accomplishment.�
-- Official Report
by Nolan Dalla, Media Director -- 2004
World Series of Poker
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