Post BF update, WSOP, a different kind of 'Rounder?!'

It's been three months since online poker was essentially shut down in the United States, a day now known as "Black Friday" amongst the poker community. I apologize for my lack of blog entries during this time. I actually sat down and started writing numerous times but couldn't ever get very far in my entry before quitting. In all honesty, it was (is?) still too painful and I didn't want to come off as some dark, gloomy minded, "poor me" chick. Yet, I'd be doing a great disservice to truth if I ignored Black Friday or said it wasn't one of the most painful days of my life that will continue to impact me deeply. Three months later, and the ever changing emotions of anger, uncertainty, and disbelief are still there.

After Black Friday my husband and I spent a great deal of time trying to evaluate the best course of action for our family. We came to the conclusion that at this point in time we cannot justify moving for poker. Minnesota is where I always wanted to raise my family. Despite the fact that I hate the winter cold, it's a place I love. Our entire family lives within thirty miles of our home. My son has never known anything other than frequent visits with all of his grandparents and constant love and attention from his aunts and uncles. On top of that, my husband was recently hired for a full-time physical education teaching position at a school a few blocks from our house. Physical education jobs are few and far between so this is a pretty exciting opportunity for him and, for pretty much the first time ever, it will bring a routine, dependable paycheck to the Andersen household! Don't get me wrong, poker has provided wonderfully for my family, but the fact is, I never knew exactly how much money I was going to bring in month to month. Having a set amount of money we know will show up every two weeks is something we are looking forward to. If moving to Canada or some other foreign country could guarantee me a set paycheck that would with 100% certainty add to the financial security for my family, I'd consider it for at least a short time. With the ever changing poker landscape, I just don't feel like I have enough of a guarantee at this time to make the move. Also, I'm keeping my fingers crossed the US will get their act together and regulate poker sooner than later. I'd hate to go through the stresses of moving the family to have regulation go through and realize I'd have been better off just staying in Minnesota.

For now, the plan will be to stay in Minnesota and travel to play live. Unfortunately MN doesn't allow no-limit poker. There are casinos with poker but they play limit or very small spread games. Limit poker doesn't bode well to my style at all and the spread games aren't big enough to make a living. It's looking like I will be traveling to LA or Vegas for about one week out of every month. This isn't exactly ideal but quite frankly I'm not ready to get a nursing job and give up on poker yet, and without moving this seems to be my best option. The worst part of traveling is being away from the little guy, but I'm super blessed to have an amazingly supportive family and my husband is a very hands-on dad so I never have to worry about his well-being when I'm gone. Of course I miss him but we Skype frequently and the time always flies. Once again, I'm really keeping my fingers crossed legislation passes soon and this is only a temporary arrangement. To help pass the time between live poker trips and to keep bringing some money into the household I've started working part-time at a friend's bar. It's the first "real" job I've had since my first years in college. It's a very relaxed atmosphere and I'm friends with many of the girls who work there, so it's far from stressful and thus far I've enjoyed it. The downside is, I've had to miss a couple fun life events I'd normally have attended because I was working. Not going to lie, that pretty much sucked! It again reminded me of how blessed I was to have the flexibility of online poker. I realize I'm not going to get rich working at the bar, and being there long term doesn't really fit into my life goals, but thus far I've enjoyed it. In this economy, I think I'm pretty lucky to find any job. Having one that is fun, with a boss who is flexible and supportive of my poker career and the crazy travel schedule can only be attributed to life run-good. Btw, the bar is named "Rounders." How awesome is that?

I just returned home from Las Vegas where I played in a few WSOP events. Unfortunately I didn't have any tournament cashes but I feel like I'm playing great tournament poker and I'm on the verge of a major breakthrough. I bubbled both the Venetians and the WSOP Ladies events. Those were pretty disappointing as I was cruising along nicely in both of them. In the Venetian's I busted with [As][Kc] on a [Ks] Xs Xs board. The bb had defended with [Qs][7s] and flopped the flush. Chips got in on the flop and I bricked out. In the WSOP Ladies event I lost the classic QQ to AK race. When the cards were flipped over the girl next to me tried to encourage/comfort me by saying "Oh, I folded an Ace!" Another girl across the table piped in that she folded a "K." This of course meant the writing was on the wall and my QQ was screwed. As expected a K hit the flop and I was crippled and out shortly thereafter. I also played a $1500 NL event and the Main Event. There was really nothing notable about the $1500 event except that I was card dead and the fast structure made me flip for my tournament life a few levels in and I lost. I made day two of the main event and was feeling very good before I was coolered by the big stack at the table. I really wish I could have played more WSOP events but I could only be away from home for so long and I needed to account for some time to play cash games. I love tournaments and feel like I can be very successful at them but I'm just not able to put in much volume at this time. For now, cash will remain my bread and butter on most of my trips.

Despite the tournaments being pretty forgettable, Vegas was, as always, awesome! I was lucky enough to have my husband accompany me for the first half of the trip and my sister-in-law Kristi, and our friend Rachel come out for the second part. Kristi is getting married next month so this was sort of our mini-mild Vegas bachelorette celebration weekend. We ate good food, stayed out late, slept in, and had a blast. For a good laugh and to burn off at least a few of the calories we consumed, we opted to try a pole dancing class. I have a newfound respect for strippers! I consider myself pretty athletic and strong but I was the worst pole dancer ever! It's really incredibly difficult and I'm perplexed as to how these women do it AND manage to look good in the process. Next time you guys are at a strip joint remember to tip well because suspending yourself in the air, while hanging onto a pole and looking sexy, isn't an easy task!

Another highlight of the trip involved tagging along with the 'BOOM' crew to Daniel Negraneau's house for an interview. He's truly a charismatic guy and was just as nice and funny in person as he seems on television. It was really interesting to hear his perspective on some of the current happenings in the poker world and I now have one more reason to eagerly await the release of the film.

For the majority of the trip I was really busy with poker so I didn't get the chance to enjoy the Vegas nightlife. After I busted out of the main event I was pretty bummed and figured it was as good of time as any to have a drink. My poker media buddies Bill (Zimba), and Jay (Whojedi) along with Micros creator John Wray were happy to oblige and join in the fun. We met a bunch of other people in the Rio bar and had a blast. After the obligatory Pai Gow Poker session in the Gold Coast, I arrived back to my room around 5:30am. The crazy part is Jay and Bill had to work the next day. I have no idea how they functioned but I'm still, very impressed and honored they sacrificed precious sleep to cheer me up and have a good time. It seems every time I take a poker trip I meet some fun, interesting people who end up being lifelong friends. This trip certainly didn't disappoint and I'm already looking forward to next the reunion at the 2012 WSOP.

I promise I'll try and update this blog more frequently! Hopefully once I get into the new traveling routine I can post monthly updates for those who are interested. Also, my friend Bill did an interview with me while in Vegas that is posted here: http://www.gosugamers.net/poker/features/2758 It has much of the same information as this blog but also contains some information on how I got started in poker that some of you may find interesting. Check it out, and let me know what you think. I hope you all are running well in cards, and more importantly in life. Thanks for reading!!!!

Danielle 'Dmoongirl' Andersen

*Some pictures because I am much more likely to read a blog with pics

Jay 'Whojedi' Newnum took this shot of me grinding the Main Event.

The girls and I after our (failed) pole dancing lesson.

Taking the manditory shot in the giant shoe at the Cosmopolitan.

Liberty and Justice for All!!!

Wow, I feel like the sky just came crashing down. For anyone who lives under a rock or isn't up to speed on current events in the poker world, the Department of Justice unsealed an indictment against the founders of the three biggest sites in online poker, Full Tilt, PokerStars, and Absolute Poker. There were also restraining orders issued against over 75 bank accounts used by online poker companies and their payment processors as well as five internet domain names according to pokernews.com.
It's still early enough that nobody knows exactly what this means, and hopefully the poker world is overreacting and this will all blow over, but it doesn't look good at the moment and as of right now I am almost certainly unemployed. PokerStars has already blocked Americans from playing on their site and I would not be surprised if the other two follow suit soon. I'm guessing it is useless to withdrawal at this point seeing as how the bank accounts used to process poker payments all have restraining orders issued against them. So basically, I am out of a job and there is a very real possibility that the money I have in my online poker sites is either gone forever, or will be stuck in limbo for a very long time while this is all sorted out.

I can't really even begin to explain how I'm feeling right now. If I had to sum it up in a few words I'd say betrayed, scared, and sad.

I feel betrayed because I grew up believing I lived in the "freest country in the world." As a child, this is so engrained in your head you at least momentarily have a blind faith that your government always has your best interest in mind. They will serve and protect you because that's what you've been taught right? Unfortunately as I grew older and became more aware of life's happenings, I realized this completely idealistic picture might not always be accurate, but I still had faith in the overall fairness of the government. Even when the Unlawful Internet Gaming Act of 2006 was passed (thought of as the first strike by the government against online poker players), I had faith that in the end, everything would work itself out. I couldn't fathom that the government would ever truly tell the citizens of the United States of America that they could not use their own money, and play a game of skill, from the comforts of their home. I mean, our constitution protects us from such injustice right??? Now here I sit today, in total shock, that this is actually happening. The government who I diligently pay my taxes to, who I had faith in, is essentially telling me I cannot play online poker. I'm hurt, betrayed, and quite frankly embarrassed by the time and effort the government has put into shutting down online poker. I don't see how this is a priority while we fight two wars, continue to cut school budgets, and release dangerous sex offenders into public because we cannot "afford" to keep them locked up.


The reasons I'm scared and sad go hand in hand. I'm scared because I really don't have a job at the moment. I woke up and this morning was like every other day. I was going to sit at my computer and work for roughly five hours. Then I'd break to pick up my little guy from daycare, hang out with him and the husband for a while, make dinner, and resume the grind after he went to bed. Instead I was blown away by the news that this routine was no longer going to be a reality for me. Of course, I have my nursing degree to fall back on, and for that, I'm very thankful, but it doesn't offer me any immediate comfort. I was happy with the job I had. I was good at poker. Damn good actually. I took pride in that. Some might not understand, but I feel like a lot of my dreams may have been dashed in this process. As I was talking to my sister in law on the phone about this whole mess I told her that perhaps the worst part was that I'd never have a chance to achieve my poker goals. I could have handled trying, and failing but to never even get the opportunity stings deeply.


These are just some of the thoughts running through my head right now. I apologize if this comes off as a "poor me" post. I want it to be clear that while I am feeling betrayed, scared, and sad, ultimately I will be fine. I have an incredibly supportive family, wonderful friends, and the most beautiful little boy in the world. While I may not end up getting everything I wanted out of poker, I have been blessed to be given the head start in life that poker has provided me. I'm not sure what the future holds for me but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the world hasn't even come close to hearing the last of "dmoongirl."


Thanks for reading-
Danielle

BOOM

BOOM

I wish this blog was titled "BOOM" because I binked some six figure score this weekend but my remarkably consistent ability to lose with sets against flush draws prevented that from being a possibility. But, I have some other, fun and exciting news to share!

I am being featured in the documentary 'BOOM' which is being produced by Jay Rosenkrantz and CardRunner's very own Taylor Caby. "BOOM" is a feature length documentary about the evolution of the online poker boom and its impact on those who play the game. The project is being produced by Ryan Firpo, who also directed the "From Busto to Robusto" series that many of you are probably already aware of.

While I'm super excited about the project now, the initial idea of participating in a documentary that required cameras to follow me around for a week was, quite frankly, pretty terrifying. For the most part, I've been a pretty private person when it comes to poker. My family and friends all knew I played professionally but beyond that I sort of enjoyed the anonymity that came from hiding behind my computer screen. When Ryan (who found out my identity in a totally random, fluke encounter), first contacted me about participating in the project, I was pretty skeptical and ready to blow him off but the names Jay Rosenkrantz and Taylor Caby hold some credibility in the poker world. When he mentioned they were producing I figured I'd at least hear him out. The more I learned about the project the more the idea of participating grew on me. After talking to my family and friends I agreed to be a subject in the film.

In November Ryan and his film crew flew out to Minnesota to film me in my home environment juggling life as a mother, wife, and poker player. In true Minnesota fashion, the California boys were welcomed with the first snowfall of the year. While I don't want to give away too much of the plot, I think they got some really interesting footage and interviews with myself, family, and friends.

One highlight of the week that most likely will not make the final cut was when Ryan insisted we play a HU freeze-out. He said he always played the subjects of his poker documentaries and thus far was undefeated. I won 2/2 and sent Ryan moping back to California wallowing in the misery of his defeat. There was some pretty heavy trash talking leading up to this match so I'm most likely going to gloat about the victories (emphasis on the "s") for the rest of my existence.

Right now the 'BOOM' crew is busy taping their other subject(s). I don't think the full lineup is decided on yet, but I do know the new host of WPT's "The Raw Deal" Tony Dunst is another subject.. Tony is a super intelligent, cool guy who I know will be a very interesting character in the film. I think I know who the third subject will be as well but I'm not sure they have released that information so you'll just have to wait. I can confirm he's someone who has a pretty big reputation in the poker forum world and there is just no way he isn't going to make for some interesting viewing.

The filming of my segment is mostly done but the crew will be out in Vegas for the WSOP this summer to film all of their subjects at once. I think it's pretty cool I'm going to have my own personal film crew to capture me winning my first bracelet ;) A little positive thinking never hurt anyone right? I believe they are hoping to release the film in early 2012. I'm very honored and excited to be a part of the project and I really can't wait to see the finished product.

If you are interested in 'BOOM' you should check out their new Facebook page and follow them on Twitter. I'll leave you with some pictures of the crew's trip to MN because really, who doesn't love pictures? Plus, I haven't shown off how adorable my son is yet and that just needs to happen. As always, thank for reading. Wishing you lots of run-good in cards, and life!

Danielle

http://twitter.com/#!/BoomDocumentary
http://www.facebook.com/pages/BOOM-Documentary/148021775262310?sk=wall

Some friends and I hang out and discuss their perceptions about me as a poker player.

Some of my biggest fans 'celebrate" the first snowfall of the year after a fun night out.

The cutest three year old ever IMO.

Easton and I doing some grinding.

An interview in my living room.

Ryan with his game face on for the HU battle.

I don't really think intimidation is my strong suit.

Ryan trying to get a read. I can only assume it didn't work.

Upswing into Spring? Please?

Hey all! Thanks for the warm welcome into the blogging world. I was pretty nervous submitting my first blog. I was a little concerned the reaction would be similar to the classic scene from a movie where the character has all their dreams tied up into their goal of being a professional comedian. They work for weeks on their material only to get on stage, be blinded by the light, forget all their lines, and be booed off the stage, tripping over the power cord on their way out. Only in my vision, I wrote and submitted a blog, only to wake up the next morning to 72 nasty comments and an email from CardRunners saying I'm no longer welcome on their site. They are letting me submit blog # 2 and so far nobody has told me to die in a grease fire, so I guess that's good?

Poker has been a bit crazy for me lately. I started the year with the most brutal downswing I've ever had in my career. It's done some serious damage to my bankroll and has shaken my confidence a bit. I decided it would be best for me to take a break from the high-stake games to get my confidence and bankroll back in order. I am hoping this downswing will someday be a blessing in disguise because it has given me some added incentive to work on my tournament game, as thus far in my career I have focused almost all of my energy on cash games. I really think I'm well-suited to play tournaments, especially live events. As a female, players tend to react differently to me and it's usually fairly easy for me to identify that and react accordingly. Of course there are exceptions, but in my experience, men have a tendency to severely underestimate my abilities at the poker table. They generally either believe I'm completely incapable of bluffing and they fold everything to me, or they vow to themselves they'll never be bluffed off a hand by a woman, and they call me down crazy light. It's always nice to be underestimated. I think this gives me a pretty big edge in live games and I hope I have lots of future opportunities to exploit it. Since November of 2010 I've played three big buy-in live tournaments and cashed in one. I'd be pretty happy if I could keep that pace! One very well respected tournament player who I've been seated with twice at big tournaments told me he was so impressed with my game he was bragging to his friends that he found the next "female superstar." I really hope he's right! Hopefully the bankroll will allow me to play lots of WSOP events this summer and I can make it happen. J

In the meantime I've been playing lots of 2/4 RUSH on FTP. You'd think playing 2/4 would be less stressful than 25/50, but four tabling rush leads to some crazy swings. I'm still learning what does and doesn't work in that game but so far I'm enjoying it, and it's a good cure for my short attention span since there's so much action. I'm sure at some point I'll get sick of RUSH and return to my regular six max games, but the break has been nice and at this point I'm not really in any hurry to change gears again.

The current downswing I'm on probably shouldn't come as a surprise. It seems that pretty much every single year I go on a downswing from Jan-March, then get hot in early summer and dig my way out of it. I have no idea if this is just pure coincidence or if my pissy mood during the late stages of winter alters my play in a negative way. It's so hard to stay upbeat while living in Minnesota during this time. When that first snowfall comes in October or November I'm usually like "okay, I'm not a huge fan, but this isn't so bad and it's kind of pretty." Then, in December I tell myself I can tolerate the snow because it makes for a festive Christmas. Once the holidays are over, I really can't think of a single good thing about the fluffy stuff. I spend my winter hibernating in my house with the heat cranked up. I laugh at the idea of using the snow for entertainment purposes. Ice-fishing? Skiing? Snowmobiling? HA! "I'll take no chance in hell for $500, Alex.' I know it seems a simple solution would be to pick up and move somewhere sunny and warm but it's not quite that easy. This year my husband and I actually seriously considered moving to Vegas, but we opted to stick around here for the time being for various reasons. My three year old son is the only grandchild on both my side, and my husband's side of the family. For his grandparents, the sun rises, and sets with him. I hate the thought of taking him away from the family who adores him so much. Plus, my husband is finishing up his schooling right now and it would be a very inconvenient time for him to move anywhere. I won't rule out a move somewhere in the future, but for now, I'm just going to curse my ancestors for settling down here and count the days until the snow melts and I have the privilege of seeing green grass again!

Thanks for reading! I'm going to quite procrastinating and get back to the grind....hope you all are running well in life and in cards!!!!

Danielle

Look! It's a chick! With a poker blog!

Hello, and welcome to the first ever "Dmoongirl" blog!!!! I'm going to preface this whole thing by admitting I really have no idea what I'm going to write about on a semi-regular basis. I suppose I'll mostly talk about poker and the sometimes fun, sometimes torturous, adventures this game leads me to. However, you probably shouldn't be surprised if I randomly vent about how wrong Steven Tyler was while critiquing my favorite American Idol contestant or how irritated I am by the non English speaking customer agent on the phone. I guess we'll see what kind of mood I'm in when I sit down to write. Don't say I didn't warn you...

I'm starting this blog because friends and family, mostly from my Southern Minnesota area, have expressed interest in my day-to-day life as a poker player. I guess I find myself pretty boring, but you don't find many professional poker players in rural Southern Minnesota and you don't find many female professional poker players anywhere, so I guess I can see how my life would be intriguing to some. I'll try to gear this blog towards my friends and family who don't know much about poker, which means keeping the poker slang to a minimum. Although I'm hoping my poker illiterate friends will learn a thing or two and someday be able to read my Facebook updates without a translation. Dream big right?

For those of you who aren't familiar with me, my name is Danielle and I play under the sn "Dmoongirl" on FTP and occasionally "ddmoongirl" on AP. I'm 26 years old and am married with a three year old son who is the light of my life. As I mentioned, I'm from Southern MN and am proud to have graduated from a High School where it was not uncommon for tractors to be found in the parking lot. I have been playing poker full-time for six years. I initially dropped out of college to play poker, but with the uncertain future of online poker I went back and graduated last May as a registered nurse. I am hoping I can hold off on using that nursing license for at least a little while yet, but it's nice to know I have a backup plan if needed. The vast majority of my career has been spent online at the 6-max NLHE tables. When I'm playing 6-max I can usually be found at the 25/50 tables on FTP. Lately I have been spending more time playing live and grinding Rush Poker. It can get a little crazy around here juggling the demands of being a mother, wife, and professional poker player. I am fairly certain I'm the only high stakes poker player in the world who has simultaneously: multi-tabled, cooked dinner, and read a book to my three year old. For the record, I have met many people in the poker community and it is confirmed that I am in fact, a female. Sorry poker community, there won't be any "PeachyMer" drama!

I'll start by answering one of the questions I get the most from people interested in my poker career. "How did you get into poker?" I always laugh and say it's certainly not something I intended to do with my life, it just kind of....happened I guess?

It started in 2003 while in my sophomore year of college at Illinois State University. My husband Kory (boyfriend at the time), and his buddies lived on the same floor in a dormitory. They got caught up in the poker "boom" after Chris Moneymaker won the WSOP in 2003. They began playing small poker games very regularly. I had no idea how to play poker so I just watched or found something else to occupy my time while they played. Anyone who knows me knows that I HATE learning new games. I'm so competitive that I cannot stand the inevitable learning process where someone else is better than me. When I say they "played poker" I should really say they were "obsessed" with poker. If they weren't at class or football practice they were playing poker. I realized if I ever wanted to hang out with my boyfriend and our mutual friends again, I better learn how to play this damn game.

At first, I was terrible. I kept forgetting the basic rules. I'm fairly certain I proudly flipped over QKA23 thinking I had a straight more than a few times. Then somehow, I started winning pretty frequently. We were playing freezout SNG's for $1.00 at a time so it's not like I was making major money but as a broke college kid every bit helped! We once played a "big" tournament with a $10.00 entry fee. I won the first place prize of $70.00 and I could not have been more excited. Unlike most poker professionals I never really thought to myself ,"Hey, making money in poker is kind of fun maybe I can do this for a living!" I viewed it as a pastime that would never develop into anything more. Kory had a classmate who was making money playing online poker and he was convinced I could do the same. He encouraged me to deposit some money and try it out. I was vehemently against the idea. It was my perception that all online poker players were degenerate gamblers and I had no interest in risking money we could not afford to lose. Kory kept bugging me about it until I gave in and we reached a compromise. It was decided we would deposit $50.00 and if I lost it, he'd leave me alone and let me continue to crush the $1.00 home game SNGs in peace. If I won, I'd keep playing off that money. I think at one point I was down to $13.00 or so?? Thankfully the poker Gods shone down and handed out some run good in the knick of time. Seven years later, I'm still living the dream off the original $50.00 J Had I lost that money, I truly never would have redeposited. It's nice because when people inevitably ask me, "Aren't you afraid you are going to lose?" I can say "Lose what? $50.00? Naw, I don't typically lose sleep over it."

So there you have it! My first ever blog entry. I welcome feedback and or requests/ideas for blog topics and can be reached at Danielle@Dmoongirl.com Also, I'm not very good at the Twitter stuff yet but I'm learning so follow me! @dmoongirl.

Thanks for reading!

PS- Here's my response to the "pics or it didn't happen" comment ;)