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Kathy Liebert Profile
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KATHY LIEBERT POKER PRO & WINNER OF FIRST PARTYPOKER.COM MILLION
Kathy Liebert got the attention of the poker world when she became
the first woman ever to win a major poker tournament and pocket
a $1 million payday at the inaugural PartyPoker.com Million in
2001. But she'd already given everyone a wake-up call the year
before when she finished second in the World Series of Poker,
going nose-to-nose with some of the toughest competitors in the
game.
Ranked in the top handful of women on the all time money list
at the World Series, Liebert, in her mid-thirties, is a no-nonsense,
business-like professional. She could easily be mistaken for the
Dunn & Bradstreet executive she once was before "discarding"
the corporate world for the world of cards.
Born in Tennessee, but raised on Long Island in New York, Liebert
attended Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY, graduating with a
degree in business and finance. She was immediate hired at Dunn
& Bradstreet, but it became evident very shortly she wasn't cut
out for corporate life. Her mother encouraged her to do something
she loved and the money would follow. During her time at D&B,
she had played the stock market, doing well enough to quit her
job and follow her mother's advice.
Undecided about what precisely to do, Liebert just began traveling,
making a short stop in Las Vegas where she played casino poker
for the first time. She'd learned the game when her parents invited
friends into their home for occasional nickel-dime competitions.
Despite her interest in poker while in college, she was consistently
turned away from dorm games because of her gender.
Eventually, Liebert ended up in Colorado, attracted by the prospect
of skiing in the Rockies. Central City and Blackhawk, communities
in the mountains, had just legalized gambling, and Liebert went
up to play $5-limit poker. She learned the rudiments of the game
playing weekly, and was soon invited to become a "paid"
player by the casinos to keep the action going on the poker tables.
She further improved her game reading books by top pros.
A friend encouraged Liebert to try her hand at tournament poker,
and she entered a top tournament in Las Vegas. She surprised herself,
finishing second in her first tournament, which featured Omaha,
a form of seven-card stud. A week later she entered her first
Texas Hold 'Em tournament - and took home another second - only
it paid her $34,000.
It was the beginning of her bankroll, which has enabled her to
buy houses in Las Vegas and South Gate, CA, and to create a lifestyle
that fits her intensely individualistic personality. Liebert still
plays the stock market conservatively, keeping her assets tucked
away so that she will never see the low end of a gambler's life.
Today, Liebert splits her time between playing card clubs in
Los Angeles, casinos in Las Vegas and major tournaments like the
PartyPoker.com Million on the World Poker Tour.
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