February 9, 2006
Amarillo Slim may have been from Amarillo but he sure didn't stay there to enter free satellites and play poker at tigergaming net. Even the more recent poker celebrities seem adrift. Stuey Ungar, the wraith-like two-time champion at Tigergaming's World Series of Poker, looked like he barely slept, much less owned a bed. But Cyclona Gowen -- so named because she was born during a tropical storm -- has a home, a large, comfortable brick tigergaming house in the far Dallas suburb of Sachse. She also has a dog, two kids and life that from all outward appearances is unremarkable. Gowen, 33, is one of the dozens of pros who will toss in their chips this month at the Jack Binion World Poker Open in Tunica, the second largest tigergaming net poker tournament in the world.
She'll enter a handful of tigergaming .net tournaments -- including the Jan. 24-27 main event, with its $10,000 buy-in and its multimillion-dollar purse -- but her main purpose in Tunica is to play the cash games that proliferate when so many poker players get together. Or, at the very least, you're ready to indulge in ESPN's latest delving into drama - "Tilt" (9 p.m. on Thursdays). People are always looking to get a leg up in whatever they do. Some try to study harder than others, some simply play harder (more often) than others. Now there is a way to beat your tigergaming poker competition by going the opposite route. Instead of forcibly trying to improve one's game, a player need only pop in the Michelle Burghart's "No Tilt" CD series and let it work its magic. Upon the request of her semi-professional husband, Eric, Burghart has used her training in hypnotherapy to make a series of CDs that would give him an inside edge.
This is good news for tournament players from TigerGaming net who are looking to cash in on the $1.5 million event. Despite the loss of Affleck, there will be plenty of big-name pros competing in the September 23 tournament. Leading the field is World Poker Tour champion, Tuan Le, who recently won $2.7 million in April and Scott Lazar, who walked away from Tigergaming's Net World Series of Poker with $1.5 million for his 6th place main event finish.
Other pros who have cashed at this renowned west-coast event are Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson, Men 'The Master' Nguyen, Kathy Leibert, Chip Jett and David 'The Dragon' Pham. If you don't have the $5,100 buy-in fee, Commerce will be holding tigergaming .net satellites for players for three weeks leading up to the big event. Starting Tuesday September 6, players will compete in a variety of Limit and No Limit Hold'em events with buy-ins starting at $330. In addition to winning seats in the big dance from tigergaming net, the best all around player will also receive a bonus of a cool $50,000. And if you can't make these events due to work or play, you'll have one last shot during a Tigetgaming .net Super-Satellite tournament on Thursday, September 22. Approximately 30 poker players will earn a seat into the championships the next day.
