Anna Wroblewski In Her Own Words
January 16, 2008 - Anna Wroblewski
My Name is Anna Wroblewski
If you are curious as to why I have a last name Wroblewski, I was an orphan at age four in Vietnam. Both of my parents and baby sister died when I was very young. I then lived with different family members and finally when I was six or seven years old I was sent to an orphanage with my younger sister in Hanoi to live. My sister and I both learned that people could be very deceptive. We were both adopted by an American lady Marilyn Wroblewski in 1994. I believe I was about nine years old then.
At this time I found that there are passionate, loving and nice people out there. It is really awful that we both had to find out the hard way. I still do not know how old I am. It used to bother me, but I know that there are many kids out there like me. When I was in grade school I was the only kid that did not know what day they were born on, much less the time and where. My mother said to me that children should be so fortunate to be where I am right now, I am lucky to be alive.
A Born Gambler
When I lived at the orphanage in Vietnam, the other kids and I played spades for bananas. I was always fascinated with playing cards and gambling. I would stay up late watching my grandparent’s playing cards with their friends. It was only natural that I would become a card player for a living.
I began playing poker when I was eighteen. I had a boyfriend in Chicago who taught me the basics of how to play poker. I played low stakes with a bunch of college students. After three months I started to win. There was a week when we both won a $10 dollar tournament for a couple hundred dollars. I began playing in cash games shortly after. The more I played the more I won. I honestly did not think I was very good.
I got confused and made many mistakes, but with a little hard work and coaching I developed my unique style of play.
Viva Las Vegas
When I was nineteen I decided to move to Las Vegas to see what the scene was like. I planned to play online poker and just enjoying the Las Vegas weather. A friend of mine talked me into playing in live games. I had to play with a fake ID. Most of the casinos did not suspect anything. I guess they assumed that most females would not just walk into a casino and sit down knowing exactly how to play poker. I am also a good tipper, which might have thrown them off.
While In Las Vegas I develop a gambling problem. I noticed that every time I had more than $2,000 in my account I would move up stakes. When I noticed that my funds were low, I would not stop playing cards until I got it back or got busted. I can't say that I was unlucky during those times. I made a large amount of money playing online; I just did not manage my money well. I believe all gamblers have this same story. They got foolish and lost a large portion of their money. I am no different. I was naive; I had no clue how to handle a large sum of money. I busted my entire account and struggled with paying bills. I wanted to keep playing and ended up in debt. Eventually I moved back home to Chicago for five months.
Vegas a Second Chance
I decided to travel back to Las Vegas for a visit at the beginning of February in 2007.
I brought $1,200 with me. I played the $1-$2 NL and won a couple thousand and was able to move up to the $2-$5 NL games. I played a $30-$60 limit hold’em game one night and profited $3,000. I was able to turn my $1,200 into $9,000 in the course of two weeks.
After paying off my debts I had little money left to play cards with. If I was going to stay in Las Vegas I would have to find a job. I found work as a receptionist for a private maintenance company making $10 per hour. My day started at 7:00am, I ate macaroni and cheese for breakfast and took the bus to work.
My boss said that I did a very good job for my first week and took me out to dinner. He knew my poker story and I believe he felt sorry for me, he knew I enjoyed playing poker. He said I could go far with poker world if I only knew how to stay consistent and learned how to manage my money better. While talking over dinner he handed me $400 and said “If you make any money from this give me some back but if I lose, it's ok too”.
That night I took the $400 to play $15-$30 limit hold’em game where won $600. Later that evening I played a single table satellite. First place price was a seat at the Bellagio $2,000 WPT Five Star tournaments the next day. I was able to win a seat on my first try as well as a $500 last longer prize.
The next day I played in the $2,000 Bellagio tournament and placing sixteenth and won $7,200. I paid my boss back and had some money left over. The next day I won another satellite into the $3,000 WPT event
Making History at the Bellagio
I started playing in The Bellagio $3,000 WPT event on April 16, 2007. The tournament was uneventful in the early stages. I will give you a run down on some of the key hands in the later parts of the tournament. I pissed off one guy really bad calling him down with a pair of 3s on a Q67Q4 board. I had a decent stack after this hand but I donked off a lot of it later on. I was down to a very short stack before the money and then almost doubled up by making a huge bluff against Men the Master with Q high on an A67J53 hearts board. When it was down to the last 20 players I got really lucky.
Shannon Shorr raised 2nd to last position and I had JJ on the button. I smooth called him and both the little blind and big blind called. The Flop was Q45, it was checked around. The turn was a 4, it was checked to Shannon who pushed all in for approximately 40K. I knew I had him beat and made the call, the LB folded. The Big blind was Barry Greenstein, who went over the top.
I knew I was beat, but had to make the call; Barry only had 17K left. If I had lost this hand I would be down to 6K in chips, which would be less than a round of blinds and antes. Barry hit the flop with a set of 5’s. Shannon had pocket 6’s, and the miracle J came on the river which put me 5th in chips. I played the hand badly; I should have pushed all in pre-flop. This was my lucky break.
The Last Day
The next day we were down to the last sixteen players. I don't remember anything exciting that day until the final table. I sat down and folded most of the time and had fun just talking. I was happy to get there and I had enough chips that I didn't need to worry about stealing the blinds yet. Finally I had to pee sooo bad because I had a cup of tea, 3 Budweiser’s, and a bottle of water. I was about to get up but took a look at my cards anyway. Saw AA and I said to myself “damn…awesome”, so I limped in. Short stack went all in with AQ, I called and busted him. Hand right after that I had AK off suit. I said to myself said, “Alright, let’s play my rush,” I didn't care since I just won a big pot.
Eric Lindgren was to my left and re-raised me a lot. I had a feeling that he was trying to make a play on me, took my time and eventually called the raise. I didn't want to just gamble…in case he did have a big hand and I didn't hit. Flop came K high with 2 clubs. I paused for a little bit and pushed all in. Eric thought for a long time and started talking to me. He asked me if I had a club I said yes, I have 2 runner draws. Of course I didn't mention I had top pair. Eric finally called me with J7 of clubs and didn't hit. I had him covered. A couple hands later I had KQ off suit, I raised pre-flop and got called by Peter Feldman in the big blind. Flop came KQT. He checked to me so I bet, he pushed all in and I called. He had QT. My 2 pairs held up and I knocked him out.
It was down to the last 3 players and we made a deal according to chip count. I got $225,000. I wasn't ahead that much, but I was entirely happy to make the deal. We then played for the entry to the $25,000 championship and for the bracelet. Jonathan Dull knocked Abel Meijberg and we are heads up. I was 3 to 1 chip underdog, and was able to come back to win.
I've been on such a great run. After the $3,000 event win, I played the $25,000 event on April 27, 2007 and placed 70th. I won the women's WSOP Circuit event at Caesars on April 29, 2007. Finally, on May 27, 2007 I placed 2nd in the Mandalay bay WPT $2,500 event.
Pretty good for coming from dead broke a week before huh?
Editor Note: We'd like to thank Anna for sharing her story with us. To learn more about her, you can visit her on the web at AnnaPokerPixie.com.
| Quick Links | ||
|
|
|
