GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 13 - June 2010

TheGPWATimesgoes one-on-onewithVictory Pokerproand2007Playboy Playmateof theYear Sara JeanUnderwood Why did you decide to get involved with online poker? At first I thought itwouldbe just a funhobby to pick up, but themore I learned about poker and how to play themore Ienjoyed it. Inaway ithasbecomemynew obsession. Poker andespeciallyonlinepoker has become sopopular these last few years, I wanted to seewhat all the fusswasabout! Whydoyouenjoyplayingpoker? I likeplayingpoker for somany reasons. It’s agreat stress reliever. Nomatter what is going on inmy life I know I can sit down at my computer andescape from it all and just concentrateand get lost in a poker tournament. It’s also a great personal challenge that I have set for myself. Poker is mostly a male-dominated sport so I am determined to become a real contender at the table and show the men that women cando this too! We heard you did pretty well in your first tournament. What was that experience like? Yeah, Igot fourthplace inthefirst livetournament I played in! At the time I didn’t realizewhat a big deal that was. Now I know it’s not so common tomake it to a final table, even for someof the best players in the world, but because I was new to the whole poker world at the time I didn’t realize what a great thing it was! Now I look back and I’m like, “How thehell did that happen?” Do you think men play differently against you than they would against, say, a forty-something manwithabaseball cap,beardandgreasyT-shirt? I thinkguysdefinitelyplaydifferentlyagainstme,but the advantages I havebeingayoungwomanat apoker table are just as great as the disadvantages, so I think it evens itself out. Some guys like having me around, I think, simplybecauseyou spend somuch timeat thatone table and it’snice tohave someoneof theopposite sexaround, so theymight be less likely to call me and just fold. But on the other hand guys also feel like they can pushme aroundwith big raises or reraises (which they can’t), so beingmedefinitelyhas itsadvantagesanddisadvantages at thepoker table. Is poker a sexy game? Poker is ABSOLUTELY a sexy game. There are so many young and attractive men dominating the poker world, and women too for that matter. Many professional poker players have the same lifestyle as rappers or professional athletes: lots ofmoney, expensiveandflashy cars andhouses, beautiful women on their arms, and lots of endorsement deals. Poker is takingover! What should people expect to see in the “search for the next Victory Poker pro” competition? This competition isgoing tobe somuch fun! Peoplearegoing toget to seehow thesepros liveandwant tobeapart of it.Youaregoing to seeeverything—extreme challenges that test the contestants’ physical and mental capacity, beautiful women everywhere, drama, breakdowns, players winning extreme amounts of money—almost anythingyou can thinkof! Is there anything else we should know about you, poker and/or Victory Poker? Look for me at the top! It’s not going to be today or tomorrow but I amputting in somuch timeandhardwork, I amgoing to be up there with the best of them. You just wait and see! “Look formeat the top!” The Face of Things to Come