Poker Secret: Beware The Queen of Hearts

It was a beautiful day on the strip in Vegas and what better way to spend it than inside away from the sun, sitting at a poker table playing cards. I was in a great frame of mind and decided to go into the Bellagio to play some $10/20 limit.

The table was made up of what I would call a good mix of players. There were a couple tourist types who were playing every hand. They were having a few drinks and just having a good time. There were a handful of OK players who were doing their best to appear as though they knew what they were doing and going out of their way not to play too stupid. Finally, there were a couple really good players who also appeared to be controlling the table to a certain extent.

For a little while when I first sat down, the chips were not flowing in any particular direction. Everyone seemed to have their share of wins. There were a couple players who definitely were not doing well at all but aside from them, nobody else was really running away with it. I was doing alright. I had not played many hands for the first hour or so and might have been up a little bit.

Not too long after, the gentleman to my immediate right got up and decided to call it a day. I really wasn't even paying that much attention at that time, I was more focused on the play that was going on. The person who filled his seat turned out to be a woman. She was a beautiful woman. She had long red hair and big green eyes and was very shapely and knew how to dress herself up. She was wearing a low cut top with a blazer and fitted slacks. She was very well put together in every way and she knew it.

It wasn't long before I struck up a conversation with her. I found out she was in town with some girl friends. They had decided to make it a "girls" trip and they were having a great time catching shows and playing lots of table games.

She mentioned that she really enjoyed poker and that it was her first time playing poker in Vegas although she had visited before. From her play, I could tell that she had definitely played somewhere before.

The conversation with her stayed light and fluid for what must have been another hour at least. I decided to get up and get something to eat. When I sat down with a banquet burger I realized that I had not played a hand for almost the entire time that she had been sitting next to me. This wasn't necessarily because I was getting cold cards, I was so distracted by this woman, that I had decided unconsciously that I wasn't going to play. I was having a much better time just chatting with her.

In the meantime, I have no idea how many pots I missed out on. I also suddenly realized that I stopped watching the game. This meant that I wasn't focusing on my opponents and their style of play and therefore, I was missing out on some very valuable information. I also couldn't even remember the kinds of hands I was folding before the flop.

On occasion, a beautiful woman will have this affect on a player. A lot of the time, these are very smart women who know exactly what they are doing. When I returned to the table she was still playing so I grabbed my chips and wished her a good day. The best thing I could do was leave the table. Clearly, I was distracted by this woman and it was cutting into my stack.

If you find yourself sitting at a table with somebody that you find so attractive that it is getting you off your game, go home or just try another table. I usually prefer to leave all together because I might find myself at another table still trying to catch a glimpse of her. She might have just been there having fun but I wasn't about to watch my stack slowly bleed away because I wasn't concentrating on the game. It's always nice to have an attractive person at the table, as long as they aren't putting you of your game. Trust me on this one, save the socializing for the bar and always bring your best game to the poker table.