Pro Websites, Part II

Liz Lieu Vietnamese-born poker pro Liz Lieu recently released a website to help further her marketability. Until the 2005 World Series of Poker, Liz was primarily known as a Los Angeles cash game player. However, after a 5th place finish in a $1,500 no-limit event, Liz's popularity has skyrocketed across the mainstream poker world. Although very attractive, Liz evidently has some poker skills to back up her fame. Recently she defeated one of the world's best limit hold'em players, Erik Sagstrom, in a series of heads-up matches at the Venetian. Her website features a lot of artsy photographs to show off her gorgeous physique. online poker 468x60 One thing that makes Liz's site unique is the pictures found in her blog. After traveling to a tournament, she often attaches pictures of herself and others from the poker world. Her site also features nine downloadable wallpapers. This is one of the best player websites on the internet, especially for anyone searching for some poker eye-candy. Johnny Chan Johnny Chan's website fails to live up to the staggering accomplishments he has obtained in the poker world. Chan is one of two people (Doyle Brunson) to have won 10 WSOP bracelets. His popularity stretches so far that he has even appeared in a Hollywood picture (Rounders). Given everything he has accomplished, using a website to brag about his life's achievements might be viewed as conceited. Thankfully Chan delivers a somewhat lackluster site which features a short biography as well as a few dozen photographs. The coolest part of Chan's website is a short video set to music that highlights some of the famous moments from his poker career. Only Johnny Chan has enough flare to have his own highlight video. Greg "Fossilman" Raymer 2004 World Champion Greg Raymer is likely the only poker pro who sells autographed fossils on his website. That's right, for $39.95, you can have a fossil from the Atlas Mountains signed by Greg Raymer. Aside from the unique items available for purchase, Raymer's website is quite lackluster. The strongest part of his site, and the part that other poker players should try to strengthen on their websites, is the "Frequently Asked Questions". Here Raymer answers several commonly asked questions about his feud with Mike Matusow, his days as a lawyer, and the strategy he uses at the poker table. Raymer's store also offers signed and personalized color photos for $29.95. Sadly, anyone looking to purchase his patented raptor-eye glasses will find themselves disappointed. In general, Fossilman's site lacks much content and conveys the message that he hasn't put nearly as much effort into maintaining his website as he has perfecting his tournament poker game. Annie Duke Annie Duke's website informs readers that she is the top ranked female poker player in the world. This ranking list must exist only in Annie's head, but in her defense, she does have a pretty nice website. The site draws some parallels with Phil Hellmuth's website. Both Duke and Hellmuth represent the online cardroom Ultimate Bet. There is a plethora of bad advice in the form of poker strategy articles on Annie's site. One article teaches women how to capitalize on the testosterone drive of men at the poker table by flirting with them so they softplay in return. Bad advice aside, the site is well laid out and full of good content. Die-hard Annie Duke fans can submit questions to her and hope to be picked for the "Question of the Week". For anyone who takes a visual liking to Ms. Duke, there are a handful of pictures on her website where she is modeling Ultimate Bet merchandise. Dutch Boyd Dutch Boyd isn't the most well-liked player in the poker world, but he does have a nice website. In 2000 an online poker room named PokerSpot, which was ran by Boyd, essentially lost all of its player's money on the network. Since then Dutch has been the target of a lot of hatred across the poker world. In light of that, he keeps his life public through a website. The strongest part of Dutch's website is his blog. As a child prodigy who graduated with a law degree while still a teenager, he offers a lot of intelligent insight through his writing. His site also offers readers a few poker strategy articles. There is some very solid advice for no-limit tournaments in one of the articles. There are some pretty cool pictures and a short biography as well.