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#381 – Good-bye Kathy Liebert, Hello Bradstreet K

Posted by Editor | Filed under Wynn Classic

The $3,000 + $100 NLHE event at the Wynn Classic was the first opportunity I had to meet Kathy Liebert. No one introduced us and we didn’t introduce ourselves but I started talking with her. She wasn’t even talking with me when I jumped into her conversation but that “the poker way.”

Kathy had just gotten back from the Bay 101 Shooting Stars. She missed the first 45 minutes of the tournament but got in on the action quickly, thanks to a courtesy double-up from Seat 1. She was friends with the player to her left in Seat 6 (Smokey) and kept stealing glances at the sports book, directly behind her. “I need to get a bet down,” she said. “I got a tip on the Lakers.”

Poker conversations are communal by nature so I didn’t have any reservations about listening in or contributing. Kathy piqued my interest when she mentioned the tip, even more so when she said it came from Jerry Buss, the Lakers owner. This could be hot stuff – maybe even illegal.

“He told me he really likes their chances this year.”

What about the game against the Hornets tonight? Any unannounced injuries?

“He just said he thinks the team is very good,” she gushes. “I have to bet on them against the Hornets tonight and the game starts in just four hours.”

“Kathy,” I ask, “Do you bet sports much?”

Not at all, she tells me, though I guessed as much. After she gets her friend in Seat 6 to put down a bet too, I joke with them about the “betting ring, led by professional gambler Kathy Liebert.” (Their combined bets on the Lakers were a tiny fraction of the buy-in for the event they were playing, but about 75% of the table talk concerned this subject.)

When she mixed up the time zones and wondered why it hasn’t started, I say, “I heard during the break they delayed the start of the game because of rumors of heavy action on the Lakers by a Las Vegas syndicate. The FBI is on the way to the Wynn.”

Just as the game was about to start, Kathy busted out on a tough hand – she had A-K and her opponent had a lower kicked but paired it, along with the ace they both hit on the flop. She took it with the equanimity you would expect of a pro, said her good-byes, and retreated to the sports book. After her exit, a couple players at the other end of the table mentioned how cool she was after that beat.

So I said, “Well, Kathy doesn’t play much poker anymore. She mostly bets sports these days.”

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