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An Interview with Deborah Giardina
Published: 2005-05-02
 An Interview with Deborah Giardina, Wynn Poker Director
by Debbie Burkhead filed under Interviews [Originally appeared in the May 2, 2005 issue of Poker Player]
Deborah Giardina, Wynn Director of Poker Operations
Deborah Giardina was born and raised on the East Coast. She has worked in the physical fitness industry and has also been a Realtor. She has four children, two boys and two girls.
Prior to starting a family, Deborah's ambition had been to move to Las Vegas and become a dealer. Her dream began to be realized in 1990 when gaming came to Colorado. Her desire to become a dealer came to fruition when she began her gaming career with Johnny Nolon's Gambling Saloon and Emporium in the mountain town of Cripple Creek. Johnny's was the first establishment to have legalized poker in the State of Colorado. Deborah rose to the position of Assistant Table Games Manager within six months.
Deborah saw potential in the growth of gaming that was taking place in Biloxi, Mississippi. She decided to relocate to the Biloxi area. Deborah took a position at Lyle Berman's Grand Casino Gulfport. She was part of the opening staff and was appointed Cardroom Manager within the first year. A short time later she was summoned by the same organization to Louisiana to assist in the opening of the Grand Casino Coushatta in Kinder. Deborah has been a featured speaker at the World Poker Industry Conference.
In 1999, Deborah received a call from Pat Cruzen, a consultant for Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota. He asked if she would set up a 50 table cardroom. Her involvement began from the ground up as Vice President of Card Club Operations. Her duties included overseeing construction and designing of the room, writing all the regulations, internal controls, and hiring/training of the staff.
Deborah left Canterbury Park in 2002 to start her own gaming consultant business. That branch of her career changed in 2004 when she accepted an offer from Wynn Las Vegas. Deborah was hired as Director of Poker Operations for the new Wynn Las Vegas Poker Room making her dream more than a reality.
DB: When is the new Wynn Las Vegas slated to open?
DG: We will be opening at midnight on April 28 with 27 poker tables.
DB: Is the opening for the public or invited guest only?
DG: Everyone is invited to come to the opening.
DB: Will the poker room offer tableside dining?
DG: Yes, but not quite like the California-style food service. We will have a llimited tableside menu available to all poker players.
DB: Can you tell us a little about your staff?
DG: We attracted a high quality staff from all over the country. We are emphasizing customer service as has always been the Wynn tradition. With our staff, players can expect consistency in dealing procedures, floor calls and everyday poker operations.
DB: Who are some of the people making up the Poker Room staff?
DG: Jesse Hollander is our Day Shift Manager, Mike O'Malley is our Swing Shift Manager, Katheen McCall is our Graveyard Shift Manager, Dave Egleseder is our Relief Manager and Amy Barreuther is our Training Manager. Amy will be providing training to the staff on an ongoing basis to ensure our players receive the best poker playing experience possible.
DB: What limits will be spread in the Wynn Las Vegas Poker Room?
DG: I anticipate that $4-$8 will be our lowest game but we will spread as high as the players request.
DB: Is there any truth to the rumor that Wynn has hired Daniel Negreanu as a poker host?
DG: Absolutely, Daniel will be our Poker Ambassador. When Daniel plays live action in Las Vegas it will be exclusively in the Wynn Las Vegas Poker Room. Daniel brings us his charisma, knowledge, expertise and his tremendous enthusiasm for the game of poker.
DB: Is the location of the poker room convenient to local players?
DG: Yes, the poker room is about a dozen steps from self parking and also very close to valet.
DB: The buzz on the street is that the Wynn Las Vegas Poker Room will be unlike any other, explain?
DG: The room is state-of-the-art, with every table having automatic shufflers. There is a computerized system for our lists. The computerized system is designed to display all the waiting lists on four plasma screens strategically placed throughout the Poker Room. The most unique feature of our system is that guests will be able to view the lists on a designated television channel from the comfort of their hotel room. In addition to that feature we will issue beepers to players that will alert them anywhere in the casino. Players will be beeped when they are on deck so they have time to return to the poker room.
DB: What else makes Wynn Las Vegas unique?
DG: Everything at Wynn Las Vegas will be unique. There is a Ferrari Dealership adjacent to the Poker Room. There is an 18 hole golf course on property for the exclusive use of Wynn Las Vegas guests. The course was designed by Tom Fazio and Steve Wynn. All guest rooms have two flat screen televisions counted among the numerous amenities. Every room has floor to ceiling windows with spectacular views of the Strip or of the artistically designed and immaculately landscaped golf course.
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Card stud: World Poker Tour Champion Alan Goehring tells us when to hold 'em, fold 'em, walk away, and run
Published: 2005-04-25
 Card stud: World Poker Tour Champion Alan Goehring tells us when to hold 'em, fold 'em, walk away, and run
Men's Fitness, June-July, 2004 by Matt Coppa
Alan Goehring plays an aggressive style of that has paid off in spades. Last year, the 41-year-old Wisconsin native won the Poker Tour (WPT) Championship--the Super Bowl of poker--and its $1,011,886 pot. He got there by leaving the financial world of New York to slum on the beaches of California, where he learned the art of Texas Hold'em. As he prepared to defend his title at this month's WPT finals, Goehring took some time out to help us with our own game.
FOLLOW YOUR JOY
When I was 25, I was working in New York City as a bond trader. I thought, "These are the best years of my life," so I moved to Southern California to become a beach bum, although I still worked for my old company, Paine Webber. That's where I learned to play Texas Hold'em. (1) (See "Poker Lingo," page 78.)
LEARN BY DOING
I learned to play by trial and error and by reading a few poker books. But most of my training came when I moved back to New York after three years in California. There are a lot of gambling junkies on Wall Street, and I introduced them to the game of Texas Hold'em. We started playing poker every day after work--even a few times on the trading floor--though that quickly came to an end after a partners' meeting. Wall Street guys are very aggressive and very loose. We played six-handed, (2) and we played three times faster than at a casino because of player speed and quick shuffling. That helped develop my style.
DON'T BE A FOLLOWER
In 1999 I did very well in a No-Limit Hold'em (3) poker tournament, where I won approximately $770,000. Later, I tried to emulate the top players, who were basically more conservative, and I kept losing tournaments. Finally, I knocked on my head and said, "Wait a second, how did I win the $770,0007" So I wrote down what I did originally, went back to my natural style, and started doing better. Now my philosophy is to ignore what everyone else does. Play your own game.
HAVE FUN
I don't take poker as seriously as a lot of other players. I think to be a great player, you have to play loose--that is, play more hands than the average player would based on the two starting cards. (4) I want to have as much fun as I can, and I don't want to lose.
THERE ARE NO EASY ANSWERS
Poker is not like science or physics, where there's a definitive answer. You can have two expert players look at the same hand and disagree on what the correct play is. To get to the poker championship, I won hands that 80% of experts would never play. There's no oracle from God that says, "This is the only way to play Texas Hold'em."
USE VISUAL AIDS
I had laser eye surgery before one tournament, so I wore these huge, intimidating sunglasses to protect my eyes. At that point, nobody knew who I was--they might have thought I looked like a professional player. Now I call them my lucky glasses, because I wore them when I won the $770,000 and at last year's finals. When you're excited, your pupils dilate, so sunglasses are like chicken soup--they can't hurt. I also think they give me more confidence.
KEEP THEM GUESSING
At one tournament, this rookie player and I had a fair amount of chips in the pot. He was looking really nervous, so I kept betting aggressively with pocket eights. Turns out he had a pair of pocket kings, and I lost. After that, I decided tells (5) are overrated. Every poker player becomes an actor. Smart players with weak hands may try to look strong, but smarter players know this. So when they have a weak hand, they try and look like they have a really, really weak hand--like reverse-reverse psychology. I just try to keep everyone off-balance.
IT'S HOW YOU PLAY THE GAME
I used to complain about my starting hands, but now I know it's about how well you play. In last year's championship round, I had pocket aces (6) just once, and won only a small pot. The two times I had pocket kings--the second-best starting hand--I lost. It's how you play the cards you're dealt.
DON'T PLAY NOT TO LOSE
To win in No-Limit Hold'em, you have to have guts. Once I was playing against poker legend Doyle Brunson, and I had pocket jacks. He went all in (7) with $500,000. Now 80% of the top players would say you should fold your hand; the other 20%, including me, would say, "People are playing very loose right now." So I went in with 20% of what I had on the table--$500,000--and wound up winning a monster pot. (I started the day with a huge chip lead anyway, so I wasn't in danger of being knocked out.) A lot of players don't want to lose all their chips, so they play conservatively and lose. It's the single biggest mistake they make. I play poker a little bit like I drive: I can go from Las Vegas to Los Angeles and not one car will pass me.
Goehring will defend his title at the 2004 World Poker Tour Championship, airing June 30 on the Travel Channel.
Poker Lingo
How to talk the talk
(1) TEXAS HOLD'EM POKER
A seven-card game in which each player gets two cards facedown, followed by three community cards for the table called the Flop. In the next round, there is another community card called the Turn, followed by a final community card, in the last round, called the River. Betting occurs after each round. Whoever has the best five-card poker hand out of two starting cards and the five community cards wins.
(2) SIX-HANDED
A game with six players at the table. During the World Poker Tour, the average-size table has eight to 10 players, so a six-person game tends to move quicker.
(3) NO-LIMIT HOLD'EM
Unlike regular Hold'em, which follows pre-set betting limits, no-limit allows players to bet all chips any time.
(4) STARTING CARDS
The first two cards given to each player in Hold'em, and the only cards the rest of the players cannot see or use.
(5) TELL
Any habit, behavior, or physical reaction from a player that reveals information about his hand.
(6) POCKET ACES
Also known as Pocket Rockets or American Airlines, and the best starting hand in Hold'em. Anything "in the pocket" refers to starting-hand cards.
(7) ALL IN
When a player doesn't have enough chips to call a bet, he can declare "All in," which means he gets to stay in the game but must bet all his remaining chips. All bets that occur after a player goes all in are in a side pot for the other players at the table.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Weider Publications
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