Cynthia Albert is our pick for Poker Face of the Month. She is a well known player to this community, and we are happy to call her friend. She is a skilled poker player and her smile lights up every room she is in. Cynthia is better known online by her nicnames: AZ Dreaming and Poker Peach. She started playing competitively in 2004. Recently, she won a Women's Poker Hour contest by providing the following tips to women who are playing their first live game.

We believe that Cindy would have been chosen whether or not she won the Women's Poker Hour contest, but her excellent advice has given her the edge to become our first ever Woman Poker Player Poker Face of the Month.

1. Always protect your cards! Especially in the seats next to the dealer (seats 1 and 10). It is your responsibility to make sure your cards are protected and the best way to do that is to put a chip or some other token on them to identify those cards as yours and that they are still in play. If mucked cards touch your cards, your hand can be declared dead. If a player flings his cards across the table and into your unprotected cards, they can be declared dead. If you’re in the 1 or 10 seat with your cards in front of you, a dealer may mistake them for folded cards and rake them into the muck. Some people think protecting your cards with a chip or token is a silly practice - until their pocket Aces or Kings are raked into the muck!

2. Never, ever talk about the community cards and the possible hands that are out there – especially if you are not in the hand. Novice players are notorious for this! Any comment on the possible flush or straight could highlight a possibility that a player in the hand did not see – causing them to change their action to the detriment of other players in the hand. Other players in the hand will get very irate for this. Actually, whether you are in the hand or not, it’s best to refrain from any comments on the cards or action until the hand is over.

3. Learn how to handle your chips! Practice stacking and counting them at home. Count them out with one hand in stacks of 4 or 5 at a time. Keep doing it until you can do it quickly and accurately. Nothing screams “beginner” like a player fumbling over the chips every hand. Keep your chips in neat stacks with higher value chips in front or on top of your stack. I like to keep my chips in stacks of 20 with the odd chips on top, so that I always know at a glance what my chip count is. Also, learn how to riffle your chips so that you don’t look like a stranger to the felt. It’s easy with a little practice.

4. No string betting! Attempting to place an unannounced raise or re-raise into the pot in more than one motion is a cardinal sin in live poker. If you’re going to raise, announce “Raise” and the amount. Then you can put the chips in the pot in as many motions as you’d like. Raises must always be at least double the initial bet or previous raise. If a player is first to act after the flop and bets $10, you can’t raise it to $15; the minimum raise is $10, so you’d have to raise to at least $20. To be safe, if you want to raise, just at least double the last bet or raise. Of course, you can always raise more.

5. Beware the “one chip rule!” If you intend to raise a bet, but only throw one chip into the pot without announcing “Raise”, the action will be considered a call. For example, if the bet is $5 and you throw in a $25 chip with the intent to raise, but don’t announce “Raise”, it will be considered just a call. Another reason why it is important to announce your intent before placing chips into the pot.

Each one of these tips are essential in playing live and Cynthia has a lot of practise excelling in that area.  She is the 2006 WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic Ladies Champion, the 2009 WSOP Circuit Atlantic City Ladies Champion and has many other cashes in both womens-only and mixed live and online poker tournaments.  She is a member of the Poker Players Alliance, Woman Poker Player Magazine and Women's Poker Club.  She is also an instructor to a group of novice female players that she has formed called Poker Chicks DC.

When off the felt she is the Political Program Coordinate for Daimler in Washington, DC. Daimler is the maker of Mercedes-Benz nd Freightliner Trucks.  She is also the VP of Public Relations for Toastmasters International.  Cindy is also a philanthropist and supports and participates in many local charity events as well as being a member of the planning committee for the Prevent Cancer Foundation's Annual Bad Beat on Cancer's Congressional Poker Tournament. 

Career Accomplishments

Cynthia is our poker face for September and we couldn't be happier to have her.  We are lucky to have such a diverse and talented group of players as members of the Woman Poker Player Community who are interested in the growth of women on the felt.  Best of luck on the tables AZ!

If you would like to be considered for our Poker Face of the month, please send an image, bio and the reasons why you should be selected to editorial@womanpokerplayer.com