fundoopoker.com

14/04/2011

On first meeting Lucy Rokach , everything about her suggests a gentle disposition. She stands at about five feet nothing; grey hair, casually cropped, frames her face; soft brown eyes beam from behind spectacles.

But, beware - Lucy Rokach is one of the top women professional poker players in the world, with winnings over $1m and a reputation for tough, aggressive play. She has taken on the best, most of them men, and beaten them at their own game but it wasnt always like that.

Born in 1949 in Egypt, Lucy came to England when her family was expelled during the Suez crisis in 1956. After grammar school, she studied history at Manchester University and became a teacher. I enjoyed teaching but got stressed by the routine, the paperwork and all the marking, she says. It was so bad that I had butterflies in my stomach every morning when I got up for work. So, Lucy left teaching and, with her partner, bought a garage business. However, the high interest rates of the mid-1970s took their toll and they faced bankruptcy - so much so that her partner did a moonlight flit without even leaving a note. "I was left to deal with the aftermath. I looked after the staff and the creditors, then just handed over the keys to the bank."

As all this was happening, Lucy's stepmother died and her father was pressurising her into looking after him. She went to the local casino just to get away from it all. Then, one night, she recognised her decorator round the poker table. She asked him to show her how to play and he taught her the ranking of the hands. At the age of thirty-eight, Lucy Rokach had discovered poker. "At first, I staked him to play on my behalf," she laughs, "It was fine when he was winning, but when he lost, I took over. I thought how hard can it be?"  Lucy learned just how hard it could be when in less than twelve months she lost everything. "I had no idea what I was doing. I thought a king and a two was a good hand! They nicknamed me the Spring Lamb. Really, they meant sacrificial lamb, because I lost so much. I was a goldfish in a bowl full of sharks. They were the men at the local casinos."

In the 1980s, before the internet boom, poker was very much a man's game. Did this ever daunt her? She tilts her head, bird-like, considering the question. "No. I grew up with three brothers. We all played together. There was never any consideration of gender. Mind you, when I first started playing I heard appalling language and sexist comments." Professional poker players incorporate psychology into their play known as playing the player. However, with Lucy, if the mind games degenerate into harassment, players find they have a tiger by the tail. "I will not be bullied. It's like a red rag to the bull. If a player tries it on with me, either I beat them or I'll take them over the cliff with me and they know it."   Sitting upright, arms folded, eyes glinting, her face hardens and mild-mannered Lucy is transformed. Just looking at her, I can see why she is regarded as one of the most aggressive and difficult players to meet. Then she relaxes. "I get angry, not good for a poker player. I try to stop myself but somehow I cant." Where does this anger come from? "From my father," she replies instantly. "He was a very irrational and abusive man, constantly belittling my brothers and me. I am still angry with him, more so as I get older."

Having lost all her money, Lucy took on a second mortgage and borrowed money from her disapproving brother. "To this day I don't know why I didn't give up there and then. I never considered it. Poker was an escape from the drudgery and stress of my life." She took on waitress jobs, lived on baked beans and, crucially, read Slansky's book on poker. It was a revelation to her. "I began to understand where I'd gone wrong."  She returned to the tables, winning a little, until, in 1988, she entered a big tournament in Wolverhampton. She was aiming for the prize for being the last woman at the table. After fifteen minutes, she was out of the game and chose to buy in again. "There were only a handful of women playing and I really believed that if I could survive the day I would win that prize. I never played so tight before or since" she recalls. Not only did she win the last woman standing, she also won the whole tournament. "It's still my most memorable win. The relief! It took away the albatross of debt from around my neck." From there Lucy carved out her career, winning prestigious tournaments in Europe and America. Four years ago, she was honored with a European Poker Lifetime Achievement Award to commemorate her success and influence in the game.

Today, Lucy is more selective about where and when she plays. "They are very long days. In the earlier rounds, you switch off a little and watch the game. But, when it gets to the later stages, you have to be there, concentrating, focused. It's draining, emotionally." Now Lucy is taking time off and considering writing a book. I just have to ask her if she has a winning formula. "You need luck. It's virtually impossible to win consistently without it and sometimes luck is just a matter of doing the wrong thing at the right time and it works out for you. Think about it."