Poker From The Rail

More than $3.2 million

Almost $1.7 million

I could be wrong, but I believe this is the closest career earnings contest we’ve had to date. JJ has certainly taken home an impressive amount of money, just not enough to steal this category from Bloch. Andy takes the early lead.

Amazingly enough, Andy has yet to take home either a WSOP or WPT event.

JJ has also never scored a major title, although she did take down the WPT Ladies’ Night Out in 2006.

This is another first for us, as neither of our players has won a major title. Let’s make like soccer and call this one a tie. Soccer, my god, what will those wacky Europeans think of next?

Though Bloch has never won a major title, he has taken down several smaller tourneys and finished second at the $50K HORSE event in the 2006 WSOP (for a cool $1 million score).

Liu is one of the best women players on the circuit today, as she has proven with her Ladies’ Night win and a second-place finish at the 2007 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Stars event.

This is another tough one. Who would have ever thought that we’d have a genuinely close match on our hands here? I’d love to give this one to JJ because she really is a great tourney player, but the edge has to go to Bloch here. The Rock will not be denied, he leads 2-0 (or 2.5-.5, if you want to get technical about it, which I really don’t).

Does blackjack count as a cash game?

Not known as a cash game specialist, but that doesn’t mean she won’t clean up at the ring games from time to time.

To be perfectly honest (which I rarely ever am), I don’t think either of these two are known for their cash game prowess. I may be wrong. I may be right. I may be crazy. But it just might be a lunatic that you’re looking for. And yes, that’s the last time you’ll see me quoting Billy Joel lyrics (unless it’s “Piano Man,” that song always helps me to remember what a drunk, pathetic loser I am). Anyway, let’s give this one to Andy, I’ve got a feeling he rocks the cash games a bit harder than JJ.

No-Limit Hold ‘em

They say that HORSE is truly the game of real poker players. Who are they? I have no idea, but they’re out there – and they’re coming for you… While I agree that HORSE is a good indicator of who’s the best overall poker player, it’s also really boring. I mean, like wake me up when it’s over boring. With that said, this category has to go to Liu. No-Limit Hold ‘em, it’s the true game of champions.

Poker by the numbers

Free spirited

I guess it makes sense that a mathematical genius plays a mathematics based style. Unfortunately for me, I never learned to add. There it is – the cat’s out of the bag. I’ve gone through most of my life thinking that trigonometry was a type of sushi. But that’s a story for a different post. The numbers man takes down the free spirit again – the score now stands at 4-1 for Bloch.

Technically speaking, JJ is her nickname. Joanne Jishun is her real name – thank god for abbreviations.

As with all Chevy trucks, Andy Bloch is like a rock – at the poker table that is. While I’m not certain if that means he’s a lifeless, inanimate piece of sediment or somehow refers to his playing style, I do know that “The Rock” is a much cooler nickname than “JJ.” Andy takes down another category.

Cowboy X Computer Nerd = Cool?

Bad acid trip X Chinese silk = WTF?

Liu is famous for showing up to poker events dressed up to the nines. And yes, that is the last time you’ll see me using the expression “to the nines.” Now, I’m no fashion maven here, so all I can safely say is that she has a very “interesting” look going for her. I’m not saying it’s bad, I’m not saying it’s good. What I am saying, though, is that I just don’t get it. Bloch, on the other hand, seems to have found his niche (along with Chris Ferguson) in the “I may be a nerd but this cowboy hat makes me at least 17.5% cooler” crowd. Notch another one up for Andy; he now leads by a score of 6-1.

This former member of the MIT blackjack team holds a law degree from fair Harvard U and even passed the bar exam and everything. Yet he chooses to spend his days fleecing degenerate gamblers rather than innocent members of society. Good for him.

JJ loves to travel and play the piano in her spare time. Isn’t that quaint?

Now I love to play the piano as much as the next guy – I rock Beethoven’s ninth like nobody’s business – but you’ve got to respect a guy who gives up a potentially multi-million dollar career for a completely different multi-million dollar career. Mad props to this rock-like law man as he takes down the final category.