World Series of Poker: Spotlight on Shannon Elizabeth

Shannon Elizabeth mesmerized us all in American Pie, but it's those pair of aces we care most about.  When it comes to the celebrity landscape of poker, Shannon is one whose name comes up frequently along with Ben Afleck, Mimi Rogers, Jennifer Tilly, Gabe Kaplan, just to name a few. 

"And the US government can do nothing to me.  I am invincible.  I am like the Wizard of Oz"....And Shannon Elizabeth is not buying a single word of it from Bodog CEO Calvin Ayre

Shannon Elizabeth may have been born in Texas, but she's not so keen on Texas Hold 'Em.

"I grew up playing poker, but I grew up playing five-card draw, seven stud," Elizabeth told ESPN this past week at the World Series of Poker. "I'm looking at them and saying, 'That's all the cards we get? We don't discard? I don't get to change my cards? That's it? You get what you get? It's the stupidest game I've ever seen.'"

Shannon eventually got it after some extensive practice. 

"My original friends that helped me were Antonio [Esfandiari] and Phil Laak ['The Unabomer']," Elizabeth said. "They came over to my house, laid it all out for me. Phil came with Jennifer [Tilly, his actress-girlfriend who won a bracelet at the 2005 World Series]. A couple friends of mine brought them over. Lately, Joe Sebok has been helping me this World Series. Last year, Daniel Negreanu helped me a lot during the World Series. They're all really cool."

She cashed in the recent $1,000 buy-in-no-limit hold 'em.

"About 3,000 people played," she said. "I got 201st. Played for like 12 hours and I cashed. I won about $1,500. It went right back into it. I was so mad I went out."

Shannon Elizabeth appeared on the Fox Sports Net/Calvin Ayre produced "Calvin Ayre's Wild Card Poker" series in May but bowed out early. 

"Some days I have great days and think I'm awesome, and some days I think I suck," she said. "So much of it is hitting your cards and luck.

She was there to witness Bodog CEO Calvin Ayre's home get raided by several dozen local authorities who were tipped off that he was holding an "illegal" poker tournament, for which he was not. 

So what's Shannon Elizabeth's secret to winning poker?

"I'm very spiritual," she tells ESPN.  "I'm very much a believer in luck and karma and energy and your aura and all that stuff. I have an acupuncturist I go to and every time she clears my energy, she tells me to ground myself. She kind of puts me in a meditative space, so if I haven't done it on my own, she makes me do it.

"I always sage before an event. Basically, you light sage, a dried leaf, and burn it out. The smoke clears your energy. Everybody has people who watch over them -- their guides, their guardian angels -- and all these people have all this energy going on and it gets mixed up when you're in big crowds of people and they're affecting your energy and you go home and they're still affecting you. This helps clear your energy, brings you back to you. You start fresh."

Now the Full Tilt Poker sponsor, Elizabeth admits she is addicted to the game, so addicted in fact she travels to Las Vegas, Nevada, up to three times a month just to play with America's top card sharks. The actress has become one of the leading celebrity poker players and has won a handful of impressive victories at the card table - but it's beginning to take over her life.

She explains, "I have become addicted to poker. I am in Las Vegas two or three times a month these days, playing every other night sometimes. Poker has become my second career."

Elizabeth, who once walked away from a card game with $57,747 in winnings, admits she uses her looks to distract her male competition - and that's one of the things that make her a top card shark. She tells Blender magazine.
 

Gambling911.com News Wire

Originally published July 31, 2006 4:30 pm EDT