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Interview

Sep 02, 2008 | by Richard Podolsky

Jillette Talks Poker Strategy

It’s one thing to strategize playing in a World Series of Poker event, and it’s another to play in one of the big Vegas hotels daily tournaments. For the amateur poker player who goes to Las Vegas for three or four days, playing in a daily (or nightly) tourney can be intimidating, but also fun and profitable. We asked senior writer Rich Podolsky to interview Emily Jillette, a regular every Tuesday night at the Venetian, to discuss strategy with us. Emily’s husband is part of the famous team of Penn & Teller, appearing regularly at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino.

Playbook: Is there much of a difference in the daily games offered by the hotels?
Emily Jillette: Yes. I prefer to start out with at least 3,000 chips, with blinds starting at 25 and 50 and being raised every 20 to 30 minutes. That way you can sit back and enjoy playing the game of poker before you worry about having to go all in because you’re down to five or six big blinds. Some hotels give you less chips to start, or raise the blinds much faster, speeding up the game. I don’t enjoy that.

PBK: Do you have a different strategy you use in a daily event versus, say, playing in the WSOP $1500 unlimited hold ‘em event?
EJ: I play a little looser and more aggressive in the single-night games. I like to bluff sometimes and have a strong table image—until I’m caught.

PBK: What is the entrance fee for your regular game at the Venetian, and what can you win?
EJ: Their game is now $180 to enter. It used to be $130 plus a $50 buy-in, but they kept the bookkeeping simple and dispensed with the buy-in. The game starts at 8 p.m. I really look forward to it each week and get there at 6:30, have dinner at my favorite restaurant, then visit with some pals. Usually about 70 enter and the game lasts ‘til 1 or 2 a.m. If you win one, like I did, you take home about $3,000. And that victory goes down as one of the best days of my life.

PBK: Do you play differently when there’s a pro at your table?
EJ: Yes, I play a little tighter. I’m friends with so many of them now; I brought a few into my regular game, like Andy Bloch and Eric Seidel. Not sure if the other players appreciated it.

PBK: How’d you get into playing poker?
EJ: Three years ago Penn was invited to play on Celebrity Poker Showdown, hosted by Phil Gordon. He said he’d do it if Gordon taught him how to play. So for eight straight days Gordon and his buddies came over and trained him. Penn was getting trained by the cream of the crop and I got hooked watching. Then, when I got pregnant, I started playing on-line all the time. For over a year I only played on-line. When I finally sat down at a live table I was terrified!

PBK: Thanks Emily, and let’s remind our readers that they’re playing the WSOP Main Event’s final table on the Penn & Teller stage November 9th.

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