An Interview With Beth Shak - Part III

By Justin West

In parts one and two of our interview, Beth Shak, who instantly became a household name among those that follow the game of poker after the 2007 WSOP, discussed her experiences at the World Series of Poker, her thoughts on women in the game, and her efforts to use her success at the table to benefit some of the charitable causes most important to her.

Now, in the third and final part, we get to know a little bit about Beth's other ventures, including her recent outing to ritzy Hollywood shops with Desperate Housewives' star, Eva Longoria, her upcoming clothing line, and finally her ultimate goals as a poker player. (Despite Beth's meeting the wife of Tony Parker, I somehow still couldn't manage to score free Spurs tickets.)

What follows is the conclusion of a three-part series.

Justin: You've discussed your efforts in charitable poker. What would you say to the lawmakers in areas where even charitable poker is still illegal, still considered "gambling?"

Beth: I was talking about that recently. There's certainly a stigma with poker. I tell people I'm a professional poker and they're still saying it's gambling. They're right, it is gambling. But I play more tournaments than cash games, and I look at it as trying to achieve a World Series of Poker win, or a World Poker Tour win. Yes, I know you have to pay the initial fee to get in, so I can respect people saying that's gambling. But from a charitable point of view, if people are paying an amount of money to play in a tournament and it's all going to charity...charity's charity! If it's all going to a good cause to help people, then that's fine!

That's what I thought was great about the Ante Up For Africa tournament in Las Vegas that benefited Darfur at the World Series this past summer. The people that stood up and donated 100% of their winnings... to me, and Dan and I discussed this, we both entered that tournament knowing that if we won, we were giving it to charity. We weren't pocketing any of the money.

Justin: I saw you on Access Hollywood... shopping with Eva Longoria?

Beth: (smiling) That was a charity event for children's cancer. I got to spend a few hours with Eva Longoria. That was a lot of fun! She's a great woman, and you're not going to believe that she and her husband, Tony, love poker! They love it.

Justin: Did you invite them over for a "friendly" game?

Beth: (chuckling) Well, I told her that if my event comes to light I'd love to see her come. She said to just let her know when.

Justin: I'm told you have your own clothing line coming up...

Beth: I'm working on it. I'm in the process of having cool hoodies made. I'm freezing in all these poker rooms! Women are always cold, after all. (chuckling) So I'm going to have these cute little hoodies made that I can wear that are mine. They'll be unisex, though.

Justin: So what's next on the tournament schedule?

Beth: I'm pretty sure I'm playing the $15,000 NPL event at The Venetia, and then I'm going to play the World Poker Tour at the Bellagio. I'll probably play a couple of preliminaries before I play the main event. And then I'm going to be in Austrailia!

Justin: Sounds like a good sort of a "working vacation." So you're going to play the $25k Bellagio World Poker Tour Championship?

Beth: You know, I missed that last year because I was sick, and it was insane. I get really sick once a year, it seems. So I went to my doctor, he gave me a shot, and I'm thinking, "I have to get on the plane!" Hhe told me I was so sick I couldn't get on the plane.

"I can't stop you," he said. "You're an adult. But there's no way you can take a five hour flight, breathing recycled air the way you are. You're gonna wind up in the hospital!"

So I missed it last year! This will be my second time playing the event

Justin: Do you feel a little more confident going into it this time?

Beth: Again, I just need my hands to hold up. I need, when I make those good gut instinct calls, to not get rivered. It just inevitably is the river every time. If one tournament just goes my way... like, in the $3,000 I came in second in, I didn't suck out on anyone. It's not like I had pocket eights up against aces and sucked out, I literally just had my hands hold up. So, I just need to have my hands hold up on the calls I make, or people not to make a move and then suck out on me, and I'm gonna get there again.

Justin: I know that feeling very well. I just reviewed the hand you busted Phil Hellmuth out on at the World Series of Poker this year, and you went in with the best of it, but I know that feeling in your gut, you just think, "Oh, here it comes an ace!"

Beth: Exactly! That's the element of luck. Plus, I swear I get more calls because I'm a woman. I'll say that until I'm blue in the face.

Justin: What is your ultimate goal as a poker player?

Beth: You know, I'm a very goal-oriented person. When I want to achieve something, I keep going until I get it done and I achieve it. I want a World Series of Poker bracelet. I would say I want that first. Would I want a World Poker Tour championship? Sure, but I really want that World Series of Poker bracelet.

I think, in the interim, my goal each time I play with people is just to gain respect for being a good player. Yes, I make mistakes, and I think if I keep playing for 15 years I'm going to look back and say, "Wow, that was a mistake!" But, I'm a good, solid player that deserves respect. I'm a lot better than a lot of the men I've played with! (chuckling)

Justin: Is it the main event? Is that the white whale?

Beth: You know, that's not even the ultimate goal. Will I enter it every year? Yes. It would be nice. But I just want to win an event. It really doesn't need to be the main event. Isn't it really about just being consistently good in life? I don't need to have the major high. If I can just have a consistently good poker career, I think I'd be happy.

part I | part II | part III

More Interviews

Justin West played poker since the age of 17, he spent more than a year earning a living on the green felt; a modest living, to be sure, but a living nonetheless. His aim was at one point to win the WSOP main event, thus causing Hell to freeze over. However, given his penchant for sin and his extreme dislike of cold weather, Justin has put that dream to rest.