Nani Dollison

The day after she bested a field of 615 players in the record-setting $2,000 limit hold'em tournament at the World Series of Poker, a weary Nani Dollison took a timeout from her hectic tournament schedule to spend some downtime talking with me. About two weeks later while I was applying the final coat of polish to my write-up, she added a wrinkle that sent me back to the drawing board: On the day before the "Big One" began, Dollison successfully defended her title in the half-hold'em, half-stud ladies championship event. And did I mention that she officially won $482,570 along the way? And that she now is the all-time World Series women's money leader?

Hopping a jet to the Series this year was considerably easier than the way that she got to Las Vegas in 1998, the first year that she played in the annual poker pilgrimage to Glitter Gulch. "I drove from Mississippi to Nevada with my boyfriend, Tom Dye, and we hit every storm possible. In Kansas City, we waded through a torrential rainstorm. In Colorado we had to drive through a massive snowstorm. And just before we hit the Nevada border, we had to pull off the road because of a hailstorm. Luckily, stopping helped us avoid a big accident on the freeway. Even in Las Vegas, we ran into a storm – a 'poker storm' – when Tom played the satellites and never drug a chip."

The personable Dollison offered me respite from another kind of storm by inviting me to hold our interview in her quiet room at the Horseshoe, far removed from the whirlpool of players, reporters, floor personnel, and railbirds roiling in the tournament area seven stories below. Clad in pajamas and relaxing over a friendly cup of hot tea, she sat cross-legged for our informal tete-a-tete on the king-size hotel bed that dwarfed the diminutive tournament champion. We may have resembled two teenage girls gossiping and giggling during a slumber party, but our conversation was far from flighty. We talked about real life – poker, adversity, victory, and aspirations.

Born in Korea in 1953, Dollison moved to the United States on New Year's Eve, 1972, with her new husband, an American serviceman. After they parted a year later, the transplanted 20-year-old began supporting herself by working in the restaurant business until she was offered a job as a chip runner in a Gardena card club in 1977. "I ran chips for one day, but I couldn't handle it," she confided. "John Anthony, who owned the Eldorado Club (the site where Hustler Casino now stands), offered to help me out and gave me a job as a poker dealer." At the time, she and her now ex-boyfriend, who had taught her how to play poker, were regulars at the once opulent club. "We had become a part of the family at the casino. That's how I met Mr. Anthony and even Barbara Enright. We played only high draw, lowball draw, and panguine at that time, since hold'em wasn't yet legal. I also played pan and dealt it occasionally."

Today, Dollison is a part-time dealer at the Horseshoe Casino in Tunica, and lives nearby in Lake Cormorant. Six years ago, she decided to start playing poker seriously – a decision that has proven to be a wise one for the gracious three-bracelet winner.

Nani Dollison: In 1998, I won the limit hold'em title at the Mid-South Championship, the first major tournament ever held at the Horseshoe in Tunica. It was very exciting for me to win because Tom, who taught me how to play hold'em, also was at the final table. He came in fourth, but he could've won it if someone hadn't drawn out on him in a big hand. I used to stand behind Tom and watch him play for hours and hours. Then when I started playing, he would stand behind me and catch all of my mistakes and yell, "Don't ever play those kinds of hands! You're just throwing your money away."

Dana Smith: I don't like it when folks scream at me in a poker room. Let me in on how you handled it.

ND: I ignored my anger so that I could listen to what he was saying and learn from it. "You're right," I had to admit. Kathy Kolberg also has been a good poker friend to me, and has helped me learn.

DS: It took you two years to win your second tournament, the 2000 ladies championship event, but along with it came an even bigger prize, a World Series bracelet.

ND: Yes, but it was almost a miracle that I was able to play it, because Tom and I had gone broke in Las Vegas. Somehow, we had lost everything, and I had just enough money left to play one satellite for the ladies tournament. As I was about to put my last money on the table to buy in, Avner Levy came by and handed me part of the satellite buy-in, explaining that he and Tom had made a deal to put me in the satellite together. They got lucky on their money and so did I – we split my win three ways.

DS: How did the play go for you at the final table last year?

ND: I played the same style all the way through, and seemed to run over the last table. When it came down to just the two of us, Martine Oules asked if I wanted to make a deal, so we counted the chips and found that we were close to being even. We split most of the prize money and played for $6,000 and the bracelet. I was thrilled to win it.

DS: And this year?

ND: My victory this year seemed more difficult than it was in 2000 – the lineup at the last table was very strong. Patty Gallagher (the runner-up) and I played until 3 a.m., and she played very tough. Carolyn Gardner, Maria Stern, Jan Fisher, and Marsha Waggoner were at the final table with us, to make it even tougher. And even though I was exhausted at the end, I was thrilled all over again that I was able to defend my title against so many excellent players.

DS: When you arrived here for the Series, you were coming off a whopping $70,616 victory in the $500 buy-in limit hold'em event at the Jack Binion World Poker Open on your home turf, Tunica. With unlimited rebuys for the first three levels, were you in it pretty deep?

ND: No, someone had put me in a satellite, which I won, and I played the tournament without making any rebuys, because I had enough chips to play at each level. After paying my backer and all of my bills, I had enough money to come here for the World Series. I had gotten a job as a dealer during the Series, so I started working the first day that I arrived, but after I had dealt three rounds, I was told that I had the next two days off. In the meantime, Tom had played a satellite and won $2,000 in tournament chips, which he gave me to buy in for the tournament the next day.

DS: The $2,000 buy-in limit hold'em tournament set a World Series record of 615 entrants with a prize pool of more than $1 million. Tom must have had a premonition that he was making one of the wisest investments of his life. With so many players, how did you maintain your concentration?

ND: I didn't think about how many people were in it – I just played the ones at my table. Every time the limits went up, it seems that I won the first pot that I played. But just before the dinner break, I lost two big pots. First, I had a pocket pair of eights and missed the flop. Then, I raised with pocket sixes and everyone folded except the player next to the button, who reraised. I four-bet before the flop and missed again. I had gone from $10,000 to $4,000 in just 30 minutes! It's a good thing that we stopped play at that time for dinner; otherwise, I might've blown off all my chips.

DS: You must've been frustrated – how did you cool off?

ND: I went to my room, took a hot bath, and pounded my head and screamed at myself, "Why am I playing like this?!" After I calmed down, I decided to slow down. So, after the break, I played very solid hold'em. With 106 people left in play, I was afraid that I might not make it with only $4,000 in chips, but decided that if it was meant to be, it would be. Things went well for me and I made the final table – at 6:30 a.m. – in second chip position.

DS: The next day you returned to play against a strong field, including Chau Giang, Sirous Baghchehsaraie, and Peter Vilandos. It couldn't have been easy, especially with so little time for sleep.

ND: The limits were really high and I had a lot of chips, but I didn't have to bust anybody. They knocked each other off. I just sat and watched, and after a little while, I only had to deal with John Pires and Giang. I caught some cards and took a lot of chips from Giang; then Pires busted him out of the tournament and we were heads up. Pires had more chips than I did, so we made a deal based on our chip count and played for the bracelet. Actually, he won $65,000 more than I did.

DS: But he didn't win a bracelet, which seems to be more important than money to many players. I know that you'll be wearing the gold with pride, but what are your plans for all of that loot you won?

ND: I'm not going to waste that money. It's too hard to come by and I've worked so hard for it. I've hit bottom before and I don't want to go there again. I'm planning to buy a house – you know, I'm almost 50 years old and I don't have anything to show for it. And I'm going to help my niece, Sandy, finish college in Michigan, where she's an A-student. My older niece, Vicky, is a graphic designer. I went to college for one year myself, but dropped out when I flunked the computer course that I was taking – computers just aren't my bag. That's one reason why I like being able to help my niece get her college degree.

DS: You got a late start in the tournament world, Nani. What do you think of it so far?

ND: When I first learned to play poker, I decided that I wanted to win some real money at it. I wanted to "get there." I don't have a college degree, so I thought that poker might be something that I could be successful at without having to be highly educated. I have found that you can be a winning player if you don't get too cocky about your success. And you cannot play tournaments all the time – after I play a tournament, I need to recuperate for a few days. Some people seem to be able to play every day, maybe because they're younger than I am, but I still don't think it's wise to play all the time. Whether I win or lose, I'm tired at the end of a tournament and need some rest.

DS: What's the next event that you hope to play?

ND: During the past year, I've been learning to play no-limit hold'em, so I want to try a no-limit tournament. I am still working on my game – my limit game and now no-limit. Someday I'd like to try to win the world championship. I might be a long shot, but I'd still like to play it. Every day I am learning, learning.

DS: How do you learn? Do you read, think, watch, or what?

ND: Sometimes I read columns about poker, but mostly I watch people play. At the final table at the World Poker Open, I learned something valuable from watching others play – that every hand is played differently depending on how many players are left. Ninehanded play is different from eighthanded, which is different from sevenhanded, and so on.

DS: Card values change according to how many players are at the table?

ND: Yes. And when you move to a new table in a tournament, you have to learn the players at that table right away. "He's a good player, don't mess with him," and so on. No matter how well you play poker, you have to have a "feel" for it; otherwise, you never can figure it out. Every day I am learning new things.

DS: Do you have any thoughts about the poker world that you want to express?

ND: Right now, I don't have a thought in my head! I'm still brain-dead from yesterday's tournament.

DS: Success speaks for itself, Nani. Last year when you won the ladies championship, everyone was asking, "Who's Nani Dollison?" Now they're wondering, "What's she going to win next?"

Editor's note: Dana Smith is the owner of Cardsmith Publishing and the author of three poker books. Visit www.pokerbooks.com for an overview of Cardsmith books, including the "Championship" series by Tom McEvoy and T.J. Cloutier.