Heads-Up with Christina Lindley (lindeyloo22)
It’s been a topsy-turvy last 10 months for poker pro Christina Lindley (pictured), who is known on PocketFives as lindeyloo22. After setting up shop in Las Vegas to play online poker with fellow female star Lauren locoenlacabeza Kling, Lindley left the United States following the events of Black Friday in order to keep playing online. Now residing in Canada and on a warm weather retreat to Mexico, Lindley sat down with PocketFives to preview the 2012 World Series of Poker schedule and talk about her life post-Black Friday.
Her marquee scores include a second place in an FTOPS event for $106,000, a win in a USA COOP $320 buy-in tournament on PokerStars for $127,500, a final table in the WCOOP Super Tuesday for $35,000 last September, and a recent win in a $55 Rebuy on PokerStars for $12,000. According to the Hendon Mob, Lindley has over $60,000 in live cashes to her name.
PocketFives: Thanks for joining us from Mexico. Can you give us your general thoughts on the 2012 WSOP schedule?
Christina Lindley: I was psyched out of my mind about the new four-max event. That’s my new game. There’s a four-max event every week on PokerStars that I’ve been doing well in. When I was in Vancouver during the WCOOP, one of my friends said I was good at six-max and I should try the four-max games online. They are conducive to my bipolar style of play of being nitty and psycho and really emphasize playing the player, not the cards. I also like to play a lot of hands. I’ve been playing it online every week and doing well.
I’ve been playing more heads-up too and have been working on my short-handed game. One of the huge advantages I have knowing cash game players is that a lot of the MTT regs are good pre-flop, but their game on the turn and river is lacking. They don’t know what to do deep on the turn and river with a lot of chips.
PocketFives: There’s a $1 million buy-in tournament on this year’s WSOP schedule, a charity event that benefits the One Drop foundation and also awards a gold bracelet. What’s your take on the $1 million buy-in event? Should it award a gold bracelet?
Christina Lindley: If it’s for charity and people want to play for $1 million and have that official title, then why not? I think that’s great. Poker players don’t necessarily get involved with the community, so if we can help people on that grand of a level, it’s great for the sport and good public relations for poker players in general. It’s showing the mainstream world that we give back.
If you think about the fact that there are mixed events and the ladies event, for example, there are a lot of tiny field events at the WSOP, so I don’t see why this shouldn’t be a bracelet event too.
PocketFives: Should the WSOP Main Event continue to feature a delayed final table?
Christina Lindley: I think that by doing the delay, it increases interest and provides an opportunity for poker to be more like mainstream sports where you can bet on who is going to win. Players can get sponsors, work on their game, and study their opponents.
My whole thing with poker is that I want it to be a mainstream, Hollywood-type event where people want to view it, so in that respect, I think a delay is good. If there were an option to do away with it, it would be better to keep it from the perspective of getting endorsements and making it a spectacle.
PocketFives: We take it you’re down in Mexico right now because of Black Friday. What has your life been like since April 15th of last year? Thanks for snapping this picture of a gorgeous sunset from your balcony for us, by the way.
Christina Lindley: Black Friday changed my whole life. I went from living in Las Vegas playing online poker whenever was convenient and spending time with my family and friends to organizing multiple trips to other places.
I have my home base in Vancouver and still have a place in Vegas. When the weather got bad, I went to Mexico. It all requires a lot of work and effort and it’s definitely been incredibly inconvenient and very stressful. Overall, though, I think it’s changed my life for the better. I’m much more adventurous now. I never would have lived abroad. It’s forced me to hone my skills to make it worth traveling. When you’re spending money living abroad, you had better be making money by playing poker.
PocketFives: Do you see yourself eventually moving back to the United Statesfull-time?
Christina Lindley: I’ve always wanted to plan everything, so it’s been very challenging to accept that I can’t really plan what I’m going to do now. All I can do is set professional goals for myself. I can’t say where I’ll be living next year or anything like that, so I’m letting myself go with the flow and see what happens. If I win one major live tournament, for example, it could change my life.
PocketFives: Is poker still fun after all of this upheaval?
Christina Lindley: It’s more fun now because I appreciate it more. I never took poker for granted because it gave me a freedom and a lifestyle that I could never have had as an actress. I choose everything now. I can play anytime I want. I can play any tournament anywhere I want. It’s given me a freedom I’ve come to appreciate since Black Friday.
