Back in the Saddle: Lisa Teebagy Returns to Poker for Some Big Finishes at Seminole Hard Rock

By Sean Chaffin

She stared intently at her father that night 10 years ago. Lisa Teebagy didn’t know how to play poker at the time, but was awed by the explanation of his activities that night at the poker room. As she listened, Teebagy’s father focused on one hand and how it played out – how others at the table played their cards, his own hand, and the money involved.

“It was just so intriguing to me the way he described the players, and his hand, and how he ended up winning the hand,” she remembers. “I thought that sounded like something I’d be interested in because it was so compelling, strategic, and intuitive. It combined everything that I enjoy and feel like I have a grasp on.”

Learning how to play fell on her own shoulders. However, Teebagy wasn’t deterred. She began figuring the game out and soon headed to a casino to play in a sit and go.

“I won my first one and I was hooked after that,” he says.

That conversation with her father in 2009 kick-started her poker career. Teebagy doesn’t play full-time, but has found some nice scores at the tables with $188,179 in live tournament winnings. Here at the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, Teebagy won the $150 Big Stack event on April 10 for $8,469. The Big Stack win also brought her a free entry into the WPT championship event. 

Just days earlier, she also made two other final tables finishing third on April 5 in the $360 seniors event for $4,932, and fourth in the $250 ladies event for $1,323 on April 4.

“I like the area casinos and I also travel sometimes to play,” she says. “I’ll to Vegas this year to play as well. I just love poker.”

When not playing, Teebagy enjoys spending time with her dog and nieces and nephews. It’s been a good week at the tables here in her home area of South Florida, and Teebagy hopes that carries over to the championship event.

So far, so good, for Teebagy. On Day 1a, Teebagy stacked up to 227,000, good enough for 11th place out of the 279 players who advanced. 

“It’s a big event, so this is the one I’m looking to win,” says Teebagy, who works in sales when not at the tables. “I’ve been chip leader at my table the entire time, so I’m maintaining. There have been a lot of professionals in and out, but I feel good.”

Teebagy spent some time away from the game she loves recently after a string of three recent surgeries. So far, one couldn’t ask for a better return to the action.

“I’m now over that,” she says of the medical issues. “And I’m coming back with a vengeance.”

Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer in Crandall, Texas, and his work appears in numerous websites and publications. Follow him on Twitter @PokerTraditions.

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