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Sarah Bilney
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Sarah 'Aussie' Bilney
Sarah Bilney's Biography Sarah Bilney is a relative newcomer to the international tournament poker scene but already ranks among the highest earning women players in the game today. This is largely due to her impressive finish in the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event, where she outlasted nearly 5600 other players to place 63rd, ending up as the second highest female player in the tournament. Reporters at the World Series dubbed her ‘Aussie Sarah’, a nickname that has stuck. Originally from Canberra, Australia, Sarah played her first game of poker in 2000, shortly after meeting her husband Michael, a bookmaker and recreational poker player from Louisiana. However Sarah’s work for the Australian Government and other commitments meant that she was only able to play poker infrequently at the time. This changed in 2003, when Sarah moved to London to pursue a Masters Degree in International Relations at the London School of Economics. The new flexibility this entailed allowed her to pursue her interest in poker, and she soon became a regular visitor to the Victoria Casino’s card room, fitting in as many games of Pot Limit Holdem as her classes would allow. It was here that she gained the invaluable experience that would enable her to win a seat into both the 2004 and 2005 World Series Main Events. While in 2004 the cards didn’t fall her way and she was knocked out early, the 2005 event saw Sarah last through four gruelling days, earning nearly US$150,000 in prizemoney for her 63rd place finish.
Sarah Bilney's Poker Blog/Articles Home Turf It’s that time of year again, when all Antipodean poker players worth their salt turn their thoughts to the biggest event on the Australian poker calendar ~ the Aussie Millions. Held each January in Crown Casino’s Las Vegas Room, the tournament has grown into a world class event that rivals the best on offer in America and Europe. Its fabulous setting, huge capacity, first-rate management and superb hospitality attract top players from around the world, who compete with the best home-grown talent for prizes that, as the name says, are in the millions. This year I’ll be joining them again, in what will be my third attempt to find glory (or even just manage a modest win) on home turf. With no joy at the Aussie Millions so far, I’m hoping it’s third time lucky. Returning to play at the Crown always stirs memories of my early poker experiences. The first time I ventured into a real card room was back in late 2000, when I traveled to Melbourne with my (now) husband Michael, a long-time poker player from Louisiana who was keen to check out the action in the Las Vegas Room. Eyeing the big game, and figuring we'd both have more fun if I played some poker too, he gave me a five minute rundown of the rules of Texas Holdem and steered me towards the $4-$8 limit game. I nervously took my seat at the all-male table, fumbling with my chips and wishing I’d never agreed to such a foolish idea. Looking around, I saw a mix of pity and hungry anticipation on people’s faces at the sight of my defenseless chips ~ and then I immediately picked up quads! I never looked back, and had turned a tidy profit by the end of the night’s play. I followed my implausible first-time win with another, and then another, and decided maybe there was something in this poker caper after all. So it was that a couple of years later I found myself agreeing to join Michael at the Aussie Millions to witness my first real poker tournament. I had no intention of actually playing ~ tournaments seemed like far too much effort for highly uncertain rewards ~ preferring instead to stick to the cash games, which usually provided a pretty good return for what was then a very modest bankroll. It wasn't long though before my interest in tournaments grew, and I soon tried my hand at a couple of small buy-in no-limit events. With the fearlessness of the no-limit novice, I remember cutting a swathe through the hapless players who tried to bluff me, and being completely outplayed by others who could read me like a book. I was way out of my depth, and resolved not to waste any more time with tournaments when we returned to the Aussie Millions the following year. Michael, however, had other ideas. Deciding that I just needed more experience, he promptly entered me into the main event! I was terrified ~ but there was no backing out. I fortified myself with mirrored sunglasses in the hopes of masking my fear, re-read Super System, and put my best foot forward. While the event was a bit of a blur (panic will tend to do that) I do remember not being too happy to find the lady who'd won the previous days tournament seated to my left. And when top UK pro Lucy Rokach raised me ~ which she did an awful lot of the time ~ I wilted under the pressure. My stack dwindled until I finally took a stand, in a hand against a young guy in a silly hat who re-raised me thinking I would fold when I was clearly pot-committed, and then made a runner-runner flush with his no-pair, 5-high hand. My first big buy-in tournament, ending in the first real bad beat I can remember. Ah, memories. Looking back then, I can trace many of my formative poker experiences to the Crown’s Las Vegas Room, and it’s for this reason that I will always have a soft spot for it. Since that time though, poker has gone from being a very occasional diversion from my busy working life, to something much more important. I now play regularly in major international tournaments, and have managed to win some serious money in the last couple of years ~ enough to give me confidence that I’m now doing something right. But as luck would have it, I don't play nearly as often in Australia these days, and I've never managed to win so much as a dollar in an Australian event. My most concerted effort so far was at the 2006 Aussie Millions, when I decided to give it my all and play as many events as I could. With a field including the likes of Phil Ivey, John Juanda, Lee Nelson, Joe Hachem, and Daniel Negreanu, my chances of actually winning an event were always going to be slim, but between some fairly sketchy play and a bit of bad luck, I failed to cash even once. I swallowed my disappointment and promised myself I’d do better next time. And now that time has come again, and I’m all set to be there for the duration ~ thirteen days and thirteen events, doing my best to add some Aussie dollars to my bankroll. With some 700 players expected for the main event alone, and a newly expanded room to accommodate them, this year’s Aussie Millions promises to be bigger and better than ever. It will also be tougher, with (among others) the Full Tilt team heading down en masse. I will need plenty of luck. But even if the cards don’t go my way, I’ll be struggling not to enjoy the Millions. Between Melbourne in
summer, the comforts of Crown Towers, and all the poker a girl could wish for ~ who could possibly
complain?
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Contact Click Here to fill out the 'contact Sarah' form on her website.
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