There are people out there that most of us would not want to cross intellectual swords with. Oddly enough, they are not often the people we think they may be. Stereotypes can be deceiving. Wolf Blitzer of CNN comes off as so smart when he is reading the news from a teleprompter on CNN, but when he appeared on show, Jeopardy, the man confirmed that he had the IQ of a rock lobster. Nobody would think that this guy would be sharing the intellectual basement with wiener dogs, Perez Hilton, bacteria, and most forms of cheese. According to most stereotypes, this is what we should expect from the sort of attractive blonde who would look good in a cheerleader outfit. This is just the kind of thinking that can get your bankroll killed when you play poker, especially if Almira Skripchenko shows up at your table.
Almira is a part time poker pro whose personal history suggests she has enough brain power to telepathically move large objects or open a hole in the time/space continuum. Before she took up Texas Hold'em, she was a champion chess player. She ranks as an international chess master as well as a woman’s grand master. For someone to be successful at chess, they need to possess extremely advanced strategic thinking abilities. This is not the sort of person you want to get into a poker strategy dual with.
Almira has been dabbling as a poker player for a little while. According to Ms. Skripchenko, her first tournament experience involved her friends teaching her how to play Texas Hold'em in the taxi, on her way to her first poker tournament. By evening she was competing at the final table. Not bad for somebody who learned to play poker less than 24 hours before the last nine were seated.
Since this time, her life as a poker player has included a final table appearance in most of the high profile tournaments that she has played in. Most recently, she outlasted a bunch of poker pros and finished 2nd at a WSOP event last summer. Considering the IQ she brings to the table, she must be a very scary foe indeed. You will never know if you are winning, or just falling into a well placed strategic trap.
