Hello, my name is Mila Monroe. I’m 36 years old and I live in the south of Germany near Stuttgart with my boyfriend Carmelo. I’m a poker player, world traveler, cosmopolite and podcaster in a wheelchair.

After an accident in 2013, my hobby poker turned into my passion. I would say that poker brought me back to life. I’ve played poker around the world, but my biggest poker highlight so far was to play against Daniel Negreanu, Charlie Carrel, Kevin Hart, Liv Boeree and Faraz Jaka in Monte Carlo.

Today, I proudly represent poker as an ambassador of the Poker League of Nations. I support “Twitch Streamer” and “PokerStars Online Pro” Felix Schneiders and the German poker community. Together with some friends, I founded a poker teaching class for women.

Thanks for this invitation, I’m honored to be your first guest.

Q: Do you prefer live or online poker?

Mila: I love the comfortable part of online poker. But I definitely prefer having nine different personalities sitting together at one table in a nice casino atmosphere.

Q; What’s your favorite tournament if money is no object?

Mila: Playing and doing something good at the same time. Three weeks ago my friend Olaf Dohn and his poker club “Allgäuer Poker Club” organized a big poker charity event. About 120 friends from all over Germany played poker for charity. At the end of the day, we donated over 5,500 Euros to a foundation for children with cancer, and we all had a wonderful time with great conversations.

Q: Favorite casino for poker?

Mila: At the moment, my favorite casino for poker is the Concord Card Casino in Braunau, Austria.  My friend Stevie Pollak has taken over the management, and he does a great job. Every tournament has its own highlights with special meals, friendly tournament structures and freerolls. Stevie has amazing and revolutionary ideas. One thing I really liked and want to share with you, is the fact that you can buy “dealer dollars” and tip the dealer during the tournament. Oh, and Salzburg is just one hour away if you are also interested in some sightseeing.

Q: What is your live poker philosophy? 

Mila: “At gambling the deadly sin is to mistake bad play for bad luck” (Ian Fleming/Casino Royal). Be grateful, enjoy your time at the table and realize that poker is an adoption of decisions not an adoption of results.

Q: How about your online poker philosophy?

Mila: “Five times to learn, a lifetime to master.”  You can only get better in poker when you review your game, and online poker is a fantastic opportunity for this. Before you can expect to start winning money with online poker, you have to make sure that you can beat levels from low stacks to high stacks.  Software like Holdem Manager or PokerTracker can help you. You can also “boom” your hands on PokerStars. If you are not sure about your decisions, you can share them with others, maybe better players or in our Poker League of Nations Facebook group.

Q: What’s your top tip for tournament players?

Mila: Tournament poker is about surviving. So, try to be focused until the last second of the tournament. Drink enough, please no alcohol (or at least not much), eat healthy, observe your opponent and don’t forget that “chips change value.” Always make sure to know how many big blinds you have.

Q: Top tip for cash games?

Mila: If you don’t know after half an hour of playing poker who is the fish on the table, you are the fish. Before you sit on a cash game table, watch your opponents and how much money there is on the table. If you’re not short-stacked confirmed, always buy-in with 100 big blinds or more.

Q: Top tip for online play?

Mila: When you play an online tournament, be aware that you might be sitting there for 3 to 5 hours or longer. If you play for money, don’t do other things like play other games or watch Netflix. Just focus on your poker game with only maybe some music in the background.

Q: What’s your physical and mental regimen for poker?

Mila: Plan your session right and make a schedule of what you want to play and how long. As mentioned previously, stay hydrated and eat healthy. This will help you to stay concentrated even during long sessions.

Q: What’s your most memorable hand recently?

Mila: Not recently but memorable — I was short stacked at the Cash Challenge presented by PokerStars in Monte Carlo. Daniel Negreanu was sitting to my left. I think I was on the cut-off, someone to my right opened three big blinds. I had DEUCES, but I also saw from the corner of my eye that Daniel’s hand moved to his chips. So, I folded because I was too scared. Flop comes ACE, something, and of course, DEUCE. That was my chance against Daniel Negreanu. Later he showed his ACE. It was very painful, but what I learned for life was: You will regret the things you didn’t do rather than the things you actually did.

Q: What’s your bluffing percentage? Is that working well?

Mila: Oh, yes, I love to 3-bet bluff in later positions preflop, and it often works when players don’t know me well. One bluff didn’t work out as well, and it was against Kevin Hart. You can watch the video below.