Wicked Chops Poker: Poker News, Gossip and Hot Girls

She was the belle of this year's WSOP Main Event. Winning over her table mates and the media with the kind of looks and charm that could melt an iceberg, or Canada, Dee Dozier was the pretty girl everyone was talking about during the early days of the tournament as she sat sweetly at her table in a dress more appropriate for a casual summertime date than poker's premier event.

But Dee Dozier wasn't there just to look pretty. This southern girl who spends her time between New York and LA as a singer/songwriter and actress was in Las Vegas to play poker. Taking out Jen Harman early on, Dozier accumulated a healthy stack quickly on Day 1 and made a run late into Day 2 until . . . well, you can watch her on ESPN tonight to find out what happened (hint: she won't be on next week).

We had the chance to catch up with Dozier a few weeks ago as she was heading into the studio in LA to record some new songs. We talked about her experience at the 2007 WSOP, what she thinks of Brandi Hawbaker, what poker pro she has a mad crush on and if we should expect to see her at more tournaments. We also asked about her roles in movies like Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang, where she played a dead girl who gets peed on by Robert Downey Jr. Finally, we talked about Dee's main love and focus, music, and why such a happy girl sings such sad songs. Really, we cry when we hear them. But we're sensitive guys.

WCP: So we heard you were at last year's WSOP but didn't play. What were you doing there and how the hell did we not meet you then?

Dee: I was playing music in the Ultimate Bet suite. Joe Reitman has been a dear friend of mine for years and he and Annie were just really sweet to ask me to come out and play music and just be in the poker world...kind of my first experience around the tourney lifestyle, meeting the pros, seeing what their day consists of and I was awestruck. I played lots of covers that year and um, well my songs are a bit melancholy so come to think about it, when people got eliminated, I probably wasn't the best thing to brighten their day.

WCP: So how did you finally get into actually playing poker?

Dee: My neighbors in LA played. They were a house full of boys and I felt left out. They had games at the house and I just wanted to be a part of so I followed them out to Commerce a couple of times and watched, but didn't play. Then I got online and started playing for play money. Played a couple of home games...started watching poker all the time on TV. Asked lots of questions. You know, there was a site when I had my PC that would let you play free money and if you won the sit and go's, they would pay your entry into tourneys and I won a few of those and then when I moved to New York, played my first tourney ever in AC and placed 14th...top 10 got entry to the Main Event this year in Vegas.

WCP: But you still ended up playing in the Main Event this year. How did that come to be?

Dee: My friends that I played with in AC where I got 14th had the ability to enter me in the WSOP Main Event...catch being they would take half if I cashed....which kind of almost happened so I guess it wasn't the worst investment ever right? They were so cool to do that for me and I don't think they regret it, hope not. I've gotten them both into playing online and they watch on TV a lot now. We have a trifecta now and I think we'll be playing some in AC this year. Figure we'll split any profits. I think it's nice to have like a team/league...that way you have really good odds.

WCP: So we couldn't help but notice the Full Tilt Poker patch you wore during the Main Event. How did that sponsorship come about? Was it just for the WSOP?

Dee: Um, I'm still not exactly sure how that will pan out. Joe kind of set it up via a manager and I think they saw that I was getting some press and agreed to some sort of sponsorship based on air time...so, I'll get back to you on how that works out...hoping it works out well.

WCP: Is it true that the Main Event was only your second live tournament?

Dee: Yep this is very true. I was a nervous wreck. I have a feeling when they air the coverage on ESPN people are going to think I'm like a freaking jumping bean. I can't sit still, even if I'm not involved in the hand, I'm nervous for everyone at the table. My gosh it's such a rush. I never bore. Not once was I bored during the main event.

WCP: You had a lot of media attention around you during the Main Event. Kind of like this year's Joanna Krupa, but different. What did you think of it at the time and do you think it affected your play?

Dee: You know, it didn't affect my play per se, but I felt really bad when I got knocked out, like I shouldn't have gone all in when I did, like I disappointed people. Everyone was just so friendly and kind to me and I knew there were people rooting for me as the complete underdog and I just didn't want to disappoint. I also just wanted to prove that I actually can play poker ya know? And that I deserved to get as far as I did and that it wasn't a fluke. I play a lot of sit and go's, not cash games, so I know how to survive in a tourney. I'm learning now though that I also have to learn to be more aggressive.

WCP: Yeh, you seemed to be ok with the media spotlight while Tobey Maguire was acting like a lemur, whatever that is, at the table, constantly hiding his face? When you're as famous as him someday are you going to be pulling that kind of shit?

Dee: Not at all. I am who I am and I like what I like. I don't know if he was uncomfortable because it's gambling and maybe he didn't want the general public to know that was a hobby, not sure why that was...but I am no Spiderman/woman (laugh). I do love poker and I will shout it from the rooftops!

WCP: Do you have a favorite moment from this year's Main Event?

Dee: Every moment was my favorite moment. But, fave favorite, when I doubled up with my jacks day two early on....I cried like a silly baby because I was getting really short stacked and then when I won, I realized there might be a tiny chance I could move on

WCP: So you knocked Jen Harman out of the Main Event. She doesn't take getting sent to the rail lightly does she?

Dee: You know, she is such a sweet sweet person. I really liked playing at her table, such an honor. To be honest, I think her day one was much like my day two...I didn't see her cards or anything, but I'm thinking she didn't get cards all day, just a feeling, but I think it was mid-day can't remember exactly...I had played fairly tight, so when she went all in and I had tens and I looked to see her stack size I knew I had to call. I really think she had a bad day with the cards. My day two, I drew like the dead sea for almost 4 hours, hence why I went all in short with K-J...not a great hand to do that with but it was really the closest thing to something I'd seen. I digress. Jen Harman is a poker icon and I was just honored to sit with her.

WCP: It's never a good feeling the moment you get knocked out of the Main Event. Did you stick around after you were knocked out and drown your sorrows in Vegas or head home right away?

Dee: Oh no, I left immediately. I had slept so little with all the nerves and thoughts running through my head every night that at this point I was definitely exhausted and bummed to have been this close to going into day 3. I really could have hung on for a better hand, woulda coulda shoulda.

WCP: What do you like to do in Vegas when not there for poker?

Dee: I am not a party girl. I got all of that out of my system years ago. I am a homebody, so when I'm staying at a hotel, I like a yummy yummy dinner, dessert, and then movies in my room, big bubble bath and sleepy time. Hahaha. I sound like a complete dorkle.

WCP: What do you expect it will be like seeing yourself on ESPN when the main event runs?

Dee: I am really not sure. It airs tomorrow and I'm so excited but I'm so weird and goofy that I'm pretty sure I will say some stupid things and make funny face and really embaress myself. Could be entertaining.

WCP: With the WSOP behind you what are your plans now for poker? Playing more tournaments? More trips to Vegas?

Dee: I would like that very much and if I am ever in a financial position where I can play tons of tourneys, I will. For now, I'll stick to my 20 dollar sit and go's and see where that takes me...maybe a satellite event in AC every now and again.

WCP: So you got anything to say about Brandi Hawbaker?

Dee: Um, I don't know who that is, I heard her name a few times, but not really sure.

WCP: Moving on to your music career, how long have you been playing and writing music?

Dee: I have been playing classical piano since I was 5. I have been singing in choir since I was a little girl, but my voice was this dainty little soprano thing, which I hated. In the past 5 years it evolved into more of an acoustic/blues sound. Most of my influences are male vocalists with soul, with the exception of the beloved janis joplin.

WCP: Two of us have worked in the music business, and we know the biz is a bitch. Are you ever jaded by it at all or are you less focus on trying to achieve commercial success and more about expressing yourself and just hoping others enjoy what they hear?

Dee: You know, I write more as an outlet for myself and if people like my lyrics and want to buy my music, cool. I'm not jaded about it because at this point, I control all of my songs. I write them and I own them. I've given them to friends for movies/soundtracks and such, and those friends are people who appreciate them for exactly what they are and I trust them to treat them with the love that went into writing them. For now, that is the direction I want to continue to go. There is so much power in the Internet these days that an independent artist can bascially manage their own career. Some months I write four or six songs, others, nothing...I do everything on my own time and from my truth. I hope nothing ever takes that from me. Not sure if that answered the question exactly (laughs)

WCP: So what's the story behind Moonshine? You and Jana (seen in photo) could sing the alphabet song and sell albums just on looks alone. Are you two still playing together?

Dee: I am solo these days. Moonshine was a great idea. The song "Montgomery" is one of the best songs I've written and I hope to sell it one day. To be perfectly honest, I was not really that into writing music that was not true to me...I wrote a song for Moonshine and the lyrics were "cuz if it's got to do with you, I tell you what I'll do, I'm gonna burn it...go ahead and take all your lies, and your stupid allibis and burn it"....and although it was catchy, it wasn't me. Does that make sense? I am from Alabama, and I love a good country tune. It just wasn't really the direction I wanted to go in the long run, and I was losing creative control trying to be the country writer that wrote the right country lyrics and told the right country story...lost my truth.

WCP: You're such a sweet and cheerful person yet your music has a melancholy and very contemplative feel to it. What do you think this says about yourself?

Dee: My music is from my soul, it talks about my experiences with life and love and loss. I smile all the time, I love being alive, every second of each day is a gift and I am rarely sad, but in my music, I share a deeper part of who I am, not necessarily darker, but definitely not what I give off on a day to day basis. I shed my skin with my music, I let people in I suppose and sometimes that can be a very vulnerable place to be.

WCP: Desert island question ... You have to choose between Richard Ashcroft of The Verve or Ryan Adams to be stuck with you. Who would you pick? Oh wait we think we know the answer to that...from your MySpace page.

Dee: Um, this is not even a question for me. Ryan adams (laugh). You are so cute.

WCP: New York City has always been a singer songwriter's haven... What's your favorite venue in the city to play?

Dee: Parkside Lounge...it's gritty and whole in the wall and I love it!

WCP: Moving onto acting, we never saw Kiss Kiss Bang Bang...is it worth seeing? At least for the part you're in? And what's the story behind Girls Gone Psycho, that sounds like a Joe Francis film abour ex-girlfriends of ours?

Dee: Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang is a great film. I get murdered, thrown in a lake, dragged around dead, peed on by Robert Downey Jr...I am dead the whole time...Kevin Costner got his start as the dead guy in the Big Chill, why not me. Girls Gone Psycho, ah the movie that I have yet to see. Supposedly I can pick up a copy this week, and I believe it will go to DVD this year sometime, but parts of me hope it won't....my first lead role and wow, so many things I would do differently. Great experience though! And I co-starred with someone who has become one of my dearest friends.

WCP: So what kind of roles are you auditioning for now?

Dee: I just auditioned for a role on NCIS to play a late 20s waitress that murdered her husband..down to six of us at the last audition and to be perfectly honest, I looked like 10 years younger than the other girls and they said they just didn't think I could play 30. It was a cool role though. Would have been really fun.

WCP: Do you have a dream role or actor you'd like to work with?

Dee: I would love to play a troubled person, someone with depth, inner demons. I always go in for the quirky, girl-next-door roles, I want more...I'd love to work with Anthony Hopkins. I think he is unreal!

WCP: Ok, a question we asked both Jen Graham and Lacey Jones, don't know why, but . . . quien es mas macho? Senor Clooney o Senor Pitt?

Dee: Until Angelina, Brad Pitt. Now, George.

WCP: All right, if you had to choose one thing only to pursue for the next 10 years what would it be? Acting? Music? Poker? Harlem Globetrotter?

Dee: Eeeek! I need two of these...music/poker

WCP: Do you have any projects/shows/albums coming up that we should know about?

Dee: Let's see, Mo Pitkin's on September 13, September 29 the Gateway Music Festival in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky with Nappy Roots, Seven Mary Three, and I think Staind is playing. I think one of my songs is going to be on a soundtrack next year, and I'm recording 2 more on wednesday that may also go on the film. It's a new film by Stevie Long, the writer of Starsky and Hutch...very excited about it!

WCP: You seem to have a busy schedule with all you're doing. What do you like to do when you finally have time to yourself? Any guilty pleasures?

Dee: I am not as busy as you may think. Let's see, I am in Los Angeles now, spending time with my lil sis, my best friend in the world. I'm missing her now that I'm in NY. I like to go to the beach, love it. Always writing music...when I get back next week, I'm starting guitar school, that's a nice productive guilty pleasure. I love walking around aimlessly in NY with nowhere to go, laying in the park, people watching, going to see new musicians, and, as always, playing poker online still hasn't lost its luster.

WCP: Finally, who would you want at your dream six-person poker table ...can be filled with living, dead, or fictitious people...

Dee: Hmmm, Gus Hansen because I just met him and he's oddly entertaining and full of himself. Paul Wasicka because I played with him all to briefly on day two this year and I think he's absolutely dreamy and I'm fully admitting that I have a mad crush on him. Allen Cunningham because I respect his game and want to learn everything from him, me, and that leaves two more...Do I need another woman at the table, nah, I don't. Ok, Joe Reitman 'cause I've actually never played with my friend and would like him at the table. And finally, alright, a girl, Lacey Jones because she's so pretty and sweet and I think she seems really fantastic!

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Be sure to check out Dee Dozier's MySpace page where you can listen to her music, keep posted of her tour dates and watch some of her YouTube videos.

Also check out past Wicked Chops Poker interviews with noted poker players and personalities including T.J. Cloutier, Mark Seif, Jamie Gold, Steve Dannennmann, Rafe Furst, Lacey Jones, Michael Bolcerek, Brian Balsbaugh and more on our Heads-Up page.

Top photo, our favorite of Dee from this year's WSOP, is courtesy of our friends at Pokerlistings.com.