The Queen of Arts

The Queen of Arts - Evelyn Ng

Poker's pretty woman has dreams outside the game.

Evelyn Ng isn't just any rising poker star.

She's the Queen of Arts, a model-gorgeous movie maniac and serious poker pro who could come up a winner whether she was peddling a script on Hollywood Boulevard or selling a bluff on Fifth Street.

If the raven-haired beauty wasn't so good at her favorite game, no-limit hold'em, she'd probably be writing the great American novel, creating her own mix of '80s, R&B, hip-hop and acid jazz, or making her name as the next Francis Ford Coppola, only prettier.

"I'd be doing something creative," says the Toronto native (called Evybabee by her friends). "I'm sort of missing that creative outlet. I like to write, I like music, media, all kinds of movies, so probably something where I would be creating something.

"I do have a movie idea in my head that I've been trying to get out for a long time. I'd like to do it, but I just haven't found the energy yet to overcome my inertia.

"I'm a very unprolific writer."

Evelyn, who lists "Rounders" actor Edward Norton as her favorite bigscreen star, also has a burgeoning career on the small screen. She's been a popular commentator for Game Show Network's Poker Royale and for NBC's coverage of the Poker Superstars Invitational, two jobs any pro would kill for.

Evelyn, 30, learned the game at 17 when she began dealing in underground clubs in Toronto. Like every good writer or artist, she listened, watched and soaked up everything going on around her.

"I just paid attention when I was dealing," says Ng (pronounced "Ing"). "I first paid attention just to learn how to deal the game properly, and then after awhile I just started to see the same people winning all the time. So I listened to their conversations and tried to gather as much information as I could just from dealing."

Ernest Hemingway benefited from a great editor, Max Perkins. Evelyn had a great mentor in fellow Canadian Daniel Negreanu.

"We had met through playing pool when I was 16," she remembers. "We hadn't seen each other in years and we had both made our way into the poker world and had run into each other from that. He really mentored me, more so about the inner game, not really strategy so much. He really taught me how to have a professional attitude and not let my emotions get the better of me. He taught me the things that are really important, not stuff like how to play A-K before the flop. The things he taught me were the most important lessons."

Just as a writer develops a voice, Evelyn came up with her own persona and style of play, girly-girl, but deceptively tough.

"I enjoy dressing up. I like looking good. I like makeup," she says.

It's a winning formula, but she's not sure if the men take her seriously because of it.

"I've always been successful at poker," she recalls. "Ever since I started, I have been a winning player. I'm not really sure if people really give me that respect because I never really tried to get it from them. Maybe I do get some more respect now than I did when I started, probably from the recognition from television. I always feel that I've done pretty well in the game and that I should get respect."

Some have questioned the need for a separate event for women at the World Series of Poker, but Evelyn thinks the tournament is beneficial because fans enjoy it and it brings more women into the game.

If she has a choice, though, she'd rather play with the men, because the women are simply too hard to read.

"I think that women are often thought of as the weaker sex, especially when it comes to poker, but I think that women that do make their way to the poker table are usually very aggressive and they play poker well," she says.

As far as dating goes, Evelyn is keeping her poker life and personal life separate. "I've always had serious boyfriends my whole life, but right now I am trying to focus on playing poker, winning tournaments and not getting sidetracked. I'm not really that romantically inclined right now."

She's focusing on poker, but her creative juices continue to percolate under the surface.

"As for my future aspirations, I'd like to play poker but not do it for a living for the rest of my life," she says. "I would like to be able to afford to play recreationally and have other projects that are fulfilling for me."

Hmmm, like maybe writing the script for "Rounders II," starring Ed Norton?