Shirley Rosario is a professional poker player and internet poker guru. She was born in San Pedro, California and grew up in Torrance. As a teenager, she worked as a waitress in numerous restaurants along the South Bay area. Her aunt, who worked in the casino business, got Shirley a job as a cocktail waitress at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles. Shirley worked there four nights a week while attending classes at L.A. Harbor College. She originally wanted to pursue a teaching career and had the intention of later transferring to Cal State Long Beach College. However, like so many professionals out there, after two years of study Shirley quit school before finishing her degree. She realized that she could make more money playing poker than she could at a 9 to 5 job.
Shirley Rosario Poker Beginnings
While working as a cocktail waitress at the Commerce, Shirley started to play poker. As an employee of a casino, she was in a prime spot to learn the game and often stopped to talk to customers about strategies and tips. While at the Commerce, she met her friend and mentor Steve Badger. He talked Shirley into entering her first poker tournament, an Omaha event, where Shirley would finish in the money in ninth place. After that, it could be said that Shirley had the poker bug. She entered several more Omaha tournaments and got the chance to meet and learn from other poker greats such as Mel Judah, Mark Seif, and Men Nguyen.
Shirley had her first major win in 2003. The day before the big Omaha Hi/Lo event at the L.A. Poker Classic, Shirley played in a satellite and cleared the table to win $1,000. Not wanting to give up her newly-won $1,000, she decided not to enter tournament the next day. When she met with her friend Steve Badger to tell him, he and several of his friends paid half of her entry fee and Shirley ended up paying the other half. It turned out to be one of the best decisions she ever made. She took second place at the event, beaten out by Phil Hellmuth, Jr., and earned $27,000. It was enough to convince her to quit her job as a cocktail waitress and play poker full-time.
Shirley Rosario and the Internet
Shirley continued her new career playing online and for the next few years that was where she made the majority of her income. After her second place win in 2003, she took a job as a prop player at the Bicycle casino. It was time well spent because the extra practice allowed her to hone her skills even further.
In 2005, the Bike started a live internet show called Live at the Bike and Shirley acted as one of the commentators. Much like televised programs now, the commentators would discuss each hand as it came up. When the show was picked up by the Poker Channel in the UK, it was aired as L.A. Poker Scene.
Shirley quit the Bike shortly after that to concentrate on her game. Unfortunately, her career was temporarily put on hold in 2006 when she was diagnosed with cancer. She underwent treatment for the disease and it went into remission where it remains today.
Shirley is well-known in the poker circuit for her popular website poker-babes.com. The site features bios of some of the most well-known players in the industry as well as other features such as strategies and playing styles. Since Shirley has met many of these players, she adds her own opinions and observations of them. The site also includes Shirley’s journal and coverage from many World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour events. She even gives tips of learning the basic forms of the game
The Future of Shirley Rosario
Shirley currently follows the tournaments. She considers her best game to be Omaha Hi/Lo and she has had many successes at the table. In 2004, she took first place in No Limit Hold’Em at the Grand Slam of Poker No Limit Hold’Em Shootout at the Hustler Casino. She won the 2005 Legends of Poker Omaha Championship event and she also won the 2007 Big Poker Oktober Omaha Hi/Lo event. Besides playing, she writes articles for various websites and publications and has appeared in the video Poker for Dummies with Chris Moneymaker. When she plays online, she has several favorite sites with different names she plays under. Shirley currently lives in Downey, California. She continues to improve her game and remains one of the internet’s best resources on the poker scene and its professionals.
