Purple Reign
Online poker room Purple Lounge has a bright new recruit: Poker Night Live presenter Michelle Orpe.
Bubbly, blonde, brainy and lots of other over-used adjectives beginning with ‘b’, Michelle Orpe seems the perfect choice as Purple Lounge’s new ‘VIP Manager’. Michelle has gone from stage school to Poker Night Live presenter (via a short flirtation with Drag Racing) in seemingly no time at all. Sky pokerzone’s fledgling programme features nearly-live commentary on online poker games and was one of the first poker programmes that made the online player the star of the show. The one-time poker virgin is now one of the most recognisable faces and voices in poker TV. gambling. com tracked down the 28 year-old Essex girl to give her a good grilling.
You’ve just joined Purple Lounge as ‘VIP Player Manager’. What does that involve?
Well my role at Purple Lounge is going to be very varied. The idea is not only to look after the high rollers and a lot of our important clients, make sure they get to big poker events, make sure they’re happy, but also to attract youngsters to poker. Poker, despite the internet boom, still has the image of middle-aged men playing in smoky backroom bars, and I think poker still needs a bit of jazzing up. Purple Lounge is achieving that.
So is that vibrant young attitude what attracted you to Purple Lounge?
Yeah definitely. I’ve been involved with poker for a while now with Poker Night Live and I feel I’m in a position to branch out. Purple Lounge has a commitment to excellent customer service and that’s what I want to be involved with. I want people to experience the best customer service around. We’re a new company but I think soon Purple Lounge will provide one of the best internet gaming experiences on the net. One of the things we’re planning is the Purple Aces card in conjunction with Quintessentially, a concierge service who look after high rollers and celebrities. The Purple Aces card is like a loyalty card for our VIP customers.
You’re trying to attract more young players. What about attracting more women players?
That’s definitely our aim too. I’ve taught so many female friends how to play poker since I started. And you know, women love to take on men over the table! We’re introducing a competition called ‘Battle of the Sexes’ which will be an online tournament for the best of the best women players vs the best men. Qualifiers will be brought to London, there’ll be TV coverage - the works!
You joined Poker Night Live with no knowledge of poker whatsoever. Was it completely bewildering to start with?
Texas Hold ‘Em is pretty simple to grasp, which is why it’s so popular. But I was lucky. Nick (Wealthall) sat down with me and showed me how to play. But the toughest thing was handling the reaction of some of the viewers. When I joined there was something of a witch-hunt on the show’s forum, led by a certain player called ‘Axeman’ because ‘this blonde bimbo is coming on who doesn’t know anything about the game’. Now of course everyone’s changed their tune and I’ve beaten a lot of the online players who were calling me a bimbo on Poker Night Live!
You’re ably supported by a host of poker experts. It must make your job a lot easier.
Definitely. I find as I go on I need them less, but at the end of the day, even the experts are learning all the time. And of course there’s so much difference between live and internet play. Phil Hellmuth was saying to me recently that, stick him on a live table and he’ll have a good chance of destroying the field. Put him online and he doesn’t have a chance!
So you’ve taken up the game in your spare time. Do you play a lot?
That’s all I do at work! (sssh, don’t tell my boss!) I do play quite a bit but mostly online to be honest. My tells in live play are abysmal! I’m not telling you what they are though! But I’d have to say I much prefer playing live. There’s nothing like it for a social evening. I’ve got to do something about my competitiveness though. I absolutely hate losing! I will storm off if I run into the luckiest hand you’ve ever seen!
And how’s your bank balance doing?
Ha! Well I’m in profit, let’s put it that way! I’m still on the low-stakes cash tables, but I don’t think I’ve ever dipped into the red, so I must be doing something right! Simon [co-presenter Trumper] is planning to mentor me in preparation for some bigger live events. How’s that for a mentor!
What’s the craziest play you’ve seen on Poker Night Live?
We had this guy on once called ‘Shneggles’ or something. He must have been drunk and can’t have realised he was on the TV table because he was all over the place, raising with utter garbage, going all in with 10- high etc. He was hilarious to watch and we ended up cheering him on every time it was his turn! He’d bust out and keep on reloading! Great entertainment! But that’s what’s great about Poker Night Live. It’s not too serious and we want it to be as funny and enjoyable as possible.
What’s your biggest ever bluff?
There’s only one I really use – the re-raise bluff. It’s really hard to bluff in a live tournament situation at the right time and that’s what big tournament players can do. I was sat in a game in London, and I was getting nothing at all – NOTHING! Just raggy rubbishy cards, no pairs even. In the end I said to myself ‘whatever I get dealt next, I’m going to go in on. I’m playing that tight, I’ll get respect.’ I think I was dealt 10-8, so I raised. There’s one caller. The flop was pretty scary, with overcards and flush possibilities. So I check-raised the guy and he called. After the turn I had to move all in to have any chance of scaring the guy off the pot. I sat there with utter rubbish in my hand praying for the player to fold. After what seemed like an eternity the guy said ‘I’m going to give you some respect here’ and he folded! He turned over kings!
Who’s your favourite poker player?
Daniel Negreanu is by far my favourite player. I love watching him play. He’s got so much character. He’s so easy with it and he’s fun to watch.
You trained at Performing Arts college. Any desire to go back to acting?
I’d love to. I was a really good theatre actress at one time and I won competitions at college but I didn’t have enough TV and film experience and that’s where the money is. To go back to acting after what I’ve got involved in now would be crazy. It’s so competitive and the money’s so bad unless you’re in TV. If I got my dream to be a Bond girl than maybe I could be swayed!
But your acting skills must help you at the poker table.
Yeah I would say so. Acting skills and working in the entertainment industry help you come up with something on the spot. Working in TV, you have to adapt all the time to different people and situations and that’s exactly like sitting at a poker table.
Your dream poker table. You and 5 figures from history.
Daniel Negreanu, Al Pacino, Brad Pitt (as Rusty in Ocean’s 11 – mmmmmm!), George Bush (would be great to kick his ass), Simon Cowell [I presume for the same reasons? – Ed].
What do you see as the future of TV poker?
I have a particular image in my head of what I want to see. At some point I will endeavour to see this through. Ready for this? It’s going to be live poker, but in a glamorous setting with an audience, viewer participation, glitzy, glamorous, exciting poker experience. The game will be broken up by comedians, singers, news items, things like that. Young fun poker, that’s what we need!
Excellent. How about making it more exciting with the table suspended over a shark-infested tank? The longer the game goes on, the lower the table goes!
Perfect. It will happen! Let’s talk about this!
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