Cyber Girl
Having already conquered the Internet in the '90s, buxom glamour model Cindy Margolis is back to take the naughties by storm with Tropical Poker.
As the Internet’s original superstar, Cindy Margolis remains one of most alluring icons of the ‘90s. From her self-made empire as the world’s ‘Most Downloaded Woman’, the age-belying 40-year-old has fostered a gargantuan fan base, the envy of any budding entrepreneur.
Now, the gorgeous blonde is back on the prowl for online domination through her tie-in with Tropical Poker. Gambling.com was fortunate enough to spend some time with the endearing and effervescent beauty to discuss her decision to finally pose nude for Playboy, the joys of acting the dumb blonde, and the power of women on the felt.
What compelled you to finally pose nude?
All these years I’ve prided myself on being the ‘Most Downloaded Women’ for keeping my clothes on. I know that I adamantly told the world I would never take my clothes off, but here I am a big liar (laughs). I’ve been posing for Playboy for twenty years, and every year Mr. Heffner calls to make me wonderful offers, which I always graciously turn down. However, when he called me this year to wish me Happy Birthday and make to me yet another amazing offer, I thought if this man, this amazing magazine, this icon still wants me, why not do it and give the fans what they’ve been asking for? Also, I could make history from the fact that all the proceeds go to charity; something that Mr Heffner has never done before.
What charity did you chose?
I am the national celebrity spokesperson for Resolve, which deals with infertility, and helps all those people out there struggling to have a family, and to have their miracle baby. I chose Resolve because my son was born through IVF (in vitro fertilisation), which I went through seven times, and my precious twin girls were born through a surrogate mother. Together with Playboy, I wanted to help other women in my situation to understand surrogacy options, adoption, fertility issues, and just to be able to talk about it. Also, I wanted to be able to give back financially, because the procedures are very expensive.
How was the experience of posing nude for the first time?
It was terrifying; I was scared to death. I’ve been very successful in a teeny weenie bikini, but taking off that little bit of material was a big deal having never posed nude before, so I was terrified. However, Playboy made me feel at ease, and of course they make everyone look fabulous, so once I became comfortable literally in my own skin, I was fine with walking around naked.
Are you happy with the pictorial?
I’m so happy. They also gave me a 10-page layout, which they had never given to anybody before. It is such a compliment that Heffner still stood behind me after all these years of me turning down his offers. The layout looks amazing, and with a cover and the proceeds going to Resolve, I could be not more pleased at how wonderful they treated me, and how the magazine looks.
Curbing the flood of testosterone to my brain for just a moment, how did you become involved in poker?
Actually, I stumbled into it. I kept getting invited to all these great celebrity tournaments, and met Cindy Violette, an amazing top woman poker player, who took me under her wing. To learn from one of the best women poker players in the world, to actually have someone like Cindy Violette come to your house and personally teach you how to play poker, was such a great experience for me. Her tutelage came to fruition at last year’s WSOP when I was the last celebrity standing in the charity tournament. After that, I remember thinking to myself, ‘I guess I really do know how to play. I guess I’m pretty good (laughs)!’ To take down a pro, or take down a great celebrity poker player like Jennifer Tilly and Shannon Elizabeth, was such a rush and a great experience, so now I’m all about poker.
Was there anything in particular that Cindy Violette told you that helped your game?
We joked about how I liked to turn up at the table wearing a low cut blouse, so my whole technique was to throw everyone off their game with my cleavage. However, she taught me how to read people and be very friendly in the game, and that people let down their guard if you have fun with it. She taught me more of the human angle.
Do you find that your feminine charms help you on the table?
I find that my looks help me up to a certain point, but once it gets to high-stakes, there’s no smile or any great body that’s going to give you the edge. When I played on the World Poker Tour, I was next to Jon Favreau (Swingers) and by the time he looked ready to take me down, I could’ve sat there naked with all the playmates in the world and it would not have mattered (Ed’s note: I fervently disagree with this conjecture Miss Margolis).
How much poker do you play at the moment?
I love to play online with Tropical Poker. I realise that there are tonnes of gambling sites on the Internet, but I chose to represent Tropical Poker because as a poker-only site, their main focus is the players. I love the fact that Tropical are so customer-friendly, because my success has always been built on keeping the fans happy. Without my cyber-buddies, I would never have had a number one website, so I understand how important it is to encourage a friendly atmosphere. I wanted to reward my cyber-fans loyalty over the years with a great poker site, and with poker now being my passion, it’s so great to interact with them on the tables. This really is a dream come true for me.
What exactly do you have in store for members of Tropical Poker?
I’ll be playing weekly games where I can chat with my cyberfans, and also get involved in open forum discussions about poker. I really want to marry my site and Tropical Poker so that the fans still feel like they are immersed in my world. As with my personal site, I want to create a friendly atmosphere where people can jump on and play against me while I sit at home at 3am in my pyjamas. I know people would like to imagine that I’m sitting in my office in lingerie while I play, and we can let them think that, but either way I look forward to the interaction.
As you mentioned, you played in the WSOP last year. How was the experience of being amongst such poker carnage?
It was crazy. If you’re a poker enthusiast, you cannot live without experiencing the WSOP. It’s madness, it’s high energy and it’s intense, but it’s so much fun, especially with Vegas being ‘party central’, and the great things you can do in a city that never sleeps. Win or lose, no one leaves Vegas a loser if they’ve been to the WSOP.
Which events will you be playing in 2007?
I’ll play the celebrity tournament again, the Main Event for Tropical Poker, and any other events I can get into. The WSOP has been great in opening its arms to me, and I plan to host some really big parties that will be open to the public. It’s very important to me that my cyber fans can meet me, get on the dance floor and play poker with me.
What has been your biggest bluff on the poker table?
Most of my all-in calls confuse people. It seems that people automatically assume that for me to go all-in all the time, I have to have the most amazing hand, and they’ll fold time and time again.
How would describe your style of play?
I pull out the dumb blonde card, and they fall for it every time (laughs). I think people are on to me now, but even when the cameras are on me, I still somehow get away with acting innocent. So using my feminine wiles and dressing appropriately, or rather inappropriately, the dumb blonde part usually works very well.
Who is your favourite player on the tour?
I love Cindy Violette. I’ve also had some great experiences with Johnny Chan, Chris MoneyMaker is always fun, and Phil Hellmuth, whose poker camp I co-hosted, is great. And then there are the other celebrities, of which James Woods springs to mind as a crack-up. That’s the beauty of the game; because it is filled with so many different characters, you never know who you’ll meet. In my opinion, even if you don’t play poker, you should come to an event like the WSOP purely for the joy of people watching.
You just mentioned hosting one of Phil Hellmuth’s events. Did he let you get a word in?
(laughs) Yes, he was very gracious. He personally asked me to come down and host the event with him for all his male fans, I know he scares a lot of people and can be a little over the top sometimes, but we just had a great time.
Are you telling me he didn’t cut you off once mid-sentence to advertise his poker site?
I was there in honour of Phil, so if someone is going to get on stage and talk for a half an hour about how great you are, they’re going to let you go on and on.
Finally, if you could envisage your ideal final table, who are the five players you’d most like to sit across from?
I would go for an all-woman table, which might surprise some people. I’d have Cindy Violette, Annie Duke, Jennifer Harman, Shannon Elizabeth and Jennifer Tilly. I would love that.
Wouldn’t that lessen the impact of your feminine charms?
That’s fine with me; I’d love to show off my brainpower. If all it took was a great body and a killer smile, you would be interviewing people non-stop (laughs). I’m a girl’s girl, and I’ve had such an outpouring of support from women after my Playboy issue. I’ve never had so many women come up to me and say that their husband or boyfriend couldn’t buy the magazine before, but they’re going to buy this issue for them because it’s for such a great cause (Ed’s note: Finally women are realising that we read Playboy for the articles).
To play with Cindy, log on to www.tropicalpoker.com.
1 comment
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Posted by jamesmcb – 10 Oct 2007, 4:49 PM
Great article :)