Cherish Andrews is not your typical 22-year-old “girl next door.” The St. Thomas, Pa., native takes poker seriously and plays the game for a living. At this year’s World Series of Poker she cashed in six events, finishing fourth in Event 43 ($1,500 no-limit hold’em) for $210,083. She chatted with me about her start in poker and remarkable success.
What made you decide to get into poker? I started playing poker when I was 14 years old. My two older brothers, Allan and Chad, would have 50-cent/$1 cash games and small $25 tournaments with their friends. I started watching poker on TV with them and learning the rules of the game, saved up enough money and the next game they had, which was a $25 tournament with rebuys, I played. My two brothers, as well as their friends, joked and said, “Sure, we’ll take your money.” I ended up winning it for around $700 and was hooked.
Are you strictly a tournament player? I relocated to Brigantine, N.J., last year after Black Friday and have been playing live $5-$10 at the Borgata probably around five days a week. When I get asked which I prefer, cash games or tournaments, I can never actually choose. They’re both so different and play so differently. Tournaments are way more draining than cash games, so maybe I would choose cash over tournaments.
If it wasn’t poker, given your talents, what do you think you’d be doing? I think I would definitely have to be doing something with babies or animals. I just love them both. I’ve always said that I want to open up a baby/animal shelter and just give them all love all day long. So I’m definitely saying I would probably be a nurse for animals and/or babies.
— Mike Owens is the Ante Up Ambassador for Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. You can follow him on Twitter @Holdemag and check out his blog at CheckRaze.com. He can be reached at anteupowens@gmail.com.
