Sister Solidarity Part II: Ladies Event Champion Alida Veliu Makes Free Entry Pay Off

By Sean Chaffin

One of the nice stories here at the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open has been the deep run of New Jersey’s Alida Veliu (pictured). On Saturday, she and her sister Kujdes Gagliardi won preliminary events on the same day.

Veliu won the $120 Ladies event for $3,325 and Gagliardi took down the $220 Charity Series of Poker tournament benefiting St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Gagliardi won a $3,500 entry into the WPT championship event and let her sister play in her place, with a piece of her action on the line.

That has been a wise decision and Veliu was making a deep run on Day 3 and already scored some cash for both women. Gagliardi is now back home, but was hoping to make it back to the Borgata soon to cheer on her sister. Veliu was staying confident and had 229,000 chips early in the afternoon on Wednesday.

“My sister is dealing with a germ-filled runny-nosed toddler, and can’t wait to ditch him and come root me on at the final table,” she said. “I’m beyond excited to still be in the main event and very proud of my achievements thus far.”

Unfortunately, her dreams of a final table appearance came to an end during Level 18. She ultimately finished 105th for $7,176, taking home some cash for her and her sister.

Readers may remember from their story that the sisters learned to play poker as children in a house where their father, uncles, cousins, and siblings were all card players. There would occasionally still be a game raging in the house as the girls got ready for school.

“Whoever won that pot the second we were going to school, paid us our lunch money,” Gagliardi said. “And whoever parked last in our driveway had to drive us to school. That was our upbringing.”

An interesting event led Veliu back to poker later in life. While working in a bank several years ago, an armed robber shoved the gun into her ribcage and made her empty the cash drawer. The experience had a major impact and left her traumatized. She left her job and struggled to go back to work, but card-playing became a bit of a salvation.

“That’s how I got into it poker because I was out of work for about six years,” she says. “I just started playing more.”

She now has $250,000 in live tournament winnings including a WSOP Circuit ladies event championship at Borgata in 2008 for $17,017. Veliu now plays poker recreationally and needled her sister a bit on Wednesday.

“My family is finally realizing I’m the better poker player,” she said laughing.

Married with two children, Veliu works as a bookkeeper for a transportation company. Playing deep into this tournament certainly wasn’t in her plans over the weekend. She had to call her employer to schedule some unexpected days off. That didn’t seem to be a problem however.

“He’s amazing,” she said of her boss. “He’s got the original article about us printed out and on his desk. He shows everyone who comes in his office. He’s really excited.”

Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer in Crandall, Texas. His work appears in numerous websites and publications. Follow him on Twitter @PokerTraditions.

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