BELL GARDENS, CA-- Last night, while a dark cloud moved over the future of online poker in the U.S., live poker flourished at the Bicycle Casino, where 227 ladies bought in for event #4 at Big Poker Oktober-- the $100+25 "Queen of Clubs" NLHE tournament. Yours truly crossed her fingers, downed two mimosas at the complimentary brunch buffet, and bought her donkey self in.
At my first table I was seated two to the left of the vivacious and chatty Timmi Derosa, who captured the California Ladies State Championship on Monday night at Ocean's 11 Casino in Oceanside. I immediately recognized Timmi's studded jacket and Louis Vuitton day planner from a fashion photo I snapped at the World Series of Poker (scroll down to the one with the caption reading "the Queer Eye guys want their hoodies back").
Timmi was humble about her win, but super-aggressive in her play. She was all about sniffing out weak continuation bets on the flop and popping the turn with anything from middle pair to nothing but air. She had also accidentally drank six of the "little champagne glasses filled with OJ" outside the tournament ballroom, not knowing there was booze in them. So Timmi was a little loopy and kept ordering one water with lemon after another from the porters in an attempt to rehydrate. Unfortunately, Timmi's KQ fell to AQ on a Q-high board and she left us all too early.
London Gallagher, last year's WPT Ladies Night Bicycle Casino qualifier also made an early exit from the tournament but stuck around to sweat several friends. As more ladies joined her on the rail, a couple of rowdy all-girl cash games broke out in the corner of the room. A LIPS-sponsored super satellite for a Card Player Cruise functioned as a de facto second-chance tournament, with many of the ladies who busted from the main tournament hopping straight across the room and onto another table.
I would have joined them... but I was still in the tournament. I was in it for quite a while. It would have been a much longer while had I not lost a major coinflip at the 500-1000/200 ante level, but I did make the money, finishing 15th. I was happy with my finish, but disappointed that I wouldn't get to make my Card Player photo debut wearing the special red velvet cape and silver tiara that went to the winner, along with the $8,500 first prize. That honor went to Burbank's Chau Do, scoring her first major tournament win.
Notable absentees: Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, Babs Enright, Susie Isaacs. First L.A. ladies tourney I've played without at least one of them. Also wish I could have taken photos, but I got the smackdown the minute I pulled out my little digi-cam. Boooo.
Another weird thing: While most TVs in casinos are tuned to sports or horse racing, the one above my tournament table was showing... no shit... Thelma and Louise.
