"What does L.I.P.S. stand for?"
"Lesbians in Poker Shirts."
-two women in line ahead of me at the last L.I.P.S. event at the Bike.
It very well could stand for that, but L.I.P.S. is actually the acronym for the Ladies International Poker Series, a ladies-only poker tour that is in it's third year. In addition to the dozens of local events they sponsor at casinos across the country, this year L.I.P.S. is running ladies' championships in each of the 50 states, culminating in the U.S. Ladies' Championships which will take place in 2007. California's Ladies State Championship takes place this coming Monday, September 25th at Oceans' Eleven Casino in Oceanside, CA (just north of San Diego). The buy-in is an affordable $230+30.
The defending CA Ladies State Champion? "First lady" of poker and saucy WPT storyteller Linda Johnson.
There's always a lot of debate over the merit of ladies' events in tournament poker. Do they succeed in bringing women to the game? Or only serve to segregate/isolate them? I think the L.I.P.S. Tour in particular is all about the former. I've played in a number of their events around Los Angeles and the fields are only getting bigger and bigger. I've also been seeing a lot of the same faces at these tournaments-- there is a definite community here and many strong friendships are born at the tables.
However...
Please tell me why, for the love of all that is holy in this world, were they compelled to give the CA State Championship a totally tragic country-western theme? Can't a ladies' tournament just be a tournament?
We have the $60+20 Ladies limit hold'em "Saddle Up!" event on Friday night. Followed by the $130+30 NLHE "Fillies Round-Up" tournament on Saturday morning. Followed by line dancing lessons at 8 PM. Sunday kicks off with the $80+20 NLHE "Fillies & Mares" Charity event. Followed by, no shit, a hoedown.
What the fuck would Gavin Smith say if you told him there would be a hoedown after the WPT Borgata? Well, probably "is there an open bar?" OK, bad example. But seriously, people... a hoedown? This is Southern California. Save it for Texas.
This whole rodeo concludes Monday evening with the championship event, which thankfully, does not have a horse-themed subtitle.
