I walk up to the desk in my local cardroom last evening but before I could tell Karen what games I was interested in, a lady at the corner table shouted:
“Send us the big guy!”
I looked over at the table and noticed nine ladies and one empty seat. Karen asked: “Do you want the $5/$10 game or are you interested in a story?” Karen knows I write about poker. While I pondered my options, another lady at the table stood up and pulled out the empty seat and said: “Come on, we don’t bite.” That did it! I went for the story but told Karen to put me on the $5/$10 list just in case.
John, the poker room manager, had heard the commotion; he took my rack of chips and walked me over to the table, where he announced: “Now ladies you be good to this gentleman, he not only is a fairly bad poker player but he also writes about poker and you are all about to be famous!”
 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").
Speaking of lady players, Warren sent along a press relese about Pippa Flanders and her victory at the World Open (I saw her husband, Tim, was doing well at the EPT). I guess in the States we're getting more and more used to seeing players without a Y chromosome do well. But in Europe, this is still apparently new ground, as the women are just starting to assert themselves at the table.
(Do you agree, Jen? If I am being wrong and sexist, please slap me.)
Here's word from our Party Man about one of the largest prizes thusfar won by a female:
"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.
 LAKE TAHOE, NV--Hung around Harvey's last night watching the $550 No-Limit #6 last night. As mentioned earlier, it was all pretty low key, but as we got down to the final three tables people started crowding around. I had my eye on two ladies Sang Tran (right) and Karen Bochenek.
Karen is no stranger to Reno/Tahoe, but this is Sang's first major tournament. She learned how to play over a year ago when her boyfriend's home game with The Poker Nutz was short a player.
"It was a $20, nine person tournament and I ended up winning it," she said. She had helped out around the store and dealt games, but hadn't played a hand until then. "I always appreciated the game, but never really played."
 LONDON--It just occurred to me that I forgot to tell y'all what happened at the PartyPoker.com World Open 2. While American poker is greedily bickering over all sorts of big-money details and worried about our own legislators trying to put the kibbosh on poker fun, here in the UK they are simply playing for a good time. And even though you see poker and betting stuff that would be illegal in the States all over the place here, shockingly it has not brought upon the demise of this kingdom and/or Tony Blair.
Now make no mistake, just because we’re in the land of all things “proper,” the World Open was no fancy Brocket Hall-type affair. On the contrary, this game was much grittier. Check out the venue where it took place:
click to enlarge
 Kinda cool, huh? Proof that you don’t need glitz and glamour for intense, exciting poker to go down. Click below for a closer look at all the jolly-good limey action.
(By the way, hats off to tournament organizers, who changed their minds about revealing the results on the internet! Most European poker programmers haven’t yet realized that it does no harm to give away the winners before a show airs – in fact it helps increase viewership -- because poker fans don’t care so much about the mystery of who wins as how they win. The boys in Leyton, however, when it comes to poker, have always been ahead of the curve.)
 BELL GARDENS, CA-- Veteran tournament pro Joanne "J.J." Liu bested five formidable female opponents tonight at Ladies Night IV, winning her first WPT title and a $25,000 entry into the WPT World Championships at Bellagio in April 2007. Bicycle Casino qualifier Kelli Griggs finished second after a hard-fought battle.
Last year's champ, Jennifer Tilly was the first player eliminated when her K-Q couldn't stand up to Kelli Griggs' A-K on a K-J-9 flop. Next to fall was Vanessa Rousso, also eliminated by Griggs. Griggs took a substantial chip lead after that hand, until J.J. Liu busted Erica Schoenberg in 4th place after flopping the nut flush, putting Liu and Griggs about even in chips. Anahit Galajian left us in 3rd place when she made a pre-flop bluff raise all-in with only a 10-7 and ran into J.J. Liu's K-K. Liu entered heads-up play with Kelli Griggs at nearly a 2-1 chip advantage.
Heads-up play lasted less than half an hour. I was surprised and impressed by Griggs' aggressive play and shrewd reads. In one heads-up hand, Kelli raised with K-7 and J.J called with 5-6. Both players checked the J-3-3 rainbow flop and the turn came a 2. Liu bluffed at the pot for 200K and Griggs, with only a king-high somehow sensed she was good and moved in on Liu for her remaining 247K. Liu called the additional 47K and saw the bad news.
In the end, however, experience won out and it was Liu who emerged victorious. In the final hand, Griggs held Q-7 and Liu held K-7 on a J-7-6 flop. Griggs check-raised all in when an 8 fell on the turn and after going into the tank for several minutes, Liu finally made the call. With half the crowd calling for a king and the other half calling for a queen, an innocuous 5 came on the river and J.J. Liu was crowned our new WPT Ladies Night Champion.
Will the Ladies' title be as lucrative for Liu as it has for our three previous winners? She was wearing a Full Tilt logo on that gown of hers. Stay tuned...
 BELL GARDENS, CA-- WPT Ladies Night IV is underway at the Bicycle Casino, with J.J. Liu, Vanessa Rousso, Anahit Galajian, Erica Schoenberg, Kelli Griggs, and Jennifer Tilly competing for a $25,000 seat at the WPT Championships at Bellagio next May. Each lady started with 250,000 in chips and blinds of 3000-6000 with a 1000 ante.
A number of colorful fashion statements were made at the table tonight. Erica Schoenberg chose a classic wool crepe wrap dress in forest green with a gold ring necklace while Vanessa Rousso went the sexpot route in a black lycra minidress with gold stud accents, mile-high heels, and a short-sleeve black blazer. Both Jennifer Tilly and Kelli Griggs went L.A.-casual in jeans, black tops, and studded belts while J.J. Liu and Anahit Galajian brought the color-- Ana in a brocaded red silk blouse and J.J. in a full-length pink and indigo sequined gown and silver glitter in her hair. It's par for the course for newlywed J.J. (who married longtime beau Dan Alspatch on August 12 at the Star Trek Experience in the Vegas Hilton). At her final table appearance on the WPT Bellagio last December, she wore peacock feathers on her head.
Of course, putting a blight on all this couture were the Full Tilt, Ultimate Bet, Mansion Poker, and Poker Stars logos sewn into some perfectly lovely pieces.
A few photos of our six ladies appear after the jump:
 BELL GARDENS, CA– The Legends of Poker draws to a close tonight at the Bicycle Casino with the annual WPT Ladies’ Night tournament. This year, the top four female money earners from this past season of the WPT were invited to play– Joanne “J.J.” Liu (4th place, Bellagio Five Diamond for $362,140), Vanessa Rousso (7th place, WPT Championship for $263,625), Anahit Galajian (7th place L.A. Poker Classic for $166,080 and 98th place WPT Championship for $43,935) and Erica Schoenberg (pictured, 16th place WPT Championship for $117,165). Rounding out the six are defending champion Jennifer Tilly and Kelli Griggs, who bested 419 women (including me) at the Bike’s Ladies Poker Party to earn her seat.
The selection process for Ladies’ Night is always a hot topic. Who was invited? Who was snubbed? Does so-and-so really deserve to play? Is it more about being good-looking than being a good player? And even, quite literally, who do you have to fuck to get a seat, as last year’s lineup of Lily Elviro Mizrachi, Cecelia Mortensen, Jennifer Tilly, and Marsha Waggoner–though they are all excellent players-- consisted entirely of WPT champions’ wives and girlfirends. Ladies’ Night is so often discussed because, as the last three editions have proven, so much is at stake. And I’m not taking about the $25,000 seat in the WPT Chamipionships that the winner will receive.
Last night I was at the Silverado in Deadwood playing $3/6. In the few years I’ve played poker, for some reason, men feel the need to protect me at the table. Annie Duke wrote an article about this once…men telling women what they have and when to fold. It’s been 100% reliable up until last night.
I had J/10, the flop was 10/8/6. I bet, the guy next to me raises, callers all around - maybe 5 in the hand. The turn is garbage. The guy next to me whispers “I flopped it.” I check, he bets, callers all around, I fold. The river is a 10. He bets, some people call. He wins with a pair of 8’s.
After he swears that he asked if I flopped it - but whatever, it was just a dumb $3/6 game.
The Silverado attracts tourists to the tournaments and locals to the cash games. The night before last I played their unlimited re-buy tournament and oh my god I have never played with so many inexperienced players.
A typical view from the rail
*Note: all of this information can also be found in my earlier post Ladies Update: Day 5. I bumped it up so our readers can more easily find the updated information without scrolling all the way to the bottom of the front page**
UPDATES:
9:28 PM - Sabyl Cohen just ended a brilliant run in the 2006 WSOP Main Event, busting in 56th place. When I came back into the tournament room after dinner break, I didn't see her and I feared for the worst, but she had just been moved to the TV featured table. Never losing her cool, Sabyl was the shortest stack in the tournament when she got moved, and ended up pushing in with the Kd-8s. Eric Frieberg called her with the Jd-Th. The board came As-Th-Qh-4d-8c, sending her home with $123,699.
Sabyl was both gracious and dignified in defeat, shaking hands with the entire table and embracing her boyfriend, who had been sweating her from the stands.
"I got in with the best of it. But it was the hand with the tens that really killed me" she said, as she was escorted to the payout line to receive her winnings.
The last woman standing in the WSOP, Sabyl outlasted 8718 players, or 99.4% of the field. Though I'm sure she's disappointed right now, she has a helluva lot to be proud of.
8:52 PM - Only 15 minutes after returning from dinner break, Sabyl saw her stack cut in half on a killer of a hand. On a 9s-6s-4c flop, Sabyl's opponent Raphael Doromal bet 300,000 and she reraised all-in, having him covered. Doromal called and showed the 4s-5s to Cohen's Ts-Td. Sabyl was slightly ahead on this flop-- about 53% to win. The 5c on the turn gave Doromal the lead and the 7h was of no help to Cohen. She's got about 500K left.
With 62 players remaining, we're into six figure payouts.
6:52 PM - We're now on dinner break with 65 players remaining in the field. 11 more and we all go home for the night. Sabyl is still going strong with 1,020,000 in chips.
6:05 PM - With the elimination of our 73rd place finisher, the players just earned another money jump and all are guaranteed at least $90,713. The next money jump will be into a six figure payday of $123,699 once we hit 63 players.
This is unconfirmed, but the buzz on the floor is that play will go for five levels tonight or down to 54 players, whatever comes first.
5:57 PM - Sabyl has 1.3 million and has been quiet in the last half hour of action. I joined 2006 double-bracelet winner Bill Chen on the rail behind her table. Chen and Sabyl are both from the Bay Area and became friends through BARGE.
Chen was telling a spectator that the new black chips with yellow flecks that have been added to players' stacks are worth 10,000. He paused and remarked with a laugh, "Each one of those black chips represents one person's whole buyin and now they're throwing them around the table!"
"One donkey for each black chip, right?" I remarked.
"Exactly!!" he replied, chucking. "I bet three donkeys. Well I raise you six!"
And then, there were two.
Early in today's action, Debra Lalor was eliminated from the Main Event in 117th place. A floor manager at the Garden City Casino just outside San Jose, CA, Lalor entered Day 5 of play with 372,000 chips, a little more than half of an average stack. After losing a race with pocket sevens vs. K-Q, Lalor found herself severely shortstacked and busted shortly thereafter.
Two women remain in the field that currently stands at 106-- a seasoned semi-pro and perhaps the top female tournament player in the game.
 Oakland, CA's Sabyl Cohen may not be a household name in the poker world (yet), but she's been an active member of the rec.gambling.poker internet news group for years, winning numerous events at the group's annual tournament series known as "BARGE" (Big August Rec Gambling Excursion). She also has 3 final tables and one win in tournaments at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles in limit hold'em, S.H.O.E. and stud hi-lo. Applying to law school for Fall 2007, Cohen's top choices are Harvard, Yale, and Stanford after scoring in the top 2% on her LSAT...though perhaps her plans will change if she ends up $12 million richer.
After a roller-coaster Day 4, where she began with 309K, Sabyl saw her chip count crest to 1.6 million around midnight last night, and then dip back down to the 398K she starts with today. Sabyl's own updates on her progress in the Main Event can be found on her blog, and all of her virtual railbirds continue to cheer her on at rec.gambling.poker.
 Annie Duke begins Day 5 with a very comfortable stack of 919,000. After a stellar 2004 in which she won her first WSOP bracelet, took 1st in a 2500 limit hold'em event at the Bellagio Five-Star and bested a table full of the game's top pros in the WSOP Tournament of Champions, Duke directed her energies more toward the business side of poker in 2005 and 2006. She developed a TV pilot for NBC based on her life story, starred in a poker game show for GSN, wrote her autobiography and took a leading role in fighting the World Poker Tour player release form, culminating in the lawsuit that was just filed against WPTE in which she and her brother Howard Lederer are plaintiffs. A mother to three daughters and a son, Duke recently moved her family from Portland, OR to the Hollywood Hills where she lives with her boyfriend, actor-director Joe Reitman. She also has a brand-new tattoo-- the words "say yes when nobody asked" appear above a floral vine that wraps all the way around her waist. I wonder how long that took to ink? Ouch!
I'll keep you updated the best I can today on both women. Media restrictions are getting tighter and floor access for red badges like myself is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain, but I'll do my best.
UPDATES:
1:45 PM - With blinds at 6000-12000, Cheng Yu raised from under the gun to 50K and Annie Duke re-raised to 300K. Yu called and they saw a flop of Ac Jd 7d. Yu checked, Duke bet 100K, and Yu instantly pushed all-in on her. Duke folded and Yu raked in the 700K pot. The hand crippled Annie, who is now on the short stack at 250K.
2:00 PM - Sabyl Cohen doubled up with A-A vs. A-K, increasing her stack to 960,000.
2:30 PM - Players are back from the first break of the day. Blinds have increased to 8000-16000 with a 2000 ante. At this level, it costs players 42K a round just to see their cards. Annie's M** is down to 6, while Sabyl's is at a comforable 23.
(**=Popularized by Dan Harrington's "Harrington on Hold'em," M is a player's means of calculating how many rounds they are able to last before being blinded off. An M above 20 is a nice stack to work with. An M below 5 means push and pray).
 3:25 PM - Sabyl has 900K and Annie appears to have a little over 300K. Boyfriend and pigtail aficionado Joe Reitman is sweating her from the rail.
I also spotted WPT Champion Martin DeKnijff wearing a red press badge with some other dude's name on it so he could get a better view of some of his countrymen remaining in the Main Event, including Mikael Thuritz.
Remember this guy (right)? One of my potheads is still alive and is sitting two to Duke's left!
3:30 PM - Annie Duke just busted. Details forthcoming. Sabyl Cohen is 2006's top female finisher in the WSOP Main Event.
3:42 PM - Twelve minutes after Duke's bustout, CardPlayer has yet to record it. They have, however noted the addition of 25K chips into play because that news is so much more important.
Duke's 88th place finish of 8773 entrants is her best finish in the Main Event to date when it comes to the percentage of the field she outlasted. Coming in 88th this year, Duke beat out 99% of the field. In 1994 she finished 26/268 (top 9.7%), in 2000 she came in 10th out of 512 (top 2%), and in 2003 she was 47th of 839 (top 5.6%). Money-wise, she earned $51,129, only $1000 less than she earned in 2000 when she finished one off the final table.
3:55 PM - Finally, details on the hand. Annie moved in preflop with A-3 offsuit and Jeffrey Lisandro called with 8-8. The 9d-9s-3h flop gave her a small ray of hope and six outs to win, but the 2c and the 4c on the turn and river didn't bring her the help she needed.
4:02 PM - You wouldn't know it since the "official" media outlets aren't giving it a lick of coverage, but there's another $1500 bracelet event underway today. I saw 10 women seated at it's 13 tables including Barbara Enright, Michele Lewis, Jennifer Tilly, Vanessa Rousso and Shannon Elizabeth. Barry Greenstein and 2002 Main Event champion Robert Varkonyi are also still in action.
4:07 PM - Some of my European colleagues in the media room just reported that Duke is having "a bit of a cry" in the Ultimate Bet suite next door. Dude, if it were me I'd be having a bit of a cry, a bit of a valium, and a whole lot of vodka before calling my weed dealer and ordering up an ounce of Super Skunk.
4:24 PM - Sabyl has 994K. 83 players remain on 10 tables. The average stack is 1.05 million.
5:31 PM - Sabyl Cohen moved in on her opponent with the Ks-Js on a Kc-2h-9s-Kd board and her opponent called with Q-Q. The 5h didn't help him and Sabyl doubled up. She had about 600K before the hand began and though they're still counting the chips as I write this, she looks to be up to around 1.4 million.
5:57 PM - Sabyl has 1.3 million and has been quiet in the last half hour of action. I joined 2006 double-bracelet winner Bill Chen on the rail behind her table. Chen and Sabyl are both from the Bay Area and became friends through BARGE.
Chen was telling a spectator that the new black chips with yellow flecks that have been added to players' stacks are worth 10K. He paused and remarked with a laugh, "Each one of those black chips represents one person's whole buyin and now they're throwing them around the table!"
"One donkey for each black chip, right?" I remarked.
"Exactly!!" he replied, chucking. "I bet three donkeys. Well I raise you six!"
6:05 PM - With the elimination of our 73rd place finisher, the players just earned another money jump and all are guaranteed at least $90,713. The next money jump will be into a six figure payday of $123,699 once we hit 63 players.
This is unconfirmed, but the buzz on the floor is that play will go for five levels tonight or down to 54 players, whatever comes first.
6:52 PM - We're now on dinner break with 65 players remaining in the field. 11 more and we all go home for the night. Sabyl is still going strong with 1,020,000 in chips.
8:52 PM - Only 15 minutes after returning from dinner break, Sabyl saw her stack cut in half on a killer of a hand. On a 9s-6s-4c flop, Sabyl's opponent Raphael Doromal bet 300,000 and she reraised all-in, having him covered. Doromal called and showed the 4s-5s to Cohen's Ts-Td. Sabyl was slightly ahead on this flop-- about 53% to win. The 5c on the turn gave Doromal the lead and the 7h was of no help to Cohen. She's got about 500K left.
With 62 players remaining, we're into six figure payouts.
9:28 PM - Sabyl Cohen just ended a brilliant run in the 2006 WSOP Main Event, busting in 56th place. When I came back into the tournament room after dinner break, I didn't see her and I feared for the worst, but she had just been moved to the TV featured table. Never losing her cool, Sabyl was the shortest stack in the tournament when she got moved, and ended up pushing in with the Kd-8s. Eric Frieberg called her with the Jd-Th. The board came As-Th-Qh-4d-8c, sending her home with $123,699.
Sabyl was both gracious and dignified in defeat, shaking hands with the entire table and embracing her boyfriend, who had been sweating her from the stands.
"I got in with the best of it. But it was the hand with the tens that really killed me" she said, as she was escorted to the payout line to receive her winnings.
The last woman standing in the WSOP, Sabyl outlasted 8718 players, or 99.4% of the field. Though I'm sure she's disappointed right now, she has a helluva lot to be proud of.
**Note: all of this information can also be found in my earlier post Ladies Update: Day 4. I bumped it up so people can more easily find the updated info without scrolling all the way to the bottom of the front page**
1:20 PM - Say it ain't so! Susie Isaacs was eliminated in 424th place, earning $30,512. She pushed in with 8-8 and ran into Eric Molina's K-K.
2:00 PM- Melissa Hayden was eliminated when she pushed with A-J and failed to improve. Erin Hatcher went out in 376th place on a brutal hand. She pushed in preflop with K-K and was called by Randy Gil's Ad-7d. The flop came Kd-5d-2h, giving her top set, but opening a door for Gil with the nut flush draw. The 3c on the turn brought Gil a gutshot to go with it and the 6d on the river sent Hatcher to the rail. She'll take home $30,512 and can be proud of getting her money in as a nearly 70% favorite.
2:15 PM - Apparently,Cyndy Violette is out in 400th place, though there are no details to be found on her final hand. Booooo!
3:15 PM- Lynne Mitchnik and Allyn Jaffrey Shulman have busted in 381st and 396th places respectively. Nine women remain in the field including Annie Duke, who, according to CardPlayer, is approaching 400K in chips.
3:30 PM - Cecelia Mortensen is out. 308 players remain in action.
 4:20 PM - Kathy Liebert was just moved to Christine Wilson's right. Wilson has about 60K and Liebert has 44K. Nancy Nguyen has 92,500 and Debra Lalor (right) has 285K. 298 players remain and I need a smoke break.
5:05 PM - Suzan "Sabyl" Cohen is our new ladies' chipleader with 682,000.
 41-year-old Nancy Nguyen has already earned a return of at least $36,704 on the $55 investment she made on the Party Poker sit & go that catapulted her into a Main Event seat. In her first WSOP appearance, the petite Texan entered Day 4 with 180,500 in chips but has since slipped to 110K.
"I lost a huge hand with pocket queens to this guy" she said, pointing a perfectly manicured nail at the pot-bellied man on her right. "He cracked them in an 85,000 pot. But I still have 110,000. I just need to double up."
Nancy has been on my radar as one of the best-dressed women in the WSOP for a couple of days now, typically wearing a chic ivory jacket and carrying a Louis Vuitton logo purse. No tragic poker shirts for this fashionista!
 I had a dream last night that Annie Duke won the WSOP. Granted, it was one of those choppy, disjointed journeys of the subconscious that had me watching the final table at a casino in Jamaica with my high school English teacher and a diaper-clad Joe Sebok as her heads-up opponent, but in my dream, Duke claimed victory nonetheless. Of the 14 women remaining in the field, five are arguably legends of the game and four of them are WSOP bracelet winners.
Annie Duke may have made some questionable fashion choices at this year's WSOP with her misguided attempt at military chic, but I have nothing but respect for her poker game (though I'd like to set the "Che Guevara" jacket on fire if I ever get the opportunity). Duke was crippled early on Day 1B and got all the way down to 2700 chips before making an incredible rally, despite a late-day table change that landed 2000 WSOP Main Event champion Chris Ferguson on her left. Until she cashed in 33rd place in the $1000 stud hi-lo event, Annie was on the "schneid" at this year's WSOP, despite over a decade of consistent performances at the Series including a 4th place finish in the $5K limit hold'em event in 2005 and her 2004 bracelet win in the $2K Omaha hi-lo. She enters Day 4 of play with 180,000 in chips after spending the entirety of Day 3 on the TV featured table. My money's on Annie to go very deep in the Main Event.
 Every time I see Kathy Liebert in the hallway, I just want to take her shopping. The track suits just don't do anything for Liebert, who is shorter and smaller in person than TV viewers might imagine. It's amazing what a pair of good-fitting jeans can do, Kathy. Trust me. Kathy is another poker superstar who found herself on the short stack early, yet never gave up. It's what separates the real pros from the rest of the field. Liebert made 4 other cashes in this year's WSOP, including an 11th in the $1500 NLHE shootout and a 26th in the $2500 NLHE shorthanded. She also made a WSOPC final table in San Diego this past March, finishing 3rd for over $113K. Kathy is the only woman to make two WPT TV final tables in open events-- finishing 6th in the 2002 Legends of Poker and 3rd in the 2005 Borgata Poker Open. First on the all-time womens' money list, Liebert has claimed over $3.3 million in lifetime tournament purses and has a WSOP bracelet from the 2004 limit hold'em shootout. She enters Day 4 of play with 126,000 chips.
 Cyndy Violette started on the short stack today with only 42K, but I wouldn't count her out. Only 45 minutes into play, she's already doubled up. Arguably the most consistent female performer over the last three years of the WSOP, she earned her first bracelet in 2004, winning the $1K stud hi-lo. Fueled by yoga, meditation, lucky energy stones and a macrobiotic diet, Cyndy made five cashes in the 2005 WSOP, including a 2nd place finish in the $2000 NLHE event. If not for a bad beat from Erik Seidel, she might have captured her second bracelet. This year, the Main Event will represent her sixth cash of the WSOP, including her third place finish in the $5000 7-card stud championship.
Susie Isaacs also started the day on a very short stack, with only 23,500 in chips and like Violette, also managed to double up early, increasing her chip count to 48,000. Susie's best showing in the Main Event was a 10th place finish in 1998. She also has two bracelets to her name, won in back to back ladies events in 1996 and 1997. A hat and sequin aficionado, Isaacs shows up to the WSOP every day in a bright, color-coordinated getup and also designs her own line of poker jewelry.
 Melissa Hayden may not be as famous as the four women I've mentioned, but she has been a successful poker professional for over a decade, with almost $430,000 in tournament winnings. This year she finished 14th in the $2500 NLHE event that Max Pescatori won, taking home $41,538. Hayden is also an accomplished stud player with numerous final tables in stud and stud hi-lo. She has 10 total WSOP cashes and is looking to double up early today with only 16K in chips left in her stack. Currently dating poker pro Allen Cunningham, Hayden is also a photographer for a number of poker publications.
Our ladies chip leader is Debra Lalor with 555,000 placing her 10th overall out of the 484 players who started Day 4. She has made two final tables in events at the Garden City Casino in Northern California, near her hometown of Sunnyvale. Other ladies still in the running include Suzan Cohen (309,500), Party Poker qualifier Nancy Nguyen (180,500), Party Poker qualifier Christine Wilson (178,000), Lynne Mitchnik (154,000), Erin Hatcher (71,000), and Katharine Hartree (61,000).
Congratulations also go out to the ladies who cashed yesterday, including Melanie Kaye (524th), Party Poker qualifier Magdalena Halford (711th), Christina Jones (726th), Donna Skolnick (723rd), and Donna Wilson (856th).
UPDATES:
1:20 PM - Say it ain't so! Susie Isaacs was eliminated in 424th place, earning $30,512. She pushed in with 8-8 and ran into Eric Molina's K-K.
2:00 PM- Melissa Hayden was eliminated when she pushed with A-J and failed to improve. Erin Hatcher went out in 376th place on a brutal hand. She pushed in preflop with K-K and was called by Randy Gil's Ad-7d. The flop came Kd-5d-2h, giving her top set, but opening a door for Gil with the nut flush draw. The 3c on the turn brought Gil a gutshot to go with it and the 6d on the river sent Hatcher to the rail. She'll take home $30,512 and can be proud of getting her money in as a nearly 70% favorite.
2:15 PM - Apparently,Cyndy Violette is out in 400th place, though there are no details to be found on her final hand. Booooo!
3:15 pm- Lynne Mitchnik and Allyn Jaffrey Shulman have busted in 381st and 396th places respectively. Nine women remain in the field including Annie Duke, who, according to CardPlayer, is approaching 400K in chips.
3:30 PM - Cecelia Mortensen is out. 308 players remain in action.
4:20 PM - Kathy Liebert was just moved to Christine Wilson's right. Wilson has about 60K and Liebert has 44K. Nancy Nguyen has 92,500 and Debra Lalor (right) has 285K. 298 players remain and I need a smoke break.
5:05 PM - Suzan "Sabyl" Cohen is our new ladies' chipleader with 682,000.
5:45 PM - After riding the short stack all day, Kathy Liebert was just eliminated in 275th place, earning $38,759.
6:04 PM - Party qualifiers Nancy Nguyen and Christine Wilson have 77K and 62K respectively. Annie Duke is holding steady at 340K.
We have 260 players remaining on 29 tables. The average stack is 337,000.
6:45 PM - Six women are left in the field. Nancy Nguyen has 90K and Christine Wilson is up to 95K. Debra Lalor has 430K, Katharine Hartreee has 180K and Sabyl Cohen remains our ladies chipleader with 815K. Annie Duke is up to 610K and sits to Cohen's right. We're about 15 minutes from the dinner break and 228 players remain.
8:59 PM - The 214 remaining players are back from dinner break and cards are in the air. Blinds are 4000-8000 with a 1000 ante.
9:30 PM - And then there were five. Party Poker qualifier Christine Wilson just busted. Ace blogger Jen Browning is on the scene as we speak to get her story. Nancy Nguyen is still hanging on with 94K, Katharine Hartree has 125K, and Debra Lalor has 530K.
10:00 PM - Nancy Nguyen just busted, ending an incredible run at the WSOP. She collected $47,006 for her 181st place finish after surviving all day on a short stack. When I saw her in the payout line, I let her know that she is the highest finishing woman in the Main Event who won her seat on Party Poker and the 5th highest finishing woman overall. Though it's a long way from winning the 12 million, at least that little factoid brought a smile to her face.
Four women are left in the field: Annie Duke with 740K, Sabyl Cohen with 849K, Katharine Hartree with 125K and Debra Lalor with 760K. 175 players remain in action. The average stack is 501K.
11:10 PM - Though we're down to 159 players, we're still playing one more level tonight. I decided to play a SNG on Party in the media room and I'm sitting to the left of a player called "Poopystains."
11:30 PM - I just got sucked out of my SNG. I got my money in on a Ac-6s-Jd-4s board with the Ah-Qs. My fish opponent (who had just shown me a bluff one hand earlier with 2-6o) called my push with K-Q. Of course he gets the 10 on the river. The media room continues to be bad luck for my SNG game. I'm 0-7 for the WSOP and each one has ended in a horrific suckout. Poopystains cashed in 3rd and I'm on tilt. Online poker is so fucking rigged.
12:07 AM - Katharine Hartree just busted in 150th place. She'll take home $47,006. Three women (Duke, Lalor, and Cohen) remain in the field of 147 players.
12:44 AM - Debra Lalor is down to 340K and Sabyl Cohen is down to 950K. Annie Duke is up to 850K and is being sweated by her boyfriend Joe Reitman and poker pro Melissa Hayden. Reitman and Hayden are perched on the featured table bleachers but are facing the other way in order to watch Annie play. In other news, we're down to 141 players and it's gettting more and more difficult to get floor access. I just got kicked out for standing literally a foot or two outside the "approved" area.
1:30 AM - Play has completed for the night with 135 players making it to Day 5. All three women are still in: Duke with 919K, Cohen with 398K and Lalor with 372K.
A boom mike, two TV cameras, and half a dozen more still photographers angling for a shot. Who could be at this table? A world champion like Greg Raymer or Joe Hachem? A big-stacked pro like Daniel Negreanu or Allen Cunningham? Another guy in a pimp hat or a fish head?
Nope. Just Joanna Krupa (right), a stunning blonde model who evidently knows a little bit about poker. She came into Day 2B with 16,000 chips and last I checked, has doubled up to over 32K. At least two or three male members of the media appear to be circling her table at all times.
 Kathy Liebert is also on the move today. Though she was all in for her last 9500 earlier in the afternoon, she's since built her stack to a very healthy 49,000 (par is about 41K at this point in the tournament). Cyndy Violette came into Day 2 with 46K in chips and is holding steady. Her bottle of Fiji water has words like "patience" and "serenity" written in curvy script on the sides, while her mini-quarry of energy stones sits to the right of her chip stacks.
 Cecelia Mortensen (right) started the day with 16,800 and her chip count hasn't moved up or down by more than 10%. She currently has 14K. 1996 and 1997 WSOP Ladies' champ Susie Isaacs (above) started with 19K today and currently sits on about 25K. Always clad in one of her trademark hats, Susie went for a red one today. Pro poker player/photographer Melissa Hayden is also still going strong. She has built her stack to 42,000.
I'll keep you posted on these ladies throughout the evening. We're expecting to play down to around 550-600 players tonight, leaving 1100 or so runners who will return for Day 3 on Friday.
UPDATES:
6:05 PM - Cyndy Violette is up to 67K. Joanna still has around 30K, but now has to contend with Josh Arieh sitting two to her right and Paul Wolfe two to her left. Susie Isaacs is down to 13.5K, and Cecelia Mortensen more than tripled up to 58,000.
Phil Hellmuth has shown up to the Main Event again, despite his elimination on Day 1. He's circling the tables, shaking hands, and trying to squeeze out a little more camera time. He's certainly dressed for TV in dark jeans, a crisp white button-down shirt and a black blazer. He's even feeding Card Player's interns interesting hands that he witnesses on his "rounds."
10:10 PM - Cecelia Mortensen and Cyndy Violette are both over 70K in chips. Melissa Hayden has 41K, Kathy Liebert has 39K, and Susie Isaacs has 38K.
Marice Cooke started today as one of the ladies' overall chip leaders with 55,875. She had at least that, if not more in her stack when I caught up with her at the end of the first break. Marice earned her Main Event buyin through a $3 rebuy satellite on Party Poker-- not a bad return on her investment.
Remarkably, Marice has only been playing no-limit hold'em for six months. With a cool stare and quiet confidence, I'd say she already has an awesome poker face.
Cecelia Mortensen has led the way for the ladies on the fourth of four Day Ones here at the Main Event of the WSOP. Active from the start, Cece has made gutsy raises and shrewd reads all day to send her chip count climbing to over 30K by the dinner break. 2004 bracelet winner Kathy Liebert is not far behind her with 25,500.
Cyndy Violette, arguably the most consistent female performer over the last three years in the World Series was on the brink of elimination when her A-A was outflopped by A-J. All the money went in on a J-J-4 flop and Violette turned the A for a miracle one-outer. That hand doubled her up to 9000 after sitting on the short stack for most of the afternoon. Like always, her to-go box of macrobiotic goodies sits at her feet.
Double bracelet winner Susie Isaacs is holding steady with around 11K while Marsha Waggoner has 5200. Isabelle Mercier was frozen like a statue when I passed her table just a short time ago. She has about 9800 in chips. Stacy Matuson, who made the final table of the WPT Aruba last fall has 7700 while L.A. cash game player Maria Ho has around 20K.
I was disappointed to discover that the lovely Michele Lewis (left) had busted. Michele made three cashes in this WSOP including a final table in the $1500 limit hold'em event in which she finished 4th. Despite her early exit in the Main Event, she has a helluva lot to be proud of and a nice chunk of change to take with her back to Houston, TX.
Stay tuned for updates on all of these ladies as the night progresses.
UPDATE:
11:20 PM- Cyndy Violette has made quite the comeback and currently sits at 22,900. Stacy Matuson lost a chunk of her stack when she made a great laydown-- she had two pair aces and kings to Karlo Lopez's set of sevens Roxci Rhodes has 18K and Cece Mortensen is up to 32K. Susie Isaacs' chipstack is also growing and stands at 15K while Maria Ho slipped to 11,200. Isabelle Mercier is down to 6K and Marsha Waggoner is looking for a double-up with only 4K.
 Lynette Chan drew the lucky straw today, landing on the TV featured table for several hours this afternoon. Typically a cash game player at the 80-160 and 100-200 level in L.A. and Vegas, Chan (right) has focused more on tournaments over the last several months since her 20th place finish in a $2500 NLHE event at the LA Poker Classic. She currently sits on 13K in chips while wearing a chic ivory blazer.
The always-colorful Patty Gallagher has built herself a nice stack, currently topping 22K. No word on how many f-bomb penalties she's been issued. Triple bracelet winner Barbara Enright has 13,400 and Melissa Hayden is off to a strong start with 20,900. Sarah Bilney (below), last year's second-highest female finisher has grown her stack to 16,500.
 Our current ladies chipleader is Beverly Cheney with 42,000. Currently shooting the upcoming reality TV show "House of Cards," Cheney scored a $27,000 win this past April for her 5th place finish in the $2500 NLHE event at the Bellagio Five-Star. With 25,500, Monica Reeves has a solid chip stack as well. Reeves made a final table at the Bellagio Cup only two nights ago, finishing 5th for over $10,000 and cashed the WPT Aruba last October.
 A number of the game's most talented female players made early exits today. Jennifer Harman couldn't get a thing going and busted around 5:30 PM. Liz Lieu had her kings cracked by a player turning trip eights, and Jennifer Tilly's AT fell to A6 when her opponent flopped two pair. Karina Jett (right) was gone before the dinner break and Lilly Mizrachi's QQ was rivered by an opponent's KQ shortly thereafter.
I'll keep you up on these ladies' progress as the night wears on here at the Rio.
UPDATES:
11:30 PM- Sarah Bilney appears to have taken a bit of a hit. She has 8600 left. Beverly Cheney is still cruising along with 48,000.
12:30 AM- Disaster strikes for Beverly Cheney. On a flop of A-9-3 with two clubs, she called an all-in reraise with two pair, aces and nines. Her opponent had a set of nines and boated on the turn crippling Cheney. On the very next hand she pushed with 9-10 offsuit and the same opponent busted her with Q-Q.
Sarah Bilney is back up to 11K and Lynette Chan has 14.5K. Lacey Jones has a little over her 10K starting stack.
Once again, a lady joined today's ESPN TV table. Stephanie Klempner qualified online and is looking for her first major cash. She joined a stacked featured table including Randy "The Dreamcrusher" Jensen and the always-volatile Phil Hellmuth, Jr.
Top online player Amanda Baker of Boulder, CO has been active early, building her stack up to 16,000. I witnessed Baker make an amazing read when her opponent bet the river with A-7 unimproved and she made the call with only bottom pair. Amanda has won seats online to a number of $10K tournaments and cashed the WPT Foxwoods event last November.
Tracy Phan has more than doubled her starting chips and currently sits on 23,500. She busted the one other lady at her table when her K-K held up against her opponent's Q-Q on a 2-4-9-5-J board. Tracy appeared on the ESPN broadcast of the 2004 Ladies limit hold'em event in which she finished third.
David Williams must be giving his mother, Shirley some lessons, as she's up to 15,700. Though Alexandra Vuong had over 25K at one point, her stack has dropped to 5100. Vanessa Rousso was down all the way to 200, but has made quite the rally and built her stack back up to 9300. Vanessa showed up this afternoon believing it was her day to play, but discovered that she wasn't supposed to start until tomorrow. She was able to get in as an alternate at the very last minute. I saw her racing for her table decked out in a faded denim miniskirt, knee-high black leather stiletto boots and a fitted grey pinstripe jacket.
Annie Duke took a huge hit and mucked her cards when her opponent showed K-K on a 10-7-9-6-3 board. That pot took her down to 2700, though she has since rebounded to 4875. Her "Che Guevara" jacket hung off the back of her chair. Evelyn Ng sits at 7800 chips while Wendeen Eolis has 11,000. Early casualties today included Carmel Petresco, Shannon Elizabeth, and last year's top female finisher Tiffany Williamson.
I'll keep you updated on all these ladies throughout the evening.
UPDATES:
8:20 PM- Coming back from the dinner break, Vanessa Rousso is up to 12.5K. Wendeen Eolis and Evelyn Ng slipped to 10,200 and 6800 respectively. Alex Vuong is hanging on with 4500 and Annie Duke has 5500. Amanda Baker is cruising with an above-average stack of 18,500.
11:40 PM- Evelyn Ng busted when her jacks ran into queens on a flop the came all baby cards. Shirley Williams is en fuego with over 30K in chips, only 5K less than her bracelet-winning son. Actress Robin Tunney (above left) has 20,600 and Annie Duke has rebounded to 14,500. Vanessa Rousso slipped to 3500 and Wendeen still has about 10K. Amanda Baker has 14,700 and Alex Vuong is still on the short stack with 6100.
 Of the 2138 players who started off on Day 1A, only 55 are women. That's only 2.5% of today's field. However, two of those ladies, Beth Shak and Jenny Kang, drew table 67-- a.k.a. the TV Featured Table. Shak has four major cashes to her credit including an 8th place finish at last year's WSOP Ladies Event. Kang has cashed twice at this year's WSOP including a 9th place finish at the $5000 NLHE Shorthanded event for which she took home $55,000.
 Several ladies are off to strong starts today, led by German player Katja Thater. Thater, who has already cashed in two events this series, is sitting pretty at 21,000 and shares her table with actor Matthew Lillard. Kristy Gazes also came out to an early lead, but has since slipped back to her original starting stack of 10,000. Actress Laura Prepon's pocket aces held up to take her stack up to 14K, while Erica Shoenberg and Maureen Feduniak are both hovering around 5K and looking to make a move. Millie Shiu (left), whom some may recognize from her runner-up finish at the 2004 ladies limit hold'em event is down but still in it with 7000 in chips. Early casualties included J.J. Liu, Jean Gluck, and Clonie Gowen.
Poor Jennifer Leigh arrived over 5 1/2 hours late, believing that she was scheduled to play on a different day. Thankfully a friend phoned her and she made it to the Rio before the blinds did severe damage to her stack. She had about 6000 when she arrived at 5:30 PM and chipped back up to 8300 by the dinner break.
And of course, there's the nun at table 18, who has gone on a tear as of late. We're not sure who this sister is, but she's sitting on nearly 50,000 chips.
UPDATES:
10:15 PM: Erica Shoenberg and Mimi Tran both busted and Kristy Gazes is up to 18,500. Jennifer Leigh is still fighting hard and has 9000.
11:30 PM: Laura Prepon is holding steady at 14K while Kristy Gazes has increased her stack to 21K. Jennifer Leigh is up to 11,500.
1:10 AM: Jennifer Leigh was eliminated when her Q-Q fell to a set of deuces. Kristy Gazes lost almost half her stack and sits at 11,000. Ladies' event champion Mary Jones has a little over 10,000 and Laura Prepon still has 13,500. The nun lost a bit of her stack but still has well over 40,000.
Jennifer Leigh is carrying the torch for the ladies today, as the $1000 NLHE with rebuys event works its way down to the final table. Leigh, best known as "Jennicide" in the online world, is currently sitting near the top of the pack with 104,000 in chips. 27 players remain in the field out of the 754 who started yesterday. Leigh started playing No-Limit Hold'em online in early 2004 and enjoyed tremendous success, accumulating over $100,000 in tournament winnings. It is only recently that she has begun focusing on live events. This tournament marks her first cash at the World Series of Poker.
In yesterday's $5000 pot-limit hold'em event, two female pros cracked the final two tables. New York City's Laura Fink finished 13th, pocketing $17,766 in her second cash of the Series and Cyndy Violette continues on her WSOP tear with yet another deep finish. Cyndy took home $14,213 for 16th place and her fourth cash this year. Congrats to both!
A slew of great female poker professionals went deep in the $5K shorthanded NLHE event that kicked off yesterday including Jennifer Leigh, Evelyn Ng, Vanessa Rousso, Jenny Kang, and Jennifer Tilly, whose quest for a second bracelet ended last night when she busted in 41st place out of 507 entrants, taking home $8,340.
Vanessa Rousso and Jenny Kang were the lone ladies to make it to day 2 of play. 23-year old Rousso, who burst onto the poker scene with her 7th place finish in this year's WPT Championship, took 41,700 into day two and has run her stack all the way up to 95,000.
You may not have heard of Portland, Oregon's Jenny Kang, but make no mistake-- this lady is a fierce poker veteran with over two dozen recorded tournament cashes good for over a quarter million in prize money. Typically playing $100-$1000 buyin events in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Jenny makes final tables left and right and is looking to do the same at this year's WSOP, having cashed once already in a $2500 NLHE event. She's came in to day 2 a little short-stacked with 29,300 in chips but has already doubled up and now sits at 54K.
Best of luck today to Jenny and Vanessa. I'm rooting for you both!
UPDATES:
6:15 PM: With only 14 players left, both ladies are still in and fighting hard. Vanessa Rousso is sixth in chips with 206K, while Jenny Kang just doubled through Joe Awada and sits on 185K. At this point, both are guaranteed at least $30,000 for their efforts.
9:00 PM: We're down to the final 10 and our girls are alive and kicking. Rousso is up to 235K in chips while Jenny is riding the short stack at 64,000.
The ladies are doing well in today's pot-limit hold'em event, with three of the game's most talented women sitting on formidable chip stacks. Everyone's favorite tracksuit aficionado Kathy Liebert is currently the ladies' chip leader with over 13,000, followed by Vanessa Rousso (6500) and Sarah Bilney with 5800.
 I met Sarah last night at the Rio's Shutters Bar. With five WSOP cashes including 63rd in last year's Main Event, she's one of the best female poker players you've never heard of. Hopefully, 2006 will be her breakout year. I caught up with Sarah just as she was going on break in the $2500 pot-limit hold'em event.
"I just took a big pot with three jacks with an ace kicker vs. three jacks with a king kicker. I'm feeling good." she said, smiling.
A routine trip to the ladies room during the second break of the $2500 pot-limit hold'em event brought a triple poker superstar sighting. Liz Lieu, wearing tight True Religion jeans, re-applied lip liner while exchanging chip counts with Vanessa Rousso, clad in hip white cargo capris, platform espadrilles and a tan newsboy cap.
"I love your shoes," Liz remarked, as Vanessa flashed a dazzling smile. Now these are ladies who know how to dress for the camera.
Three sinks down, Kathy Liebert washed her hands. I wish I could say nice things about her baggy navy track suit and pleather fanny pack, but I'd be immediately kicked of Los Angeles upon my return. That, and poking fun at Liebert's wardrobe is about as fresh as a joke about airplane food.
Anytime you're up for a shopping spree, Kathy-- I'm your girl.
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