[Be sure to visit the World Series of Poker live blog from Dr. Pauly. More photos are now in the 2005 WSOP Photo Gallery. Complete World Series of poker tournament results can be found at Poker Player Newspaper.]
The poker boom is affecting women from all walks of life. From grandmothers to college students and from celebrities to homemakers, the number of women who are playing poker is increasing every day. With the advantages that online poker rooms provide and the plethora of televised poker programs available, women are being exposed to poker on a grand scale, particularly No Limit Texas Hold’em.
The number of entries in this year’s Ladies Event is proof that women are an integral part of the poker boom. A record number 601 players bought in for $1,000 to try to win a bracelet. The top fifty-four places were paid prize money in a pool of $546,910.
Actress Jennifer Tilly is not just Phil “The Unabomber” Laak’s girlfriend. She proved that she’s a solid poker player. She won her first WSOP bracelet in a two day event that was only scheduled to last one day, and she outlasted a field of some of the best female poker players from all over the world.
Jen Creason from Poker Wire was busted early. She ran into pocket aces when she had pocket Queens. Clonie Gowen was eliminated in the first level when her pocket Kings ran into pocket Aces. Tanya Peck built up a nice stack in the first hour. She ran over her first table and caught some good cards to be in a position to make a run. Unfortunately when she moved tables, a bit a bad luck took over. She was eliminated by a bad beat when her pocket Kings lost to A-Q when an ace spiked on the river.
Shirley Rosario had an up and down day. She tripled up by the first break and then was shortstacked for a while before she doubled up again. She was knocked out when her pocket tens lost to someone who flopped a set with 8-8. Kathy Leibert got out to a hot start but her pocket Kings ran into someone who caught a set of Jacks.
I met Kim and Lupe from Lips Tour and they gave me some more background about the Ladies International Poker Series. It’s a poker tour for women, both online and in live venues. Lips Tour is one of the many thriving communities catering to female poker players who came out in record numbers to cheer on and support one another at the largest women’s event in poker history.
The final table didn’t start until way after Midnight. Wendy Rosen was eliminated in 10th place, Janice Newman took 9th place, and Beth Shak finished in 8th place. Susan Carpenter placed 7th and won $21,840. Her A-Q lost to Q-J. Jen Tilly’s 7-7 cracked Teresa Chan’s Hilton Sisters when Jen caught a runner-runner straight to bust her in 6th place. Angel Word came in fifth place and won $32,810.
Once it got down to four players the tournament directors gave the option to the ladies of quitting for the night. After fifteen grueling hours of poker the remaining players agreed at around 4:00am to stop play and resume action on Monday afternoon.
After a few hours of sleep, the players returned to the final table Here’s who made it:
Seat 1: Jennifer Tilly (Harbor City, CA) $449,600
Seat 2: Ann Le (California) $88,600
Seat 3: Cecilia de Mortensen (Madrid, Spain) $36,300
Seat 4: Carolyn Ancheta (Edgewood, Washington) $31,500
Jennifer Tilly amassed a huge chiplead and had a 4 to 1 advantage over the closest player. Both Cecilia Mortensen and Carolyn Ancheta doubled up against Jen Tilly in early action. When Jennifer Tilly entered pots, she consistently overbet looking to make the other short stacks have to commit all their chips if they wanted to play. Cecilia de Mortensen was knocked out by Ann Le in 4th place. Cecilia had 9-9 but Ann Le flopped the Wheel with A-3 on a board of 4-2-5. Cecilia de Mortensen won $38,220 for her efforts.
ennifer Tilly called Carolyn Ancheta’s all in bet. Carolyn had K-J and Jen showed A-7. The flop was A-8-7 and Carolyn’s hand failed to improve. She won $43,680 for third place. We reached heads up play and Jen continued to have a clear chip advantage.
Jennifer Tilly won her first bracelet when she pushed all in with A-7 versus Ann Le’s K-J. Her hand lead all the way and she sealed the victory.
“This is better than an Oscar,” she said during her beaming acceptance speech. She happily showed off her World Series of Poker bracelet to the members of the media and the large crowd that gathered to take in the exciting two day event.
When she was asked about her future, she responded, “I’m hooked on poker. I’m not going to stop playing until I lose all my money.”