LET'S
HEAR IT FOR THE LADIES
Of
the two sexes in poker, the ladies are
always more gentlemanly in their events.
There
were 14 entrants in the $500 Buy-In, Limit
Hold'em for a total prize pool of $6,580.
Three players were paid.
To
setup the Final Table, Connie Willson
limped in with pocket 3's. Evelind Ng
did likewise with K 7. There were five
players in the pot. Ng got a King on the
flopped and checked from early position.
Then Evelind bet her King on the turn.
Connie called all-in needing a three that
never arrived.
THE FINAL TABLE:
17 mins. left of 60.
The blinds were $150/$300 with a $25 ante.
Player
Hometown Chip
Count
Seat 1 Angela Tscherner Cincinnati OH
$ 640
Seat 2 Sandy Ellefson Las Vegas NV $ 320
Seat 3 Olga Varkonyi Brooklyn NY $ 445
Seat 4 Jeannie Kim Portland OR $ 420
Seat 5 Ralynn 'Tori' Niles Auburn CA $
510
Seat 6 Evelind Ng Toronto, Canada $1,315
Seat 7 Estrellita Lyons Santa Rosa CA
$1,000
Seat 8 Shelley Carr Las Vegas NV $ 925
Seat 9 Gloria Tschetschot Grand Rapids
IA $ 945
Seat 10 Mary Clevenger Arcadia TX $ 480
At
least everyone now got a Hall of Fame
jacket. It was going to get real frustrating
for seven players. Only three were going
to get paid.
Her
nickname is ‘Action’ and she
didn't waste anytime. If she wasn't going
to get into the money, she was leaving
quickly. Angela Tscherner left quickly,
without winning a hand. All-in with pocket
5's you'd think she'd have a chance with
'Presto,' but Mary Clevenger had K Q and
turned a Queen.
It's
so tough for aggressive women to play
in women's events. Jeannie is one of the
top winners of this year's WSOP Super
Satellites for the Championship Final.
"If I was playing against good players,
I'd have all the chips." Jeannie
said candidly. The ladies can sometimes
forget to lay down a hand even when they
should know they are beat. This leads
to some amazing turns of fortune on the
river. In Jeannie's last hand, however,
Kim was drawing dead on the flop. Evelind
Ng flopped a wheel and check raised Kim
all-in. A frustrated Kim headed back to
dominating the boys.
This
was a nightmare Final Table for Evelind
Ng. To start as the chip leader and to
finish 8th means almost nothing worked
as planned. Ng is a special friend of
Daniel Negreanu, and it can be seen in
her play that Dan has showed her a few
of his tricks. Unfortunately for Evelind,
some of the ladies didn't notice many
of those tricks and just went to the river
where Ng was usually drown with the best
starting hand. On Ng's last hand, she
began with the best hand as usual. Evelind
had A 10 to Tori Niles with K Q. The flop
came with an A and a Queen, but a King
turned on Ng.
One
overcard wasn't enough to keep Sandy Ellefson
in the game. She went all-in with a call
of the raise by 'Lita' Lyons. Sandy had
A 10 and Lyons had two Jacks. Only a 10
on the flop gave Sandy a brief moment
of hope in 7th.
The
star of the table had to be Olga Varkonyi.
She'd only been playing poker for two
weeks and already she was at a Final Table.
The wife of the 2002 World Champion is
a quick learner as she played the two
pocket Aces she picked up early, flawlessly.
She also used a tip from her hubby on
another hand when she reraised a bet with
5 2 and cracked pocket Aces when two pair
flopped. The six-month pregnant Olga,
with their first child, was very sweet
and left in 6th when the tough tournament
veteran Shelley Carr ran over her with
A 4 to Olga's K Q.
By
far the most successful tournament player
at the table was Gloria Tschetschot. Gloria
has been the last women out of the World
Championship each of the last two years.
But Gloria took more than her share of
the eye-watering bad beats that always
characterize this event. Her last hand
was no exception. Gloria flopped Aces
with her A Q of Diamonds. Lita Lyons had
the Q 10 of Spades. Of course, the board
came runner runner Spades or we wouldn't
have a story to tell.
Last
out of the money was Mary Clevenger. Mary
found a lot of hands early, especially
pocket Kings. But the cards left her when
she needed them most. All-in for her last
$150 with the J 2 of Spades, Mary was
drawing real thin against Tori Niles K
2 of Clubs. The King played and Mary couldn'’t
anymore.
Now was the chance for the women to be
more gentlemanly than their poker counterparts.
The remaining three ladies decided to
split up the prize pool evenly and play
one hand for the Hall of Fame watch and
title. Lita Lyons rivered a fourth Heart
to win with an Ace high flush to crack
Shelley Carr's pocket Deuces. Tori Niles
was given second because she had the most
chips.
Great
fun was had by most, if they could wipe
the bad beat tears from their eyes.
Mike Paulle
|
