| Women Players at WSOP 2008 In the context of the ongoing debate whether only women events have a place in poker today, the subject of “Women Players at WSOP 2008” may sound chauvinistic.
But no one can deny that women celebrity players have a special appeal for fans of both genders. Therefore it is interesting to look at some of the women who will be gracing the tables at WSOP 2008.
Kathy Liebert has already made her mark at WSOP 2008 by coming third in Event #1, the $10,000 buy-in Pot Limit Texas Hold’em. She finished behind Nenad Medic and Andrew Bloch, with a cash of $306,064. She has a WSOP bracelet to her credit in the 2004 Limit Hold’em Shootout and a number of cashes, many with single digit ranks. Her list of achievements is the envy of many of her sex. Kathy was the first woman to win a tournament with prize money of over a million dollars. Her total tournament earnings are more than any other woman’s. She has diverse interests such as the stock market and karate. And she was the pioneer in making the tables smoke free.
Since WSOP 2007 Maria Ho has come to be known as the last woman standing. She was the last woman to go down in the Main Event that year. She finished 38th with a prize money of $237,865. Maria began her WSOP 2008 foray with Event #4, the Mixed Hold’em, but was knocked out early. The tournament has just begun and doubtless Maria will feature in the upcoming events trying to fulfill her dream of winning a bracelet. Outside WSOP, the best Maria has done is being placed third in the Heavenly Hold’em in May 2006. In her poker career Maria has had a total of 8 cashes and her total tournament prize earnings amount to $269,206.
Vanessa Rousso, The Lady Maverick of Poker, is currently in the fray in Event #5, the No Limit Hold’em With Rebuys. She has 28,500 chips as compared to the event leader’s stack of 81,500. She is marginally ahead of another popular woman pro, Erica Schoenberg. Vanessa has been chosen by PokerStars as a brand ambassador because of her several achievements. She was the youngest woman to make it to a final table in a World Series event, probably because she had been playing poker since she was five. Vanessa’s biggest tournament cash came in the PokerStars World Championship Of Online Poker in October 2007, when she finished 2nd winning $700,782 in prize money.
Event #6 has just started and therefore there are quite a few women players in the field. The event is the Omaha Hi-Lo Split 8 or Better. Leading the field, among the women is Shannon Elizabeth, currently in the 13th place. Incidentally Shannon ran into bad luck at the opening event, when she got knocked out despite holding pocket aces a couple of times. Linda Johnson is a few places behind. Kristy Gazes and Katja Thater are also in the running. Katja has won a bracelet last year in the Seven Card Razz. |
