Woman Power at WSOPE
Written by Roger S | Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) has long been an American affair. Last year it launched the WSOP Europe (WSOPE) and held its inaugural tournament in London.
For the poker world the result was electrifying because for the first time in the history of WSOP a woman won the Main Event.
WSOPE 2008 is already underway and the question everyone is asking is whether a woman poker player will be able to repeat last year’s feat. Bodog, the owner of the famous online poker room, also runs a sports betting portal where it has offered odds on various WSOPE events.
The one connected with women at WSOPE reads “Will one or more females make the final table (top 9) of the World Series Europe Main Event (event #4) to be held in London on September 27th, 2008?” The odds offered by Bodogcasino.com for a woman making it are 5.50 and the odds against a woman making it are 1.13. It is clear that Bodog and the poker fraternity have little hope that a woman will make it to the final table, let alone win the Main Event.
Though there are a number of contenders. Leading the pack is last year’s winner Annette Obrestad. Obrestad not only became the first woman to win a WSOP Main Event last year but she also set a number of other records. She was the youngest player to win a WSOP bracelet. She is so young that she will not be able to compete in the American WSOP events till 2010 because the legal age for gambling is higher there. The prize money she won was the largest ever won by any woman in any single tournament. Next on line is Annie Duke. Till Annette’s feat last year, Annie was the only woman to have reached the final table in a WSOP Main Event. Also till Annette won the event last year Annie held the record for the highest ever prize money won by a woman poker player. Therefore Annie has some records to set straight. Annie is one of the most respected poker professionals and has earned the sobriquet of Queen of Poker from her fraternity. Next in the running is Jennifer Harman. Harman has two WSOP bracelets to her credit though none in the Main Event and both quite some time ago. Since then she has always been around though never quite on top. Victoria Coren is another strong contender for the final table. Victoria is United Kingdom’s Number 1 woman poker player and will be playing on home turf. She was one of the judges at the recently announced EPT Awards. Kathy Liebert who is currently at Number 29 on the Bluff Power Rankings and Vanessa Selbst who is currently at Number 25 on 2008 Player of the Year Rankings are contenders on current form. Tiffany Michelle too will try and improve her performance of the WSOP 2008 Main Event at Las Vegas, where she was the last woman standing.
But standing between this “woman power” and the final table are a battery of male poker players and if Bodog’s odds are any indication then all nine finalists are expected to be men.
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· Written by Roger S · Filed Under Poker News · Comments Off
