Lady Poker Shark Patrol

1307 players began the long day of day three all with the intentions of reaching the money. 666 players would do just that at about 11:30 p.m. pst, with 474 to begin on day four.

Among those making the cash and continuing on to day four is our leading chip lady, Evelyn Ng. She started the day with 175,900 and fought to build her stack all day. Occasionally taking small hits like this hand, Evelyn was all in with pocket Jacks against pocket Aces and bricked out on the board doubling up a small stack. At this point, she still had 150,000 in chips and was sitting well. Evelyn starts day four with 414,500.

Maya Gellar-Antonius has played some of the best poker I have seen from the women. Starting with 135,200 in chips Maya also took a few hits to her stack through out the day but managed to double up late with this hand. Maya raises to 12,000 pre-flop and her opponent re-raises to 60,000. Maya is all in and her opponent calls. Her pocket Queens against her opponent’s Ah/6h. The board comes down Qh/Kh/5c/Kc/Kd and Maya doubles up to 245,000 to finish the night.

These women are still in to start day four with these chip counts:
Alana Morin – 374,500
Tiffany Michelle – 249,000
Maya Gellar-Antonius – 245,000
Lisa Parsons – 230,000
Veronica Dabul – 223,500
Karen Manfrede – 222,500
Chau Do – 215,000
Kara Scott – 171,000
Van Nguyen – 145,500
Joanne Monteavaro – 45,000

Bust outs were happening about every two minutes and were very difficult to catch. I have a couple of hands for women who did not make the money and an updated list of those who went broke.

Heidi Northcott who at times was our leading woman, sadly missed the money and exited on this hand. On a flop of Js/4c/2s her opponent bet 10,000 into Heidi when she shoved all in for 80,000 and her opponent called. Heidi didn’t want to show her cards turning over A/4, her opponent showed 4/4 for the set. A/9 on the turn and the King on the river sent Heidi to the hills.

Jennifer Harman went out in the small blind when she move all in for 17,300 and was called by the big blind. Jen showed Kh/3h and big blind showed pocket 7’s. The sevens held and Jen went home to the family with no cash in hand.

Liv Boeree raised pre-flop to 4500 and got two callers. On a flop of 10c/10h/7h, Liv bet 12,000 and received one caller. The turn was a 5s and Liv moved all in and her opponent made the call. Liv showed pocket Aces but her opponent showed 10/9 for a set. Not even waiting for the river Liv ran out of the Amazon room very disappointed.

Vanessa Rousso who had played a short stack through out the main event pushed her stack all in with pocket 7’s and was called by another short stack with A/6 off suit. The flop 5c/4s/10c/3h/2h was no help, crippling her to 8,000 in chips. Soon after, the same player put the last nail in her coffin with A/J versus Q/4. When a Queen hit the board, it was over for Vanessa. She finished in 625th place for $21,230.

Other women who hit the cash:
604th Sharon Levin - $21,230
569th Karen Mengden - $23,160
530th Kim Wooka -$25,090

Today we will watch to see how far the women can climb the ladder of cash, and hopefully to the final table. Day four begins at 1 p.m. pst. today.
Stay with us today on PokerNews for all the exciting action and updates!

As we enter day three with 1307 players, I find it difficult to keep the ladie’s close to the top. The current chip leader, Brian Schaedlich from Cleveland Ohio, presently sits with 801,000 in chips. Our closest woman player is Michelle Sainz with 206,000 in chips. Andrea Benelli from Italy, is second highest woman with 183,300. Bodog Team Pro, Evelyn Ng also in the running, stacks 180,100 in chips. Evelyn played solid controlled pots yesterday to add another 70K to her stack.

Other notable stacks in the women’s chip totals:
Alana Morin – 180,100
Van Nguyen – 159,800
Lisa Parsons – 148,200
Judy Raney – 145,000
Maya Geller-Antonius – 135,200
Tiffany Michelle – 109,000
Amanda Baker – 90,400
Kara Scott – 90,100
Darlene James – 88,500
Sheri Rosten – 86,300
Heidi Northcott – 85,600
Karen Mengden – 81,400

Casualties of Day Two-B happened as quickly as turning the station on your remote. Every two minutes dealers were calling, “All-in and call” to alert the camera’s and floor reporters, to the chagrin of many players to have their bust outs flooded all over the internet and ESPN.

Shirley Williams started her second day with a very low stack and pushed in several times trying to get footing on some chips. Her third time to push with pocket aces prove to be her demise as she is called by pocket 10’s which hit a set. Shirley later told me she had pocket aces three times in the span of about an hour.

Beth Shak had difficulty just catching a hand. Her final hand would be pocket 6’s against to overs, AQ off suit. When a Queen hit the flop, Beth hit the rail and all hopes of a double up were gone.

Tiffany Michelle had a healthy starting stack of over 47,000 then more than doubled up her stack to over 120K when another player at her table had a major suck out on her taking away 112,000 in chips, and leaving her with just 8000. With pocket Aces, Tiffany pre-flop raised and was called by a Q/10. When the flop gave her opponent a pair of tens and a flush draw, he apparently thought it good enough to push in against her aces. Of course, he caught another heart for the flush and Tiffany left the table to fume on her own. Determined to come back, Tiffany went to work to save her small stack from extinction and finished the night with 109,000. Think of the stack Tiffany COULD have had!

Other casualties were Barbara Enright, Liz Lieu, Anjela Brunson, Isabel Mercier, Clonie Gowen and Shannon Elizabeth.

The numbers are in! 6844 players have come to test their poker skills in this year’s WSOP up by 7.4%. Of that number, players represented 118 different countries and territories. Women represented approximately 2.5% of this number. First place cash will be just over $9.1 million!!

Day Two-A had a very interesting guest, Madeline Ungar, widow of poker legend Stu Ungar. Stu died ten year’s ago, leaving Madeline and their daughter behind. Since Stu’s popular has grown over the years in poker, the Ungar Foundation has been born to help others with substance abuse. After a short introduction of the organization, Madeline uttered those famous words, “Shuffle Up and Deal!”

The women who started Day Two-A with the larger chip stacks are gone. The lady’s with the mid-stacks are bigger, and a few roller coaster stacks are hanging in. Svetlana Gromenkova, Ladies Event winner, went out in the first two hours. Her pocket Aces were busted by a set of 9’s and soon after she would once again have half her stack into a big pot. Her opponent, who more than covered her, went all in sending Svetlana into the tank. In what seemed like five minutes, Svetlana must have known her opponent pretty well to fold her hand with half her stack in the pot. Later she would push the rest of her chips into the middle with A/7 to be called by A/Q sending her to the rail.

Kathy Liebert, who started the day with 39,550 would triple up her stack to just over 90,000 by 4 p.m. Being moved three times though wasnt so lucky for Kathy as her last table was her demise when she made trip queens only to be rivered by a straight.

Maya Gellar-Antonius began her day two with 70,000 in chips. As I watched Maya play I realized this young lady was playing a solid and precise game. Every bet she made was well thought out, and laid out on the felt carefully showing she had made the move with all her skill involved. Ending her day with 135,200, Maya built her stack over the day with pot after pot, never exposing herself to any dangerous situations. Now that’s POKER!!

Andrea Benelli from Italy, certainly did her damage at two tables as well. Andrea went down and came back up to finish the day 183,300.

Victoria Coren took a hit to her stack at her own hands. The button made a pre-flop raise which Victoria, in the small blind called as well did the big blind. On a flop of 3/4/7, all spades, Victoria made a bet of 2200. The BB called and the button moved all in. Victoria must have felt good about her hand as she raised another 20,000 to lock out the big blind. But the BB had other ideas as he went into the tank for a few minutes before pushing all in and just covering Victoria’s stack. She could not have been more disappointed in the move as she folded her hand leaving herself with just 28,000 to play with. Victoria would later hit the rail and head back to London to prepare for the WSOPE in September.

Vanessa Rousso who played much of her day on the feature table didn’t fare very well on any table. She began the day with 48,450 and ended the day without any memorable plays with 30,900.

DAY TWO-B STARTERS
Ladies to watch today:

Evelyn Ng – 110,225
Heidi Northcott – 103,075
Karen Perez – 78,575
Liz Lieu – 68,025
Jennifer Harman-Traniello – 63,050
Tiffany Michelle -47,625
Joanne Kittridge – 47,500
Anita Perl – 44,050
Anjela Brunson – 42,350
Isabel Mercier – 40,725

We are sure to add and subtract ladies from the leader board today. Stay with PokerNews.com for live updates all day!

Today the ladie’s of the 2008 WSOP will start their climb to the top of the leader board with a little help from the poker gods. 1250 players will return at noon all with the same ambitions.

Day Two-A will have the lead woman of groups A and B, Andrea Benelli from Prato Italy with 102,050 in chips on blue table 3, seat 7. Andrea did sneak up on us with this big stack at the end of her day’s play.
Svetlana Gromenkova at orange table 20, seat one with 94,125 in chips will fall into second place lead in the women's field. Svetlana has already proven her poker abilities by clinching the gold bracelet in this year’s ladies event. I expect she will keep improving her stack today.

Another pro to watch today is Kathy Liebert. She starts the day with a lower stack of 39,550 on red table 33, seat 2. In the past, Kathy has been known to build up low stacks in a short period to put her in close contention for titles. Kathy will be a player of interest to watch.

Vanessa Rousso, also a quiet stack builder, starts the day with 48,450 chips on orange table 36, seat 2. Vanessa has two cashes in this years WSOP.

UK pro Victoria Coren starts with 60,125 on orange 32, seat 2. Victoria, a very strong player with an aggressive style will certainly be a threat to her table.

Other notable players to watch:
Maya Antonius starts her second day with 70,000 in chips on orange 27, seat 3.
Linda Lee will be seated at orange table 31, seat 5 with 52,000 in chips. Linda built her stack at the same table as Erica Schoenberg who was not lucky enough to make it to day two.

There are more ladie’s in the field today that will certainly be trying to improve themselves to make the leader board. Stay with PokerNews all day today to follow your favorite players.

With less loud fan fare Day One-D began on a political platform with guests Representative Robert Wexler (D - Florida) and Poker Players Alliance spokesperson Senator Alfonse D’Amato from New York. Tournament Director Jack Effel made the morning announcements then turned the mic over to the Senator. "We're here as friends of poker," said Wexler, as D'Amato stood beside him. "Two years ago, under a Republican-controlled Congress, the United States Congress took your right to play poker on the internet away. With your help, we're going to change that wrong-headed law." The crowd of players seemed to respond warmly to the suggestion that someone could really accomplish such a feat, but were more interested in the announcement of “Shuffle Up and Deal!”

There were fewer women playing in Day One-D than yesterday, and it seems they all had something in common, a very slow day. Chip stacks for the ladie’s were all but impressive. Probably the opposite would apply here as only one lady emerged with a stack over 100,000. Heidi Northcott emerged from the daylong tournament with 107,000. She falls just short of the leading lady player, Evelyn Ng with 110,000.

Short stacks struggled to keep above 10,000, and were the common problem among the rest of the ladie’s field. Anahit Galajian, a high stakes cash player from California finished her day with 14,200, as did bracelet winner Barbara Enright.

Maria Ho, who won fame as being the last woman standing in the 2007 WSOP, will have her work cut out for her if she is to make a comeback, as she also finished the day with a short stack of 10,200. Hopefully, her miracle run of last year will kick in on day two.

Beth Shak played the short stack most of the day as well. She apparently was having trouble with one player at her table on several occasions involving suck outs. On one hand she declared, “I'm gonna make him turn his hand over first since he's been sucking out on me all day!" When the cards were turned over Beth doubled up. She finished the day with just 16,000.

Shannon Elizabeth fell below 10,000 and stayed there almost all day. Struggling to get a playable hand, she waited patiently until she ran into a pocket pair of tens that held up for her. She sits with 17,725 at the end of day one.

Jennifer Harman-Traniello fared better than most. She played solid, kept her stack above the starting 20K, and built her way to 45,000. Often drawing to make her hand, she raked a big pot after pushing all in, making her high end straight on the turn to defeat the flopped low end straight. On another hand, Jennifer taught the boys not to come to the board without ammunition in their guns. On a pre-flop raise, Jen re-raised and got one caller. The flop was
J/6/6 prompting an all in from her opponent. Jen called turning over her pocket rockets to his KJ. The turn and river were no help to him, and Jen sent him to the rail.

Other notable players making it to the end of the day:
Julie Le – 38,300
Van Nguyen – 27,000
Catherine Calhoun – 22,000
Anita Perl – 45,000

Early busts were a bit of surprise for the railbirds as they watched Annie Duke and Jennifer Tilly fall out of the main event before the second break. Cyndy Violette would also hit the rail later in the evening.

Groups C and D will combine to play their second day on Wednesday at noon.

1928 players filled the seats in the Amazon and Brasilia Rooms for Day One-C yesterday. After the usual opening remarks from Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack and Tournament Director Jack Effel, once again country music star Andy Griggs greeted the masses and sang his newest song “It’s All About the Money.” A new addition to the WSOP tradition was announced by Mr. Pollack, there will be WSOP Jackets given to all players who make final tables.

Day One-C turned out the largest number of women players thus far. Clonie Gowen had the best day of her life in poker the first half of the day with a accumulated stack of about 70,000. It seemed as though nothing could go wrong for Clonie as she hit her pairs for sets and plowed through the hands. Then late into the evening she took a turn for the worst and started bleeding chips away. She ended the day with under 20,000, back to square one.

Evelyn Ng, the quiet destroyer, hit several hands and built her ending stack to an impressive 110,225 for the day. On a small board of 9/9/3, Evelyn’s pocket pair of Jacks appeared to be good. The turn was another Jack, but a third heart bringing her opponent a nut flush. Bad news for him, Evelyn pushed in with her full house and he called, exclaiming AK wasn’t good for anything!

Karen Perez had a great day as well, when I spoke to her, she told me all she did all day was play solid and aggressively with her position and big pairs, except for a really bad suckout which she genuinely regrets. With AK suited in spades Karen pre-fop raised and got one caller. Flop was K/J/X rainbow, Karen bet and her opponent smooth called. The turn brought another King, Karen now pushes in for 25K and gets insta called by her opponent who turns over pocket Jacks for a full house to Karen’s set of Kings. The river was however a disappointing two outer Ace giving Karen the larger full house and sending her opponent down to the felt with little to work with. Karen ends the day with 78,575.

Kara Scott was kickin butt and takin names through out the day. Catching pocket Aces at the right time, Kara pre-flop raised only to catch a player who wanted to push all in with AK off suit. When the board came down with no help to her opponent, he exclaimed, “It’s not fair! She’s had pocket Aces five times today!” Kara finished the day with a healthy stack of 76,000, down a little from her high number of 93,000.

ChiliPoker Pro Liz Lieu had a slow building day, as did many other players. One great hand that moved Liz up was a pocket pair of 6’s that turned into a flopped full house. Liz played it like a pro and collected a huge pot that moved her up to 45,000. As the evening plowed on, Liz added another 20,000 to end her day with 68,025.

PokerStars Pro Team member, Isabel Mercier was a slow builder as well. It seems lady luck would shine down on the ladies of Day One-C as Isabel continued to build her stack through out the day hitting sets that occasionally turned into full houses. Isabel lasted the day with 40,725.

Shirley Williams, yes, David’s mom, had a roller coaster day. One memorable hand that her table is surely never to forget is this one. In an unopened pot, the player to her right pre-flop raised to 1100. Shirley looked down and found a nice pocket pair of 8’s, she called, and they went to the flop heads up. The flop was A/8/8 giving Shirley quads. Her opponent bet 1200 and she called. The turn was a 10 and they both checked. When the river brought another Ace, Shirley was sitting great and hoping her opponent had hit the full house. With a value bet of 1500 her opponent called and she proudly turned over her quad 8’s. The rest of the evening didn’t go as well as Shirley lost another big hand and continued to lose chips finishing the day with 8200.

Mimi Tran put her tournament life on the line with AQ off suit against a flop of 3/3/10, her opponent turned over K/10 for two pair. The turn was 5 and the river Jack and no help for Mimi.

Roz Quarto had similar problems getting premium hands to stand up. She claimed to have had fantastic hands that just would not get any action or would get out flopped every time. Roz made her exit on pocket queens versus 9/10 suited in diamonds. Her luck would not hold when the flop came down 7/3/2 all diamonds for her opponents flush. Another diamond would not hit the board and Roz headed for the diamond lounge.

Other notable ladies who lasted the day were:
Marsha Wagonner – 9000
Lacey Jones – 17,075
Liv Boeree – 17,950
Kim Wooka – 24,375
Kimberly Manley – 27,500
Susan Lederer – 33,000
Jennifer Pendergast – 33,700
Anjela Brunson – 42,350
Kartrina Junkovic – 45,500
Dominique Tremblay – 47,850
Joanne Kittridge – 47,500
Tiffany Michelle – 47,625
Amber Chatwin – 51,600

Group C and D will combine to play their Day Two on Wednesday.

1158 players on Day One-B filed into the Amazon Room just a few minutes before noon waving tiny flags representative of their home countries. After the group was greeted by Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack and Tournament Director Jack Effel, country music star Andy Griggs opened the day of play with the Star Spangled Banner. 2007 World Champion Jerry Yang uttered the famous Shuffle Up and Deal!

Day One-B hosted less ladies than the first day. Only a hand full of pro ladies were on hand, and very few made it to the end of the day. Svetland Gromenkova from Day One-A still is the leading woman player with just over 94,000 in chips after two days of play.

Olga Varkonyi, wife of 2002 World Champion, Robert Varkonyi, also in the room was struggling with hands most of the day. Olga called a pre-flop raise made by PokerStars Pro William Thorson with pocket queens. After a flop of J/7/4 Olga moved her remaining 24,000 into the pot and was insta called by Thorson who turned over a set of Jacks. Olga bid goodbye to her chance at the main event final table.

My favorite WPT Ladies Champion, Nancy Todd Tyner went out on a small flush with a straight flush draw that did not quite beat the nut flush. Nancy battled bracelet winner Scott Fischman for the entire time Scott played at her table often mixing it up in several hands and taking a large portion of Scotts chips before he made his WSOP exit. If I know Nancy, we will be seeing much more of her in the coming season.

Top woman tournament player, Kathy Liebert got a helping hand up in chips just before the dinner break. In a four-way pot, Kathy check raised her way to a nice pot, taking her stack to a healthier 33,000. Just before her table broke towards the end of the night, Kathy got involved in a big pot. She raised from early position to 1,500, the cutoff re-raised to 4500 when Kathy decided to pop it once it again to 10,500. Left with only one move, her opponent pushed his remaining chips in which received a insta call from Kathy who showed pocket Aces. Her opponent reluctantly turned over AK off suit and the board came down 4/9/10, turn J and river a 2. Kathy ended the night with 39,550.

Vanessa Rousso has been patiently waiting and building her stack when opportunity knocks. Keeping her play in small controlled pots, Vanessa ends her days play with 48,450. This puts Vanessa in about the middle of the pack for day two.

Victoria Coren, the UK poker pro is another player who has quietly been building on her stack. 2008 marks Victoria’s second visit to the United States World Series of Poker. A feared player in her homeland, she ends her evening with a healthy stack of 60,125.

Kristy Gazes doubled up early with pocket aces against an opponents AJ off suit. In a World Series that has seen its more than welcomed number of busted aces, Kristy was sitting on a tall stack of over 40,000 in chips. As the day wore on, Kristy was unable to keep up her momentum before exiting on this hand. Down to a short stack, Gazes got the last of her chips in before the flop holding K/10 off suit and was called by pocket queens. Kristy caught a 10 on the flop but was unable to improve on her hand and was eliminated.

Other notable player to finish on Day Two-B:
Christina Hall - 38,300
Karen Mengden – 47,525
Barbara Measell – 34,800
Veronica Dabul – 34,750

Group B will have three days to rest up for their day two when groups A and B will be combined to play on Tuesday the 8th.

As 1297 poker players marched into the Amazon Room for Day One-A, and were serenaded by none other than Mr. Las Vegas himself, Wayne Newton accompanied by the UNLV Marching Band and Bally’s Showgirls.

It is a terrible way to go, and every player dreads being the first out of the main event every year. This year a Texan took that fateful step when he put his main event on the line with pocket aces about fifteen minutes into his tournament. After a baby board laid down, his opponent moved all in with pocket jacks to which the joyful Texan called. The turn was a blank and the river unsympathetic, landing a third jack.

Svetlana Gromenkova, who won the Ladies bracelet in event #15, is the top woman in chip counts finishing the night with a respectable 94,125. Svetlana became the set queen earlier in the day doubling up twice, once with pocket 6’s and another with pocket deuces which eliminated poker pro John Gale. Later in the evening Svetlana believed she was caught by a flush hand against an unknown player. She stayed the course and caught a lucky Jack for a set against what turned out to be a pair of aces instead of a flush, sending the player to the rail.

Maureen Feduniak and her husband Bob were one of three married couples to play on Day One-A. Maureen struggled for hands most of the day. When she caught pocket aces to go up against Ryan Jones’ pocket pair of 5’s, she no doubt thought that a double up was imminent. It was not to be, as Jones had lady luck sitting on his shoulder and flopped a set of fives sending Maureen to the rail.

Another disappointment for my favorite semi-pro Vanessa Selbst, as she departed Day One-A without much fan fare at all. You will recall Vanessa cinched her first bracelet earlier in the series in the $1500 Pot Limit Omaha.

PokerStars Team Pro, Katja Thater took a nasty beat on her exit from Day One as well. Katja made her move with a pocket pair of jacks, only to lose to 7/10 suited in hearts, when the 7 flopped a set sending Katja packing.

Anna Wroblewski chipped her way up with a flopped full house against Jeremiah Smith. Slowly Anna has built up her stack to a nice total of 31,450. She will go back into battle on day two with some determination to catch up.

Erica Schoenberg fiancé to David Benjamin, will be keeping company on the rail as she got all her chips in with a pocket pair of 10’s and went against a pocket pair of aces. Also standing along the rail in Day One departures were JJ Liu, Allyn Shulman and Stephanie Bergener.
Other notable women making the end of the day chip board were:
Maya Antonius – 70,000
Linda Lee – 52,000
Lacey Dalton – 51,925
Janice Kim – 37,775
Mary Gabriel – 37,550
Karen Cover – 25,325
Deb Blair – 16,675

The poker gods have deemed four days of rest for these survivors as they will return for Day Two – A to begin on Tuesday, July 8th.

It’s finally here, day one of the main event. It should be a very busy day for players, officials and of course the media. Every table and chair will be occupied with a poker player with the same dream, “the final table.”

Last year Maria Ho was the last woman standing, making it to 38th place, and earning a whooping $237,865! Who will be next? Could it be you? The odds may change a bit if we factor in experience, skill, momentum, stamina and do not forget luck. Focus, confidence, drive, and determination can take you a long way as well. Never give up, take your time, and stay the course.

In the past, women’s poker clubs, tours, and specialty groups have promoted poker to the untouched market of women’s poker with great success. The number of women poker players has tripled in three short years. We even had a young woman win the main event at last year’s WSOP Europe. We’ve come a long way baby! Many thanks to supportive women in the poker industry, Barbara Enright, Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, Kathy Liebert, Cyndy Violette, Jennifer Harman-Traniello, Kelley O’Hara, Cheri Dokken, Suzanne Carter, Lupe Soto, Crystal Grey, Maureen Feduniak and many many others who work tirelessly to promote women in poker. With a little luck, perhaps this will be the year of the “woman poker player.”

Stay here on PokerNews for updates and individual reports on your favorite players!