2010 Women's WSOP Event at the Rio

Well, I am back from Vegas and I need a vacation from my vacation.....we had a blast however! We ate and drank well, my friends from high school joined in the fun and Donna was THE most supportive person a poker player could hope for.....

I started by playing in the LIPS tournament at the Golden Nugget on Thur for a warm up to my biggest tournament ever. There were a couple hundred women playing in this Texas Hold Em tournament and I was knocked out early on pocket Aces. You know the story, I had pocket Aces, she had A/K, I went all in, she called, the flop came with a King so it was K's vs A's and yes you guessed it, the turn was a King and I was out. That's poker folks!

The next day (Friday June 11th) was Event 22, the Ladies WSOP No Limit Texas Hold Em event. I was so nervous but once I sat down at the table, I was ok. I had listened to a video of Vanessa Russo the night before that said play tight the first 3 or 4 rounds then after the dinner break start gambling.

There was a TV moniter in the room that told you how much time left in each session and how many people were left in the tournament. The ladies started to fall quickly and there was a rousing cheer every time a "man" was knocked out. i think 5 or 6 men entered the event but all were eventually eliminated before the final table.

It was freezing in the ballroom so I had Donna buy me a WSOP sweatshirt and I wore my baseball cap the whole time. I only wore my sunglasses after the dinner break. Pictures of me in that awesome getup and much much more will be posted to the site soon. Jennifer Tilly was there, JJ Lui, and Vanessa Russo. I also got autographs on my hat of some of the top men poker players, like the legend, Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negrenau, and Barry Greenstein.

In retrospect, I wish I would have taken more chances early on to build a bigger stack. Even though I lasted thru the dinner break, I was short stacked and was forced to pick a hand and go all in so I didn't get blinded out.....I choose an Ace/Queen suited hand and went all in, everyone folded but one who flopped two pair and I was eliminated in 333rd place out of a total of 1054.

Not bad for my first really big tournament. I am very pleased. Now I have a whole year to practice and brush up on my math skills before next year. Hope a bunch of RWP women join me!

Nicki