Female Poker Player

Here are the chip counts for the final table of the 2009 WSOP, which will take place in November:

Seat 1: Darvin Moon - 58,930,000
Seat 2: James Akenhead - 6,800,000
Seat 3: Phil Ivey - 9,765,000
Seat 4: Kevin Schaffel - 12,390,000
Seat 5: Steven Begleiter - 29,885,000
Seat 6: Eric Buchman - 34,800,000
Seat 7: Joe Cada - 13,215,000
Seat 8: Antoine Saout - 9,500,000
Seat 9: Jeff Shulman - 19,580,000

As you can see, Phil Ivey managed to make it, so he will be the most feared player at the table. No woman made it to the final table this year, but I have a feeling next year you will see at least one woman at the final table!

5. If he’s an internet player, he can stay at home and take care of the kids.

4. Most poker players are socially awkward and have no dating game, so there’s little chance he’ll turn out to be a cheater.

3. To be a good poker player, you need to learn patience. This always helps in relationships too.

2. You never know if your boyfriend will turn out to be the next poker celebrity….hey, it’s possible!

1. If they ever have a big gambling windfall, it’s pretty easy to get them to buy you stuff

Although past articles in this series have focused on US-based female pokers, it’s time to swim across the pond and take a look at some of Europe’s top women.  Lucienne (Lucy) Rokach – one of these top-notch women, is an English poker player from Stoke-on-Trent whose notable achievements include earning over $1.9 million in total poker winnings.

Lucy Rokach was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1949 and moved to England in 1956.  Unlike many female players who have been playing since they were old enough to deal cards, Lucy Rokach was a car dealer and a history teacher before she started playing poker at the age of 38.  Within a year, she was broke.  Instead of heading back to sell cars, she remortgaged her home and borrowed more money.  It didn’t take long for the gamble to pay off – and for Lucy’s talent for making smart bets to become well known.

Lucy is now considered to be one of the top female players in all of Europe.  Her tournament wins started long before poker began its current rise in popularity.  In her first win – at the Rubicon Club at Wolverhampton – Lucy took home 5,000 British pounds.  Later, in the early 1990’s, she gained notoriety by taking first at the Festival of Poker in the 25 pound Pot-Limit Omaha tournament.

Since that win, Lucy has won loads of money playing in numerous tournaments all over the world.  She made it to the final table twice at the World Series of Poker Pot-Limit Hold’em in both 1995 and 1996.  In addition, she made money at two of the Main Events in 1996 and 2004.

Lucy’s first big win came in 1999, when she won the Grand Prix De Paris.  Although this tournament wasn’t on the World Poker Tour at the time, it is now a main event in the torunament.  In 2002, she won the Irish Winter Tournament and then won the same title again in 2003.  In 2006, she won the Midland Masters.  Later that year, she was honored with a European Poker Lifetime Achievement Award to commemorate her success in the game.

But despite her numerous accolades, Lucy Rokach still continues to win today.  She has picked up more than $1.9 million dollars in tournament winnings throughout her career, and now works as a commentator for the Poker Channel.  She has also worked with Roy Brindley and Gary Jones on Late Night Poker and contributed a column for Card Player Magazine that demonstrates her candidness about the difficulties that affect many of today’s players.

However, winnings or not, Lucy Rokach is probably best described in Barry Greenstein’s book Ace on the River as “the best no limit holdem player in the world.”  It is clear that her long history and influence within the professional poker world will be an inspiration for many female poker players for years to come.  After all, if Lucy can leave a successful job, lose all her money within a year and still come out on top, what is there that could possibly hold others back?

Cyndy Violette was born in Queens, New York on August 19, 1959.  Growing up, she played a lot of poker with many of her adult family members, although she didn’t actually test her skills in a casino until she was an adult herself.  Her family moved to Las Vegas when Cyndy was twelve years old, where she eventually worked for a while as a blackjack and poker dealer.

In 1984, she entered and won a poker tournament in Lake Tahoe and used that money to bankroll her professional poker career.  A short while later, she won $74,000 in a seven-card stud tournament at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas.  At the time, this was the largest prize every won by a female poker player.  Later that year, she met and married her second husband, leaving the poker world on a two-year hiatus.

In 1990, Cyndy felt herself called back to the sport of poker when, on a trip to Caesar’s Palace, she entered and won $62,000.  After the tournament, she realized that poker was her true passion, and began entering and winning professional tournaments again.  Although she was still living in Washington State at this time, she spent much of her time traveling back and forth between Las Vegas and Los Angeles to play poker.

In 1993, following her divorce from her second husband, she learned that Atlantic City had legalized poker and decided to set up a home there, in part to be closer to her East Coast roots.  She played the poker circuit there for several years, including several stints on the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour.

In 2004, Cyndy completed a major goal of hers when she won a bracelet at the 2004 World Series of Poker, playing in the seven card stud high-low split tournament.  Cyndy was in good company – there were actually three women who won a gold bracelet that year.  The other two female poker players to earn this achievement were Annie Duke and Kathy Liebert.

Today, Cyndy is a member of the Doyle’s Room poker site, and she still competes regularly in Las Vegas and Los Angeles.  In fact, her total winnings up to 2008 are over $1.2 million dollars.  Her success has lead to appearances on “The Superstars of Poker” on Fox Sports Net, “Poker Royale Pro/Celebrity Tournament” on the Game Show Network, and the World Series of Poker Tournament on ESPN.

On a more personal note, Cyndy is a very health conscious person.  She is vegetarian who works out regularly and enjoys exploring the spiritual side of life.  In fact, it’s nothing to see her sitting at a poker table with her spirit stones and dish of homemade veggie food in front of her.  In the future, Cyndy’s plans include opening a health food café and marketing her own line of poker products.  Cyndy is known for her pleasant personality, as well as her beautiful looks – she has a constant smile on her face and truly enjoys life and a good game of poker.

Poker has traditionally been a man’s game, but recently there have been several women who have taken the game by storm – and won big.  Cycalona Gowen – more commonly known as “Clonie” – is one of these talented female poker players who serves as a role model for other young women who are interested in the game.

Cycalona Gowen was born November 6, 1971 in Florida.  Early on, her family moved and spent most of her childhood in Kiowa, Oklahoma.  In her teenage years, she was crowned Miss Teen McAlester, but quickly found her interests being diverted by another sport.  At the tender, young age of fifteen, her boyfriend taught her how to play poker.  When she was just eighteen, she moved to Las Vegas and began to play blackjack.  She didn’t even know the casinos had poker tables at the time!

Once she found the poker tables, she spent the next several years playing, watching, and learning poker rules.  There were hard times – as there are for every player.  Ms. Gowen, however, honed her poker skills and began to win games and earn money.

In 2003, Cycalona Gowen won the first World Poker Tour Ladies’ Night Event.  The year before, she also placed tenth in the World Poker Tour Costa Rica Classic.  Just two years later, she took third place in the Las Vegas Full Tilt Poker Championship and fourth in the Five Diamond World Poker Classic.  She is also one of only two players to win three Poker After Dark Titles.  The other player is Johnny Chan.  Through these and other tournaments, Clonie has boosted her lifetime live tournament winnings total to $1.5 million dollars.

Because of her success as a female poker player, Clonie has been featured on Good Morning America and has also worked as a commentator for the European World Poker Championship and the Ultimate Poker Challenge.  However, playing poker and emcee-ing events aren’t the only things that keep her busy – this beautiful woman can also be found as an instructor for the World Series of Poker Boot Camp.

Clonie was a member of “Team Full Tilt” at the online poker site, Full Tilt Poker.  However in November 2008, she filed a lawsuit against Tiltware, LLC for breach of contract and other issues.  She is currently seeking damages of $40 million.

Clonie Gowen still plays in a lot of cash money poker games – after all, she says she still has to make a living.  But with her guest appearances, speaking engagements, and her work as a columnist for All In Magazine, it’s amazing she has anytime to play at all!  To top off her busy schedule, she’s also appeared on the cover the New York Times and Esquire Magazine.

Currently, Clonie lives in Dallas and is the mother of two beautiful children.  She has also owned a travel agency at one time, but now plays poker full time.  She also enjoys spending time scuba diving when she can find a spare minute.

Texas Hold’em Poker is the most common poker game played in casinos across the world.  It is also the version most often played in professional poker tournaments.  If you watch a tournament on television – like the World Poker Championship – you can be reasonably certain that this is the game that’s being played.

Each Texas Hold’em poker game starts with a deck of fifty-two cards.  There is one dealer in every game.  In casinos, a dealer will never play their own hand.  At home, most players use a disk or round dealer button to designate who is the dealer.  The round disk is passed around the players as the game progresses to show who is acting as the dealer.

Usually a game of Texas Hold’em requires at least two players who are situated to the left of the official dealer.  Each game has its own minimum bet that is required for play, set by the players or the rules of the tournament.  This guarantees there is always a pot or prize to play for.  In most cases, the first player will put up or post half of the initial bet requirement.  This is often referred to as posting a blind.

After the initial minimum has been met, all players will be issued two cards.  The cards will remain face down and are called the hole cards.  At this point, the official betting begins.  Every other player will now place a bet starting with the next player after the initial two.  Each player will look at their cards and determine if they wish to call, raise, or fold on their hand.  These terms each have specific meanings.

In order to place a call bet, a player must bet equal to the amount the first two players bet.  If a player chooses to raise, they bet the initial amount, plus raise the amount by betting more.  In this case, the first two must decide to match the new amount.  If a player folds, they simply walk away from the hand and don’t bet anything.

After the betting is done, the dealer will discard the first card on top of the deck being used. This is a measure to prevent cheating in case someone saw it during the dealing.  The next three cards will be placed face up on the table by the dealer.  This process is called the flop.  Another round of betting will commence in the same order around the table.  After everyone has had a chance to once again bet, the dealer will repeat the same process.

The dealer will discard one more card, but this time he or she will lay only one card down face up on the table.  This part of the game is called “Fourth Street”.  Next, the same process will be repeated until there is a fifth card on the table or the fifth street turn occurs.

After the fifth street hand, all players will make one final bet.  Each player can use the cards in their hand, plus any combination of the five cards on the table to make a hand.  Players do not have to include the cards in their hand if they don’t want to.  Once the final round of betting has concluded, all players will be required to show their hand to everyone else.  At this point, the person with the best hand wins the entire pot.

Before the surge in popularity of Texas Hold’Em Poker, Five and Seven card stud were the most popular poker games played in the US.  Each game is played with similar rules and just a few variations. Once you know how to play Five Card Stud Poker, it is very easy to pick up Seven Card Stud Poker.

Five Card Stud Poker begins with each player being dealt two cards – one will be placed face down and the other face up.  Cards will always be dealt in a clockwise fashion, starting with the player to the left of the dealer.  The betting will begin with the player who has the highest playing card shown.  If two players happen to have the same number value card showing, betting will begin with the player closest to the dealer’s left side.  Each player can choose to raise the bet or fold their hand.

After betting has commenced, the dealer will discard the top card of the deck.  The dealer then deals one more card to each player and this card will be placed face up.  Betting will then begin once again.  In this round, whoever has the best poker hand showing will start the bets.  Because there are only two cards showing, only pairs will be considered.  Play will continue in this manner until each player has five cards.  After the last bet is played, all players must show their hand and the player with the best poker hand wins.

Seven Card Stud Poker is played in a very similar manner, except there are five times in which the dealer will deal cards.  On the first round, the dealer will deal not one card face down but two. Everyone should have two face down cards and one face up after the first deal.  Betting is done in the same manner as in Five Card Stud Poker.  On the next three rounds, each player will be dealt one card face up and betting will be done between each round.

On the fifth and final round, each player will be dealt one last card face down on the table.  At this point, the players will disclose to all what cards they have.  A hand will be made from the seven cards that were dealt, but only five of the cards will be used.  It is at each player’s discretion which cards they will use of the seven. The player with the highest ranking poker hand will take the jackpot.

Both poker games can be a lot of fun to play.  Some people choose to rotate between both types of poker while playing.  For example, players may enjoy three hands of Five Card and then switch to a few rounds of Seven Card poker.  Both games can be played with as few as two players or up to eight.  There are also many variations of the game that have been created over the years. Some people like to make their own rules to add a little excitement, which is fine for private games, but expect casinos to play with this standard set of rules.

If you’re a novice poker player, you may find the rules to No Limit Hold’Em Poker to be a bit confusing.  However, after just a few hands, the average player will find the game to be exciting and fun.  The game is very similar to Texas Hold’em Poker in most aspects, but does offer higher stakes and a more exciting feel.

The game starts with a standard deck of 52 cards.  One player will start the game as a dealer and then each player will take turns being the dealer.  A round white chip marked “Dealer” is passed to the left with each hand to denote this status – whoever holds the chip takes their turn as dealer. The dealer will pass out two cards to each player.  These cards will be placed face down so that only the person holding the cards can see them.

At this point, the first bets are placed. The player directly to the left of the dealer will start the betting. There will be a minimum bet on the table and the first player must bet this initial amount, raise the stakes, or fold their hand and quit the game.  The next player has the same options. However, if the player decides to stay in the game and bet, he must bet at least the same amount as the previous player plus double of that amount.  For example, if the previous player bet 10 dollars, the next player must bet a minimum of 20 dollars.  No Limit Hold’em is the only game in which a player can choose to bet his or her whole stack of chips.

After the first round of betting, the dealer will deal three cards face up on the table.  These cards are used by all players to help make their hand.  Before laying the three cards, the dealer will discard the top card of the deck to prevent cheating, since someone could have seen it during the initial deal.  The next round of play works just the same – the players will each make their way around the table betting and raising.  Some player may drop out during this session if they feel the stakes are too high or if they don’t believe they have a good hand.

At the end of that round, the dealer will once again discard the top card.  The dealer then lays one more card face up on the table and the betting commences again.  After all players have once again bet or folded, the dealer repeats the process for the last time.  There will be one more round of bets and then the players show their cards.

Upon showing their cards, the players will say which five of the combined seven cards they are using for their hand.  Players may use a combination of their two cards and three on the table, or all cards on the table.  The combination of cards used is at the player’s discretion.  Whoever has the highest hand is declared the winner and gets to take the whole pot as a prize.

Jennifer Harman is a professional poker player who can often be found playing the highest stakes games at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.  It’s because of her dedication to the game and her past record of achievements that she’s being featured in today’s “Women Poker Player Profiles.”

Jennifer Harman came to the game of poker early on – her dad taught her the game when she was only 8 years old, and she turned pro when she was just 21.  In fact, it’s rumored that before she turned pro, her dad would often call her in when he was losing at his home games and that she’d win back all the money he’d lost.  Today, she’s known as a 5′ 2″, 100 pound dynamo and a great all-around poker player.

When she made the leap to professional player, Jennifer was quick to make a name for herself.  In 2000, she won the World Series of Poker deuce-to-seven event, even though it was the first time she’d ever played the game!  Her remarkable series of wins also includes the 2002 World Series of Poker $5,000 Buy-in Limit Hold’em Event and winning $1.7 million in a single pot.  At the time she won, this was the largest amount ever won in a single poker hand.

Jennifer’s success also led to her being profiled in the book, “The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King,” a text which ” Traces the events of the 2001 Bellagio Hotel and Casino poker game, a competition involving a twenty-million-dollar stake, in an account that describes the strategies employed by game newcomer Andy Beal and his challenge to some of the world’s top players,” according to Amazon.com.  Her expertise has also been cited in the Poker SuperSystem 2 guide, for which she wrote the Limit Hold’em chapter.

Jennifer’s fans are also eager to support their favorite female poker player, calling her “…the best female poker player out there” and “the real deal.”  When asked by interviewers from homepokergames.com how she feels about being a woman in a sport so dominated by men, Jennifer responded, “It probably helps me to be a woman. In general, most men don’t think women can play. So, what often happens is that they try to run over me. They bluff their money off to me. I guess they see me as a meek little girl and think that I’m easily bluffed. I’m not.”

Today, Jennifer focuses most of her attention on cash games, although she is working to improve her tournament play and cites winning a no-limit title at the World Series of Poker as a goal.  She’s also dedicated herself to learning all the different games of poker, saying “I still learn something new every day. I enjoy the challenge of playing with the best. It’s a constant learning experience. I make mistakes, but as long as I learn something from those mistakes, they can actually be good for me.”  When she’s not at the table, she enjoys spending time with her husband, Marco Traniello, and playing with her dogs.

Few women have made as large a mark on the world of female poker players as Annie Duke, the woman who known by the title “Duchess of Poker.” And that’s not just a give-away title, either – Duke has more than earned the designation.

History and Personal Life

Born in 1965 in Concord, New Hampshire, Duke never set out to become a major figure in the world of women’s poker. In fact, she fully expected to lead a normal, quiet life. She married Ben Duke while the two were in college, earning her graduate degree in psycholinguistics and continuing doctoral work in the same field.

However, in 1992, just a month before defending her dissertation, she left graduate school to become a professional poker player. This decision was made after seeing her brother, Howard Lederer, succeed as a professional poker player for years. In fact, Howard became her coach and even helped support her financially during her first few years.

Two years later, the Dukes moved to Las Vegas so that Annie could begin playing full-time. This decision quickly paid off. In 2000, she finished tenth in the World Series of Poker main event – doing so while pregnant, no less. In 2004, she picked up her first gold bracelet and defeated her brother and coach Howard in several events – making her one of only three women to win an open event at the 2004 World Series of Poker.

While 2004 saw her professional career pick up, it also marked the end of her marriage to Ben Duke. However, Annie found victory even in this defeat – she’d bet $500 to fellow professional poker player Steve Zolotow that her marriage wouldn’t last five years. Following her divorce, she moved to Los Angeles with her four children.

Winnings

Out of all the female poker players of 2008, Annie currently holds the record for “in the money” finishes at the World Series for Poker. And before Annette Obrestad’s win in 2007, Annie held the record for the most money ever paid to a female player at one event, for her $2,000,000 win at the first World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions in 2004.

Other Notable Facts

In addition to her monetary winnings, Annie also gained fame for tutoring actor Ben Affleck in poker. As the result of her tutelage, Affleck later won the 2004 California State Poker Championship. She’s also had her own television show on GSN called “Annie Duke Takes on the World” and has appeared on “Ultimate Blackjack Tour” and on NBC’s “1 vs. 100″ as part of the Mob. She was the only celebrity out of her Mob group who was not eliminated by answering 35 questions correctly. Her most recent television appearance as of 2008 was on the hit game show “Deal or No Deal.”

Like many professional female poker players, Annie sees poker as one of the games where there’s no difference between male and female players. Because of beliefs, she doesn’t see the point of women-only tournaments and has turned down every invitation to play in them.