By Lucy Kim
“I had fun this weekend,” announced Linda Johnson when she first sat down with us out on the lovely terrace of the Commerce Casino. Johnson–the reigning California State Ladies Poker champion, announcer for the World Poker Tour and the Chairman of the Board of the Poker Players Alliance–was referring to the Ladies Poker Dream Weekend, held in Los Angeles August 26 and 27. The two-day event was presented by the Ladies International Poker Series (LIPSTOUR) and the Commerce Casino, which went out of its way to provide outstanding hospitality to its women poker guests.
The Dream Weekend, which kicked off with an incredible buffet, included two No Limit Hold ‘Em tournaments and a poker seminar led by Johnson and poker pro Jan Fisher. Powerful forces in the poker world, both Johnson and Fisher have a long-list of poker accomplishments, including being co-founders of the “TDA Rules” (the national Tournament Directors Association Rules). Fisher, who has been playing poker “legally” for over thirty years, fully supports events such as this because, “Ladies events are fabulous for what they’re trying to accomplish; that is, they provide a ‘protected environment’ for women.”
Fisher continued, “Unfortunately, women still feel timid about playing cards, and that needs to change.” Roni Taylor, Dealer Coordinator at the Bicycle Casino, echoed Fisher’s thoughts on the subject. “The purpose of events like this is to support women. These make it comfortable enough for them to play in mixed events. Women are too intimidated to play with men in the beginning.” Taylor knows this from her 17-year experience in the business.
Many of the women poker players I spoke with during the weekend agree with Fisher’s and Taylor’s sentiments. Sona Mkrtitschian and Gohar Avila from the Los Angeles area are prime examples. When I asked what prompted them to play in the weekend’s tournaments, Mkrtitschian admitted that this was the first-ever casino tournament for them. The two friends have been playing home games for about a year and had been frequently visiting the Commerce; not to play poker but to eat in the restaurants. “We always felt intimidated. This was a last-minute decision on our part. Gohar brought home the Dream Weekend information postcard and we talked about it for a long time.”
“Even when we first got here today, we were apprehensive, but we had a great time. And look how far Sona got,” laughed Avila. When her pal got knocked out of the tournament, there were only seven tables remaining. What an accomplishment for the novice casino player. The first day’s tournament had 318 entrants; therefore, Mkrtitschian outlasted more than 250 poker players. Mkrtitschian and Avila are grateful for a women’s event like the Dream Weekend, for it gave them courage to play.
When the Commerce Casino first held the Dream Weekend in the mid-90’s, the number of participants—like in other women’s tournaments at the time—was “Little. Now they’re five times as big,” according to poker professional and author Susie Isaacs, the first woman to win back-to-back WSOP Ladies Championships (1996 and 1997). “Despite the explosive growth in poker, why aren’t there more women playing in the larger mixed events?” I asked Isaacs. “Women are not ready. Women don’t do things off-the-cuff. They prepare themselves. So in a few years, the participation of women in open-field events is going to double and triple,” predicted Isaacs. In agreement is Jacqueline “Jacq” Britton, owner of Pocket JJacks.com, who offered, “Ladies events like this one give women the opportunity to learn and to improve their game for the next level.”
Another compelling reason we don’t see more women in the larger mixed events is that of finances. Debbie Wein, who has been playing poker for five years, flew in from Troy, Michigan, the previous week for the World Poker Tour’s Legends of Poker events hosted by the Bicycle Casino. Scheduled to leave the day before the Dream Weekend, she changed her flight after she found out about the Commerce’s ladies events from a flyer at the Bike. “I can’t afford to play in the bigger mixed tournaments, so I consider these smaller buy-in ones for women a freeroll or satellite for the big ones,” Wein explained.
“The Commerce Casino has dedicated themselves to raising the bar for women in poker,” praised Lupe Soto, founder of LIPSTOUR and PokerChix.com. This is true: In addition to the cash prize, each winner of this Dream Weekend’s tournaments were given a seat to the World Poker Tour’s $1,000 NLHE tournament, which will be held on February 3, 2007, at the Commerce Casino. The winner of that tournament will represent the Commerce Casino at the $25,000 buy-in WPT Championship at the Bellagio in 2007. “Most women cannot afford to buy a seat to a $25,000 event,” Soto concluded.
Ladies Poker Association founders, Crystal Osgood and Sherry Godfrey, concur that this is a blossoming time for women poker players. As the number of women grow in the sport of poker, women are getting closer and closer to the big money. "I don't think that men are better players than women; I just think there are more of them, and Sherry and I want to help change that," stated Osgood. This 2006 L.A. Ladies Poker Classic champion puts her money where her mouth is: Their website, www.ladiespokerassociation.com, is a valuable resource for (from the novice to pro) women poker players.
Godfrey has seen a rise in the number of women moving from the low-limit cash games to the higher limits. "A year ago, I could be the only woman at the table in a no-limit cash game. Now, with the growth of women in poker, I could be sitting with two or three other women at a higher, no-limit cash game.”
“It’s gratifying to see how far women have come,” stated Cheri Dokken, Commerce Casino’s Tournament Director. “Poker is the greatest equalizer I know. With little knowledge and the price of a buy-in, any single person–a man or a woman–has an equal opportunity to win a tournament. I would like to take the women in there (gesturing towards where the tournament was taking place) and get them to a point where they can get comfortable playing at a table full of men.”
Dokken has many fans and supporters, including Linda Johnson, who pointed out that “The Commerce Casino is the biggest card room in the world, and to their credit, they have chosen a woman to be their tournament director.” Johnson did not forget to add, “And Cheri does an amazing job.”
What was everyone’s favorite part of the weekend? Although seeing old friends, making new friends and playing poker were enjoyable, Johnson’s weekend highlight was conducting her poker seminar. The one-hour tutorial–for which she and Fisher refused payment–was free to women. “I enjoy helping women poker players become better players. I love to teach poker and to talk about poker.”
When I spoke with Jacqueline Britton a few days later, she reminded me that “The seminar was a delightful blend of useful poker tips and humorous stories and tales from Jan and Linda. I, for one, have never had so much fun learning a thing or two.” Britton also advised, “No poker woman should miss an opportunity to hear these ladies speak on poker and the fun of life!”
What was my favorite part of the Dream Weekend? It was something that I learned from Jan Fisher, who told me, “Southern California in particular has gone all out to support women in poker. These casinos offer women fabulous deals and work in harmony with one another. Although there’s friendly competition among the local casinos, they support each other by sending their executives to their rivals’ tournaments and schedule women’s tournaments on different weekends. They are working together to cultivate and grow the same market. That’s to be commended.”
There were six of us sitting out on that terrace that night at the Commerce. The six-pack were Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, Jacqueline Britton, Debbie Knight (20-year casino world veteran), Roni Taylor and myself. Together, we represented over a century of industry experience. As we were saying our good-byes, I was sad to see the weekend come to an end. However, I walked away with a pep in my step knowing that the women’s poker movement has many loyal and powerful supporters. To me, this knowledge captures the essence of The Dream Weekend.
“The poker population will continue to grow in lower-limit ladies’ tournaments like these,” summarized Johnson, whose goal is to help women play in higher-limit, mixed events. “Why such a goal?” I teased Johnson. She put the punctuation mark on the weekend by boldly boasting, “Because the women who do play in higher limits kick ass!”
Lucy Kim is an energetic special events and marketing pro, who prefers smaller NLHE tournaments with a fast blind structure. She is an accomplished writer with numerous published international magazine and newsletter articles to her credit. In her spare time, she enjoys golfing and serving as a consultant to various nonprofit causes. Nicknamed “Floppy” by her poker gal pals, Lucy resides in Northern California, where she continues to drag the occasional pot.
Men and Women Welcome
