Sue Coyle / Lady Heart

Author

He has a face you can’t help but love, with deep brown eyes, a sweet, if slightly shy, smile and a hint of mischief lurking behind his overall innocent appearance. He looks good in a pullover, dashing in a suit and undeniably delicious in everything in between. He is, in a word, adorable. But that’s not the only reason Phil Ivey is Poker Hunk of the Week, for wrapped up inside his undeniable good looks is an undeniably skilled poker player.

Born in 1976 in California, Ivey grew up in Roselle, New Jersey. He learned cards from his grandfather and played in backroom games until his 18^th birthday when he could officially join the tables in Atlantic City. There, he played hand after hand losing many but winning some. And in 2000, when he entered the year’s World Series of Poker (WSOP), he was able to place fifth in $2,000 No-Limit Texas Holdem and earned his first bracelet in $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha. From that point on, he skyrocketed.

Ivey has won five WSOP bracelets - 3 in 2002 and another in 2005, in addition to his first in 2000. He has been at 9 final tables at WSOPs in varying events, and plans to be seated at many more in the future. In 2008, Ivey won a WPT championship and earned enough money to be named one of the top ten poker players.

He is viewed by his peers as one of the best poker players not only of today but also of the past and future. His youth will allow him to continue playing for years to come, so much so that by the time he is dealt his final hand, there is no telling how large a pot Ivey will have accumulated. And his looks - well, his looks are a bonus to the women who watch: beguilingly sweet with quick, sharp intelligence leading the way.

Michelle Mogil / Ace

Author

It’s not easy to find statistics about women in the professional poker circuit, but I’ve been persistent and have gleaned a small bit of information so far: an estimated 15% of professional poker players are women. Fifteen percent and growing, I might add.

More and more women are finding the poker circuit to their liking. Maybe it’s the challenge of breaking into a dominantly male domain, maybe it’s the thrill of the bluff - something women are admittedly good at - or maybe is the excitement of the strategy. Whatever the reason, more and more women are sitting down at the green felt and putting their money where their mouths are.

I had a look at two high hitter women poker players: Nani Dollinson and Barbara Enright, both of whom have earned three WSOP bracelets.

Nani Dollison: according to Wikipedia, Nani has won three WSOP bracelets, with earnings over $770,000 in prize money. Born in South Korea, Nani claims Hernando, Mississippi as her home turf. She has seen abject poverty in her quest for Poker Gold, but has prevailed and, with the support of friends, has achieved what few women do at the poker table: respect and admiration among the poker professionals.

“They certainly don’t play me like I’m just some woman,” she proclaims. She plays an aggressive game and is constantly looking beyond the immediate winnings to bigger and better stakes.

Barbara Enright began her poker career at the tender age of four, when she played five-card draw with her older brother. A tough lady, she has held down three jobs to support her family, all the while pursuing her dream of making a living playing poker. She became the first woman to sit at the final table of the 1995 WSOP Main Event and was also the first woman to be indicted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2007. Barbara is editor-in-chief of Woman Poker Player Magazine.

So, watch out you poker-playin’ men. The women are coming, and they’re making headlines!

Shannan Powell/Poker Mama

Editor

The World Series Of Poker main event tournament was played out last month at the Rio in Las Vegas, where a field of 6,844 of the world’s best poker players was narrowed down to a final table of nine. In this landmark year for the WSOP, the final table was not played during the event, but instead will be played in November 9th and 10th, being broadcast on ESPN on November 11th.

These players, known around the poker world as the “November Nine” have a unique opportunity with this major change in the tournament format. Instead of sitting down to play for the $9.1 million top prize and the ever-coveted WSOP bracelet, they have four months to hone their skills, study the other players and prepare themselves for the final battle. This could turn out to be a very interesting tournament finale to say the least.

This year’s final table is absent many of the usual suspects, with a number of players that are fairly new to the poker circuit. The November Nine line-up includes:

Seat 1 - Dennis Phillips (26,295,000)
Seat 2 - Craig Marquis (10,210,000)
Seat 3 - Ylon Schwartz  (12,525,000)
Seat 4 - Scott Montgomery (19,690,000)
Seat 5 - Darus Suharto (12,520,000)
Seat 6 - David ‘Chino’ Rheem (10,230,000)
Seat 7 - Ivan Demidov  (24,400,000)
Seat 8 - Kelly Kim (2,620,000)
Seat 9 - Peter Eastgate (18,375,000)

Keep checking back, as we will be profiling each of these players in the weeks leading up to the final table.

Through some surfing over the last few days I’ve come across a valuable asset to any lady poker player.

This fantastic site covers the news, strategy and all of the major events. This is a fantastic resource for finding some of the best poker sites online. For those of us ladies who play poker online competitively, there is always the World Championship of Online Poker, or WCOOP. Poker Sense covers it intensely. There is a lot to look forward to from Poker Stars this year, including some changes to the format, but you’ll have to visit the site to find out what.

Poker Sense also provides an incredible list of online poker sites, including Poker Stars and Everest Poker. Both are competitive online poker rooms that offer generous bonuses, and various incentive programs for their players. Sticking around these sites will provide any woman the opportunity to play poker fiercely against a world of talented and challenging poker players. This is always an opportunity women poker players seek to enjoy. This offers us one more way to show those who doubt us, we are here to stay! (and to take down a few pots in the process)

Poker sites are a dime a dozen, however good and high quality sites are rare. Many people seek to generate some kind of revenue while giving nearly nothing in return. This is not the case with Poker Sense. It appears to be an incredible asset to the online poker world, and online poker women. Take a few moments and check out the site, you can’t go wrong utilizing this resource.

Sue Coyle/ Lady Heart

Author

At only 27 years old, David Williams has already made a name for himself as one of the best young poker players to ever grace the felt. Add his achievements to his steamy good looks and the controversy that has surrounded him in the past, and you end up with an intriguing piece of eye candy that brings interest to every hand he plays.

Though he looks the part of the stylish and trendy celebrity, Williams is a self-proclaimed geek with a bit of a wild side. He spends his free time watching the Discovery Channel and playing the Magic: The Gathering card game. During his years at Princeton and Southern Methodist Universities, he maintained a 4.0 grade point average and excelled in math and science. In 2006, David was the center of controversy when a pornographic video tape surfaced which starred him and a well known female porn star. Prior to the leak of the tape, Williams was known as a mama’s boy, however this image has faded somewhat.

Williams credits his poker successes to his knowledge and interest in math. Williams won a seat in the WSOP in 2004, by participating in a Bodog satellite. This unknown poker player outsmarted some of the best players in the industry to end up going heads up against Greg Raymer at the final table. Though he didn’t pull off that first won, his number two finish was the best ever for an African-American at the WSOP to that date. Since that first success, David has gone on to win a total of over $5.5 million and has a WSOP bracelet under his belt. He continues to blow the minds of more experienced players, while making every lady in the room pay attention.

PokerStars has added yet another amazing professional poker player to its ranks this week. The latest member of Team PokerStars is the lovely Victoria Coren. Victoria will be traveling the world, alongside the rest of the team, representing PokerStars at major tournaments. Her name on the site is “Vicky Coren”, should you get the chance to take a seat at a table with her.

Victoria was given the European Poker Awards Most Outstanding Tournament Performance of the Year honor in 2006, after winning the European Poker Tour’s main event. She is the first woman to ever have won this event. Other noteworthy wins in her career include a win at the 2004 Celebrity Poker Club Series. She is reported to have cashed over $1 million in chips to this point in her career.

Poker is not the only talent of this Oxford graduate; Victoria has been a published journalist since the age of 13, writing for various London publications, such as the Guardian and the Observer. She also has a authored and co-authored a few books, some of them quite controversial. Her choice of career is just an instance of her following in the footsteps if her late father, the humorist and writer Alan Coren.

By joining with Team PokerStars, Coren joins the ranks of some of the best known players on today’s poker scene. Her teammates include names like Chris Moneymaker, Tom McEvoy, Greg Rainer, and another new team addition, Gavin Griffin

Someone came across my ‘im’ recently w/ a great book. I took a look at it and started to find some significant value to this book, soooo I’m sharing.

The book is written by Kim Birch AKA KB and Danish Dragon.
He has only been playing online pro since 2001. In the book he is outlining some great strategies - I haven’t finished the book yet, but I’m loving it. She is actually looking at some of the poker strategies as you might a small business, although he is very practical.

Online Poker Strategies by the Danish Dragon

Now you will VERY rarely find me endorsing books, because we all have our own style, but there is one more that I wanted to recommend - also an ebook - It’s Called “Beating the Odds” It is written for women, encompassing our point of view. It is something that after applying the approaches here, my game has improved. This is one I’ve completed and have gone back to several times. It is sooo worth the investment - well it has been for me. I love RAZZ and Hold’em (polar opposites I know) but the basics are in this book.

Beating the Odds: A Guide for Women To Becoming a Champion Poker Player

The 74 year old, 10 World Series of Poker Champion has been repeated challenged by a young upstart poker professional, and its only becoming worse. Everyone is waiting for the challenge to come to a head, but Doyle’s going to have it on his terms. According to his blog, the heads up poker event of the 21st century can be televised but they would play the games Brunson chooses. After reading his blog, he leads me to believe he’s not talkin holdem Patrik.

As Doyle’s tirade came to a head at the end, he offered a challenge of his own - 100,000 dollars a hole - a game of golf. Although that is an expensive game of golf, Doyle has proven he doesn’t gamble often, thus he knows he’s going to win a large pot from Patrik Antonius.

Now as the poker world continues to buzz, and Doyle starts to become impatient with the chatter, the heads up match is becoming more intense. With this kind of drama before the game, what would happen across the felt?

This poker enthusiast has one question - is Patrik man enough to play the match in Vegas?

Our Website: poker turnieje

Description: PokerStars is home to the world’s largest online poker tournaments and qualifies more players for World Series of Poker Satellites, the World Poker Tour, and the European Poker Tour than any other internet poker site.

This truly is one of the best online poker rooms in the world.

Contributing Writer: Sue Coyle

April could very well be your lucky month, if you’re a Pocketfives.com member that is. The site is teaming up with Bodog for a promotion that will, in the end, earn one PocketFives.com member a World Series of Poker Main Event package worth $12,500. Here’s how it works:

Sign up for a real money account at Bodog. Once you have your account information, e-mail your account number and screen name as well as your PocketFives.com screen name and e-mail address to promotions@pocketfives.com. You have until April 5 to do this. Then, start playing poker. Between April 1 and April 30 you’ll earn points. PocketFives.com will keep track of them for you, updating the listings weekly. At the end of the month, the top three earners will automatically have a spot in the 9-man Sit-n-Go (SnG) game that will determine the contest’s ultimate winner. The players with the fourth through twelfth highest amount of points will compete in their own SnG game on May 3 at 2:35 EST. The top three will go on to the final match. Similarly, any player with 150 or more points will compete in a multi-table poker tournament on May 10 at 2:35 EST. Again, the top three will earn seats in the final SnG game.

On May 17 at 2:35 EST, that game will take place. When it’s over, one PocketFives.com member will have won the Main Event package and will be on his way to the 2008 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
It’s a prize most definitely worth competing for, so sign up today, start playing, and good luck!!