Poker Blog & Poker Forum

Maria Ho has never been placed on the same pedestal for her poker abilities at the top women poker professionals like Vanessa Selbst or Annette Obrestad. She is looked upon more as a poker babe who adds glamour to the game. However, every now and then Maria comes up with a performance that leaves the best of her gender behind. In WSOP 2011 Maria reached the heads up in the $5,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event. Though she lost to Allen Bari, she took home $540,020, which was the largest prize won by a woman in any WSOP event ever. The beach party she threw to celebrate that win is still talked about.

Now, in the currently concluded WSOPE Main Event in Cannes, Maria once again found herself in familiar territory. In the WSOP 2007 Main Event Maria gained fame and prestige as the last woman standing. She repeated the feat in the WSOPE 2011 Main Event. In 2007 Maria had finished 38th and had won $237,865. This time she finished higher up at the 27th spot but won only €32,000. This is because of the smaller field in the European Event.

The next poker babe in the WSOPE Main Event was a relatively unknown Melanie Weisner. Melanie hails from Texas and holds a bachelors degree in music from NYU. She hit the WSOP circuit only last year and has eight cashes to her name. Her 33rd place in the WSOPE Main Event earned her €27,500, her largest win till date. Following these two poker babes was Liv Boeree in the 36th place with a prize of €27,500. Many would say that Liv has the perfect blend of glamour and poker playing abilities. However Liv has never been able to repeat her €1.25 million San Remo EPT win of April 2010.

For the sake of completeness, the WSOPE 2011 Main Event was won by Elio Fox of the United States. His share of the prize pool was €1.4 million. In the heads up Fox beat Chris Moorman of Great Britain. Moorman took home €800,000. Now all eyes in the poker world are on the November Nine. Will Martin Staszko be able to defend his chip lead?

There is something about Annie Duke that ignites the ogre in Daniel Negreanu. Last week Annie was one of the poker babes nominated to the short list from which inductees to the Poker Hall of Fame will be chosen. In an interview given to Poker Listings during the current 2011 World Series of Poker Europe in Cannes, Negreanu questioned the credentials for which Annie was included in that list.

He said, “For what? Robbing people at UB? Owing Russ Hamilton money and never paying him back? For stealing money from people at the poker table? For representing poker in the worst light imaginable when she was on Celebrity Apprentice?” Negreanu added that if one took out the “F” and added a “Sh” in the word fame then he though Annie should be inducted. The clear implication was that Annie Duke, according to him, has been a disgrace to poker and should be listed in a Poker Hall of Shame.

Not content at clawing Annie, Negreanu went after her brother Howard Lederer as well. Lederer has been one of the prime movers of the Full Tilt online poker room, which has remained closed since Black Friday. The US Justice Department has claimed that Lederer was running an elaborate ponzi scheme at Full Tilt. Negreanu said, “Along with her brother, the Lederer family would be the king and queen of the poker Hall of Shame.”

The feud between Negreanu and Annie is said to go back over ten years. It hit an all time low about a year ago when Negreanu called Annie a f****** c*** in a live interview.

Annie is now playing a major role in the Federated Sports + Gaming, which has 218 poker professionals as members. They are grouped into four categories and Negreanu falls in the most prestigious 5 Year Card category. FS+G also aims to enforce a rigid code of ethics on its poker professional members. It cannot be said whether Negreanu’s outburst violates the code and calls for any action against him.

Negreanu was nominated for Poker’s Hall of Fame in both 2009 and 2010 but was not inducted. This year a new rule sets the minimum age for induction at 40 and Negreanu has now to wait for at least three years before he gets a look in. Maybe it is this that has provoked him into that vituperative tirade.

The formal announcement from WSOP released last week read, “After a public nomination process on WSOP.com and a vetting of all nominations by the Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council, the finalists list eligible for induction into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2011 has been determined.” The names in alphabetical order are Annie Duke, Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Harman-Traniello, Linda Johnson, John Juanda, Marcel Luske, Jack McClelland, Tom McEvoy, Scotty Nguyen and Huckleberry Seed.

There is only one woman who has been inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. She is poker babe Barbara Enright, who was inducted in 2007. Barbara is the only woman to have advanced to the final table of the WSOP Main Event and was the first woman to win an open event at WSOP.

Now three poker babes are hoping that one or more of them will join Barbara in this elite company by the year end. Jennifer Harman-Traniello and Linda Johnson were short listed in 2010 as well but did not receive the final nod. Jennifer obviously has the qualifications required but of late has been more in the news for things other than her poker. Last year she campaigned for votes to enter the Tournament of Champions on You Tube using a video that graciously displayed her décolletage (see picture). Then there was the story of Jennifer, Todd Brunson and their dogs.

Linda Johnson is more likely to get the honors than Jennifer. Linda is known as “The First Lady of Poker” and has been on the circuit for more than 30 years. Apart from her poker game she has worked to improve the atmosphere in card rooms and casinos and fought against player harassment and abuse at the card table. Linda started the CardPlayer Magazine, set up the Tournament Directors Association and founded PokerGives, a nonprofit organization that makes it easier for poker players to donate to charity.

Of the three poker babes in the running, Annie Duke has the most realistic chance of being inducted and that is because she is the most visible face. She was the brand ambassador for Absolute Poker and left just before the fiasco with the Department of Justice. She is presently in the limelight as a prime mover of the Federated Sports and Gaming, which is in the news for its Epic Poker League and for enforcing a code of conduct on poker players.

Bodog Poker has added another poker babe, its third, to Team Bodog. Bodog Poker is perhaps the only online poker room to have only three brand ambassadors all of whom are sexy women players. Leading the team is the veteran Evelyn Ng. Then there is Tatjana Pasalic, who was listed as the second most sexy player. Amanda Leatherman has just joined the illustrious team. Last year another Amanda had joined Team Bodog. She was Amanda “Manderbutt” Musumeci. Manderbutt did not last long, but we hope that Leatherman will have a fruitful innings at Bodog Poker.

On her profile page at Bodog Poker Amanda says, “I’m known as the girl who isn’t afraid to ask questions. Sometimes inappropriate, but I can guarantee you all my interviews are fun!” Her favorite poker moment is playing in the ladies event at the WSOP in 2008 and ending up in the 45th place. She describes her playing style as pretty aggressive and says, “I’ve learned to play small pots while being aggressive and think that’s the best strategy for tournaments.”

Amanda has spent more time reporting on poker than at the tables. She began her career in 2006 and was soon working for PokerNews as an online tournament reporter. She became famous as a hostess and interviewer for the World Poker Tour. Her crowning glory was the Bluff Magazine’s 2011 Reader’s Choice Award for “Best Poker Hostess”, which she won for The Big Game, outrunning poker babe Kara Scott. Amanda says, “I’ve worked in poker for many years. All the pros know me and treat me like a little sister.” Well not all. Amanda had a relationship with Joe Sebok. After breaking up with him there were rumors of something with Daniel Negreanu. Speaking of her assignment with Team Bodog, Amanda said that she is excited to get this chance to play live poker. “Due to constantly working in front of the camera covering poker tournaments, it’s been a while since I have been fully able to concentrate on playing myself – I’m definitely ready to hit the felt on my own.”

Amanda was born in North Carolina on August 7. She was a cheerleader whose grades were high and social circle was ever-expanding. But she chucked it all at the age of 19 and moved to Las Vegas. Amanda now lives in Los Angeles.

Poker in the Park has become a permanent fixture in the annual poker calendar. This year will be the fifth season of the annual event. It is billed as the World’s Largest Poker Festival and will be held on Friday September 2 and Saturday September 3 at Hanover Square in London. Over 20,000 visitors are expected to attend the event that will be free. The sponsors include PokerStars.com, Bluff Europe, Calvin Ayre and others. Model and poker champion Liv Boeree (see picture) cut the ribbon and declared the event open in 2010. Liv has made London her home and plays a major role in promoting Poker in the Park.

The center piece of the expo is the PokerStars Festival Stage. It will feature live music and other entertainment. The free poker tournaments will be held at the Genting Poker Dome. Players can participate in the running sit and go tournaments and enjoy Genting’s legendary hospitality. Live tournaments will also be held at the Bluff Europe Suicide King Saloon. For the poker player who wants to learn new tricks there will be educational stalls as well. The best poker players in the world will participate in lectures, questions and answers sessions, autograph signings and photo ops round the clock at the Poker Farm Marquee. A more formal tuition can be had at the Poker Academy Live Tuition Marquee. The Paysafecard Festival Bar will help keep the spirits high.

The British Poker Awards are traditionally announced during Poker in the Park. The most interesting category is the Best International Player. The nominees include Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, Phil Hellmuth, Jason Mercier and Erik Seidel. Awards will be given to various categories of poker players. There are awards for Best Social Media User, Best Blogger and Poker Personality of the Year. The last one has three poker babes as nominees – Liv Boeree, Kara Scott and Vicky Coren.

Poker in the Park 2010 had some naughty events. The Nuts Magazine girls were providing photo ops, free issues of their magazine and a chance to play poker with them. Victory Poker had a unique heads up tournament. Players were teamed up with a skimpily dressed Victory Poker model and played for her honor. If they lost the model was tossed into the dunk tank.