After making history when she became the first Hollywood start to take home a World Series of Poker gold bracelet, Jeniffer Tilly broke records yet again by winning the invitational WPT Ladies night. Her WPT win made her the first woman to win both the major WPT and WSOP women's events. By winning WPT Ladies Night III, held at the Bicycle Casino, located south-east of Los Angeles, Tilly earned herself the $25,000 buy-in to the WPT World Championship culminating this season of competition. In addition to the WPT World Championship seat, Tilly also won a pink chip set, of which there are only two of a kind, created to boost awareness for the breast cancer cause.

Tilly beat out a field of five other women's poker heavyweights. First on the list is Isabelle "No Mercy" Mercier, last year's reigning champion. After winning WPT Ladies Night II, she took her $25,000 seat at the WPT World Championship, and ended up finishing the highest ranking female player in the competition (28th place). Next comes London Gallagher, who entered the tournament after beating out 566 women competing for the open seat.

The remaining three players are all wives and fiancees of poker pros. Marsha Waggoner, married to Kenna James, who took second in the WPT's Legends of Poker event last week, has years on the tournament circuit under her belt. Her interest in poker traces back to before she even met her husband. In addition, we have Cecelia Mortensen, who is married to Carlos Mortensen, 2001 WSOP champion and Aidiliy Elviro, engaged to Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi. All of these women, famous significant others aside, have all independently made names for themselves on the tournament circuit.

Tilly has made tremendous progress in just over a year of poker play, which might be due in part to a little tutoring from her poker pro boyfriend, Phil Laak. Tilly met Laak while playing in the annual WPT invitational event in which celebrities and poker pros battle it out.


Poker fans wanting to witness Tilly's win will have to wait until October 22, when WPT Ladies Night III airs on the Travel Channel.

Source:  Poker777 Staff

Sunday, 04 September 2005