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The $1,000 buy-in ladies event held each year at the World Series of Poker is usually the subject to a number of debates. Should it be a bracelet event? Should it count towards player of the year? Should the structure be deeper? Regardless of the answer, one thing is abundantly clear.
In a poker world that’s traditionally been a misogynistic one, the tournament has proven an effective opportunity for women to get involved with the tournament game without dealing with the hassles of being a woman in the men’s locker room. Often (and this is obviously a generalization with many exceptions), male poker players tend to look at other male poker players as players first and men second, while at the same time looking at women poker players as women first and poker players second. That attitude can make the integration process a difficult one for the ladies.
The 2008 ladies’ event saw a number of big name players make serious runs at the final table. Linda Johnson, Kathy Liebert and Evelyn Ng were amongst those in the hunt, but all three went down on day two, leaving the door open for Svetlana Gromenkova to take down the title. She won $244,702 for her trouble.
Gromenkova won the title by defeating Anh Le in heads-up play. It was Le’s second time finishing second, having also done the deed in 2005. The final hand this time around started with Le raising from the button to 100,000 only to have Gromenkova move all-in. Le called with Ad-6h. Gromenkova had Ks-Kc.
The flop came 10h-9s-7c. That left Le needing to pair her ace or get an eight for the straight. Kd on the turn gave Gromenkova the set, nullifying the eventual As on the river as an out.
Gary Wise
gary@wisewhandpoker.com
