Inside the WSOP Ladies Event

Evelyn Ng takes you inside the 2008 WSOP Ladies Event

June 27, 2008

By Evelyn Ng
Bodog Nation Contributing Writer

Even though there is no apparent gender bias inherent in poker tournaments, there is no doubt that women-only events have a totally different feel than open events. I am always somewhat disappointed that many of these poker-playing females do not participate in "regular" tournaments, but it was so wonderful that almost 1,200 women came out to play this year's Ladies Championship. Many of them were playing their first poker tournament, and perhaps, their experiences at the WSOP will be their gateway into open events in the future. For what it's worth though, I think that the term "Women's Event" is much more appropriate than "Ladies Event," but I will still support them all the same.

I hate to say it, but these fields can be pretty soft. Aggression once might have not been considered a feminine quality. However, it's women who embrace this power who succeed in life, and obviously, in poker as well. Although the field is definitely more passive in these tournaments, even the novice players tend to be better at disguising themselves than their male counterparts, and they can be much trickier to properly strategize against.

This World Series of Poker event started out purposefully slow. In the past, I would often feel under pressure to get a lot of chips early in order to dominate the table, but I tried a different tactic this year. I did not want to risk losing my chips and tournament life this time, so I played pretty tightly and chose my spots very carefully. 

Ng decided to play her chips slow and tight this year.

Even though it can be an effective tactic, it's not my style to antagonize other players or to try to instill fear in them but more so to gain their respect and show them that I am there to fight, but that doesn't mean it has to get ugly. Also, I do genuinely root for women and I want to be encouraging if I can. Sometimes though, you end up killing them with kindness, so it works out for me that way too. It makes me think of the question posed in A Bronx Tale: "Would you rather be feared or loved?"

However, poker is a war. When the money bubble is approaching, it's time for battle. I was ready to start taking advantage of the image I had cultivated and knew that many of these women would not take any unnecessary risks, so I started raising... a lot. This worked out great because I got to steal with impunity and never had to show any of my cards. It also happened to be fantastic timing that once my opponents might have been figuring out what I was up to, I actually started picking up some monster hands!

I did get my pocket kings cracked at this point, but I got all of those chips back and then some within just a few hands. I had several high pocket pairs and flopped quad 8s one hand, and in about one level, I went from an average stack of 15-20K to a very comfortable 70K. 

At the very end of Day 2, I got my kings cracked once again. In a women's event, maybe queens are supposed to beat kings? But then 10s too?  I didn't sweat it though; I had played well and was proud of the 55k I ended up with. I was 15th in chips out of the 61 remaining players. 

Ng walked into Day 2 with about 55K.

I felt great going into Day 2; however, my new table was pretty dangerous. I had only played the last 10 minutes of Day 1 with a couple of them, so all nine seats were complete question marks to me as to their skill levels and styles of play. The only person I had ever had experience with was Olga Varkonyi, and although she plays maybe one or two tournaments a year, she plays very well and had a massive stack. Three of the top six chipstacks in the tournament were at my table.

I had about 55K, the blinds and antes were 800-1,600 with 200 antes and I found myself holding AQ of clubs on the button and it was folded around to me. I really liked this situation because it looked as if I could have been on a total steal, so perhaps the small or big blind might overvalue an ace-rag or maybe try to resteal. My 4,600 raise was flat-called by the BB, a petite Russian blonde named Svetlana Gromenkova who did not talk much and had maybe 60K in chips.

The flop came 10-10-2, and she called my bet of 6,500. I became extremely aware that this could be a really bad situation. I hadn't seen her play at all, and I didn't know what she knew about me either. She had not witnessed my solid play the day earlier or the monster hands I had shown down at the end of the night. There was no flush draw either, so she held either one of the other two 10s, maybe a small or medium pocket pair and there was a very slim chance that she had a deuce in her hand, but perhaps she was calling me with ace-high or worse (though it was unlikely) looking to bluff me out on the turn or river. 

The turn was a deuce, and we both checked. I admit, I had no plan for the river and did not know what I would do if she bet into me. I thought it was better to check than to leave myself open for her to steal if she had an inferior hand.

Gromenkova's full house won her the pot.

The river was a queen. The pot was already at 25K, and now Gromenkova bet 12K into me when I finally made a hand that could beat a pocket pair, if that's what she held. I thought about it for a few seconds, but I think that hitting that queen reassured me that I (incorrectly) "had" to call since I really didn't know what to do after she had called me on the flop. Gromenkova turned over K-10 of spades for a full house to win the 46K pot.

Looking back, it was a bad call and I should have thought about it much more. I think the chances of an unknown player check-calling a bet on a paired flop with no draws just to make a future bluff is very unlikely. I also don't think many people would try to value-bet a pocket pair for such a significant amount. It was a crucial error that left me with only 28K.

A few hands later, Donna Delfin, who was in about the same rough shape as I was, raised under the gun, and I reraised her going all-in with an A-Q offsuit. She went into the tank for a minute or so but made the call with 7-7. I was happy to flop an ace, but it was short-lived when I was then drawing dead when a 7 hit the turn. I had only 5,500 left after that. Soon after, I took a stab at stealing the BB from my SB with K3 of clubs and I was busted out to Julia Rea who held A-Q. Three times screwed with A-Q!

I was pretty devastated to bust out in this way because I only had myself to blame. When I've taken bad beats I don't get depressed afterwards because there's nothing you can do when the luck doesn't go your way. When I make a mistake, however, it's good to not go easy on yourself so that you remember the lesson. Gromenkova (with the help of my 12K) went on to win the event. Although I don't begrudge her for winning the pot with the best hand, I can't help but think that I could have been in her place. A-Q will forever be a reminder to not forget the mistake I made against her in this tournament. 

I used to sometimes refer to A-Q affectionately as "big chick" or "slick chick" as a joke, but you know, sometimes ace-queen is just a bitch.

TOP PHOTO: Bodog Poker pro Evelyn Ng.