2010 May 24

Accomplished poker pro Vanessa Selbst defeated a formidable final table to win the North American Poker Tour Mohegan Sun main event. Beating 715 entrants in the competition led to her biggest payday yet at $750,000.

Selbst played superbly throughout the tournament and knocked out three of her opponents at the final table to become the first female champion of an NAPT event. This win boosted her career earnings to $1,672,855.

Aside from a couple business trips, Hobby and I had been hanging around Palm Springs. This time of year there's an excitement generated by the snowbirds that buoys up the otherwise winter doldrums. Getting into April, however, the decline in population is noticeable and local folks savor what moderate weather is left before the brain-boiling season.

There are two Indian casinos nearby, one downtown and the other out by I-10. Within a few more miles on the freeway there's Spotlight 29 and Fantasy Springs. We made the rounds and played in many open table games and a few small tournaments.

The Bicycle Casino's popular April series America's Poker Classic consisted of 20 events with more than $800,000 in guarantees. Coming on the heels of its very successful Winnin' o' the Green tournament series in March, the annual America's Poker Classic's twenty-one day event included as many as four events running in a single day.

In a bold step to give poker fans a bigger say acknowledging the greats on the distaff side of the game, nominations have been opened to the general public for the 2010 Women in Poker Hall of Fame. The public can log on to www.WomenInPokerHallofFame.com or www.WiPHoF.com and submit up to three names for consideration. The public's vote counts towards 50 percent of the results, nominations from member will account for the other half.

Online poker legislation has proven to be a tricky and unpredictable spectacle. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was passed by Congress in the middle of the night in the sneakiest of ways. Since that time, the online gaming industry discovered many friends in the halls of Congress, some of whom are willing to fight for our cause and denounce UIGEA at every opportunity. But despite the support for repealing UIGEA and the heavy push by several lobbying organizations for legislation to license and regulate online gaming, it seems no closer to reality than it was in 2006.

In 1986, Mike Caro wrote a poker book called Poker for Women, A Course in Destroying Male Opponents at Poker." Today and in my next column I'll talk about some poker women from the past and present and touch on some of Mike's poker tips for women.

Past poker women. The first women of poker hit the scene in the Wild West days. Calamity Jane was one of the first women to sit across the poker table from men and made the queen of spades famous. Today, it's called the "Calamity Jane."

World Team Poker's inaugural event will be held at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, May 19, 2010. This one day event will feature 40 of the world's top poker pros, representing eight different countries, on five-man teams. Each team will be captained by a poker star from their respective countries, including Phil Hellmuth, Jr.

Commerce Casino's annual California State Poker Championship returns May 5 for three weeks of affordable buy-ins, high payouts, and unique tournaments. More than $1,000,000 in prize money is guaranteed, beginning with a $500,000 guaranteed prize pool, $220-buy-in, four-day-start no-limit hold 'em event. The series opener, which allows people to buy-back in each day if they bust out, is the largest guarantee in poker for a low-stakes tournament.

Tournament Director Matt Savage stacked the schedule with new offerings in response to player requests for more diverse low-buy-in events.

Dear Ace,
I've been gambling online for a while now and I consider myself somewhat of an expert. I've made some good money on a few sites, but I feel weird going into a Casino and doing it in person. Can you help me get my poker face together?-Not Ready to Go Public

Dear Not Ready,

Meet me at the Peppermill in Reno. The Nevada State Poker Championship is scheduled for May 5-9. On Wednesday, May 5 two events are scheduled, a $225 buy-in at noon and a $120 buy-in at 6 p.m. Three events are scheduled for Thursday and Friday, a $225 buy-in at noon, and $120 buy-in events at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.