Women Coming Close at 2012 WSOP
The streak of open WSOP bracelet events won by men has now reached more than 230 since Vanessa Selbst won her bracelet in the $1,500 PLO event in 2008. According to Nolan Dalla, "the longest cold streak for female players had previously been 221 consecutive open events, which took place between 1982 and 1996."
Late Wednesday night, Ashkan Razavi grabbed his first World Series of Poker bracelet by winning Event #9, the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Re-entry event. Razavi earned $781,398 for his win, the first by a Canadian at the WSOP this summer. His victory also marked the nearest miss by a woman to win an "open" event at this year's Series with Amanda Musumeci's runner-up finish.
Women have distinguished themselves already at this year's WSOP, with a number of deep runs in many of the 12 events that have concluded thus far. Yet none has broken through to claim a bracelet, thereby extending the lengthy streak of non-female winners in open bracelet events since Vanessa Selbst's victory in the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha event in 2008.
While not technically an "open" event, the $500 Casino Employees NLHE event (Event #1) saw Patricia Baker, a dealer at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, take second place to Chiab Saechao. Selbst then made a strong run herself in Event #2, a $1,500 NLHE event, before falling in fourth place.
Annette Obrestad was the next female player to challenge for a bracelet, making it all of the way to the quarterfinals of Event #3, the $3,000 Heads-Up NLHE/PLO event, before losing to eventual runner-up finisher Jason Koon.
Event #4, the #1,500 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low event, then saw no less than four women among the group heading into the final day of play, with Xian Liu beginning Day 3 as chip leader. All would last into the top 13 before being eliminated short of the bracelet, with Poker Hall of Famer Linda Johnson taking 13th, Marsha Waggoner finishing ninth, Bonnie Rossi getting knocked out in eighth, and Liu ending her run in sixth.
Caroline Hermesh next added herself to the list of women making final tables at this year's WSOP, finishing seventh in Event #7, the $1,500 Seven-Card Stud event. And a couple of days later it was Cyndy Violette making a deep run in the $5,000 Seven-Card Stud Event #10 to finish in 11th. Like Selbst, Violette has won a bracelet in an open WSOP event in the past, taking the $1,500 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low event in 2004.
Susie Zhao would then make the last couple of tables in the $1,500 PLO Event #11 before finishing in 15th. And Lori Kirgan made it to last night's final table in Event #13, the $1,500 limit hold'em event, where she finished in ninth place. Jennifer Harman, owner of two WSOP bracelets in open events, also finished 18th in Event #13.
In Event #9, Amanda Musumeci battled gamely at the final table where she entered third among the final nine. But when heads-up play began between her and Ashkan Razavi, the latter had a nearly 6-to-1 chip lead over the woman from Philadelphia whom many first met at last year's WSOP Main Event where she finished 62nd, and it wouldn't be long before Razavi claimed the title.
According to WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla, Razavi's win extended the streak of open bracelet events won by men to 230 events since Selbst's win nearly four years ago, with a few more events having now concluded since Event #9. Says Dalla, "the longest cold streak for female players had previously been 221 consecutive open events, which took place between 1982 and 1996."
I remember Selbst's win in 2008 quite vividly, as I happened to have helped with the coverage of that event at PokerNews. Selbst was fairly dominant in the event, having assumed the chip lead once the field had shrunk to 100 players, and leading for most of the final table as well.
The event concluded with a wild heads-up battle between Selbst and Jamie Pickering, with the latter ordering drinks and frequently calling out "Raise pot!" without even looking at his cards! Selbst survived, however, and there was a raucous celebration afterwards from her huge rail of supporters.
At the time, I don't recall there being a great deal of fanfare over the fact that a woman had won an open event. Obrestad had just won the inaugural WSOP Europe Main Event the previous fall. Also in 2007, Katja Thater had won a bracelet in the $1,500 razz event. And in 2004 no less than three women had won open events at the WSOP -- Violette, Kathy Liebert ($1,500 LHE Shootout), and Annie Duke ($1,500 Omaha Hi-Low).
In his official reports on WSOP events, Dalla sometimes includes information about how many women played among the "Odds and Ends" he shares. So far he's included numbers for six of the completed events, with women's participation being reported as follows:
Such percentages aren't too different from what we've seen over recent years at the WSOP, where most events tend to draw around 3-4% female participation. Obviously the relatively low percentage of women playing in events reduces the likelihood of a woman winning, although a streak of more than 230 events without a female winner is perhaps remarkable, even with the relatively low turnouts.
Seems only a matter of time, though, with so many strong women players making deep runs that one will break through soon to grab some WSOP jewelry.
Prices quoted in copy are correct at time of publication but liable to change.
