EVENT #17: WOMEN'S TEXAS HOLD'EM (Limit) $100
TOTAL PRIZE MONEY: $12,804
ENTRIES IN THIS EVENT: 132
PRIZE MONEY TO DATE (3/28-4/13): $1,965,414
TOTAL ENTRIES TO DATE (3/28-4/13): 2,878
Report by Don Larrimore
Lucy Rokach, a respected British poker professional and former history teacher, captured the WPO's Women's Limit Hold'em Championship, outlasting an almost entirely American field.
"I'm in shock," said Rokach, "because I do not play limit poker. In Europe I play pot limit." A pro for 15 years, she won major titles last year in Paris and Birmingham, England and has had two final-table finishes at the World Series.
Her victory came after a key hand in which she limped in from the small blind with 8-6 of clubs. She then made a river flush to cripple chip leader Anita Estep who had flopped three tens. Estep, administrator for the poker room at the Horseshoe next door to the Gold Strike WPO venue, said she felt, "bitter-sweet" about this her biggest tournament win in two years of playing poker. "I'm so happy I got to the final table, even more second place against a champion," she said. "But I wanted to win so badly - but look who beat me!"
Third place went to poker dealer Kim Marie Van Horn, who has played the game, primarily stud, for ten years. "I feel very emotional. I've already cried," she said later. "Lucy is an excellent player and I'm very happy for her." This was Van Horn's second third-place tournament finish and her largest win. "I loved this tournament. Everybody was very gracious. Mississippi hospitality is absolutely wonderful," she said.
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