Barbara Enright Makes History Again at the 2008 Cleopatra Open at Caesars Palace
Three-time WSOP gold bracelet winner and Poker Hall of Fame inductee wins Ladies Poker Championship
Las Vegas, NV - Ladies poker tournaments may be controversial in some circles, but they are almost always a joy to watch. The scenery is better. The smell of perfume is nice. And most female poker players behave in a manner appropriate for the game's loftiest ambitions.
But don't be fooled by all the pleasantness. Ladies tournaments are every bit as cutthroat and competitive as any open event. Ladies want to win. Barbara Enright proved that once again when she won the most recent ladies poker championship event on the World Series of Poker Circuit. For her outstanding effort, the widely-popular Enright received a first prize payout totaling $15,558. She was also presented with a 14 karat gold pendant, embossed with the WSOP hallmark.
Fittingly nicknamed 'The Cleopatra Open' since the host casino is Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, the 2008 ladies championship attracted 165 entries. The total prize pool came to $48,015. The tournament included appearances by three of the four inaugural inductees into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame - Marsha Wagoner, Susie Isaacs, and Barbara Enright. In March, these ladies joined Linda Johnson as the Class of 2008. Enright was the only poker legend to go deep in this event.
After 156 players were eliminated over the first nine hours of competition, the finalists resumed play at the final table with Donna Dougherty in commanding chip position (150,000 in chips). All the remaining competitors were greater than 2 to 1 underdogs, with Barbara J. Payne as the closest threat (64,900). The finale was also notable for Barbara Enright's first tournament appearance in some time. Starting in third chip position, the poker legend clearly had the most final table experience of any of the finalists. Starting chip counts were as follows:
Seat 1: Barbara Enright 61,000
Seat 2: Donna Dougherty 150,000
Seat 3: Barbara J. Payne 64,900
Seat 4: Linh Vuong 60,000
Seat 5: Garilyn Nelson 38,000
Seat 6: Annie Le Page 46,800
Seat 7: Sheila Raines 17,100
Seat 8: Michelle Richey 19,000
Seat 9: Bea Hinton 33,200
Opening blinds were 1,500-3,000 with 400 antes.
9th Place - A few hands into the finale, Michelle Richey was the first player to exit. She was dealt A-K of hearts and moved all-in. Sheila Raines called and showed 9-9. Richey picked up a straight draw on the turn when the board showed J-6-5-Q. But she missed all her outs on the river and was eliminated from the tournament. Michelle Richey, a student originally from Portland, OR has made four final table appearances at various poker tournaments in the past. She received a payout of $960 for ninth place.
8th Place - Next, Sheila Raines found out what it was like to be on the losing end of a hand when she was all-in with A-J suited against Barbara J. Payne's K-K. The pocket cowboys held up, knocking Raines from the final table. Raines previously finished in 5th place at the LIPS poker series held last month at the Bay 101 Casino in San Jose, CA. This time she took eighth place, which paid $1,440.
7th Place - Blinds increased to 2,000-4,000 with a 500 ante. Then once again, the vanquisher became the vanquished. Barbara J. Payne, who eliminated the previous player moved all-in with J-J. The raise was called by Bea Hinton with A-J of diamonds. Just when it appeared Payne might double up, three diamonds flopped and Hinton catapulted up near the chip lead. Meanwhile, letter carrier from Washington State was cancelled. Payne picked up $1,921 for seventh place.
6th Place - A few hands later, Garilyn Nelson, a.k.a. 'G' moved all-in with K-J of hearts. The raise was called instantly by Linh Vuong, with the K-Q of diamonds. The final board showed J-10-7-Q-2, giving Vuong the top pair. 'G,' who says she enjoys skydiving, parachuted to sixth-place and a payout of $2,401.
5th Place - After Bea Hinton lost two-thirds of her stack versus Linh Vuong (A-J losing to A-Q), she was left short on chips. The blinds increased again, to 3,000-6,000. Then, Annie Le Page took a bad beat. She moved all-in with A-J and was called by Donna Dougherty, with Q-10. Le Page looked to be in good shape until the river. A queen fell after the first four cards showed K-K-4-9 giving Dougherty the 140,000 pot with a pair of queens. That meant a fifth-place finish for Annie Le Page, who moved to Las Vegas from Quebec City in Canada. Le Page, who plays regularly in the Caesars Palace poker room, received $2,881.
4th Place - Dougherty continued to star in the role as chip leader as play went to four handed. Play dragged on for an hour as blinds increased to 6,000-12,000 with a 2,000 ante. Incredibly, Dougherty was the next player to bust out. First, she lost a race against Linh Vuong for half her chips. Then, she called an all-in move by Barbara Enright - with 4-4 versus Enright's 9-8 (Enright was admittedly making a move and got lucky). The ex-poker champ spiked a nine on the flop, eliminating Dougherty from the tournament. Dougherty, the five-time winner of the 'Miss Hawaiian Topics' competition, collected $3,841 in prize money.
3rd Place - Enright had been short-stacked during most of the tournament. But that big pot gave her the chip lead for the first time. Bea Hinton was not so fortunate. She moved all-in with K-4 hoping to steal a round of blinds. But Linh Vuong called with A-5. Vuong turned an ace, which left Hinton drawing dead. Bea Hinton, who has previously won events at Caesars Las Vegas, took $4,802 for third place.
2nd Place - When heads-up play began, Linh Vuong had a slight chip lead over Barbara Enright. But two key hands essentially determined the outcome of this event. First, Enright caught a five on the flop when her K-5 was dominated by Vuong's K-10. That gave Enright about a 4 to 1 chip advantage. Several hands later, with the blinds increased yet again, Enright called Vuong's all-in bet with 5-5 against 6-2. The final board showed K-J-3-4-2, giving Enright the final pot of the night with her pocket fives.
Linh Vuong played terrific poker. She was all-in with the best hand most of the time, but didn't catch the right cards at key moments. Nonetheless, the student from Dallas collected $8,163 in prize money for second place.
1st Place - Barbara Enright's poker tournament resume is an encyclopedia of accomplishment. She won the WSOP ladies championship twice, as well as a gold bracelet in an open event. In fact, she holds more gold bracelets (three) than any woman in history. Enright is also the only woman to make it to the final table of the WSOP main event. In 2007, she was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. With this victory in the 'Cleopatra Open' - Enright set yet another record as the first woman to win both a WSOP gold bracelet and WSOP Circuit ring.
The prize money in this tournament, totaling $15,558, seems so insignificant by comparison. The money didn't really seem to matter. It was the glory and the thrill of victory that mattered most. Truly, this was a special 'Enright Moment.' Yeah, you had to be there. It was fun. It was exciting. It was poker history in the making. Barbara Enright - poker champion. It has such a nice ring to it.
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