Renee Willis is Queen for a Day
*The Poker Action Continues on Busy Weekend Inside Packed Beau Rivage*
*Sales Lady From Philadelphia, MS Closes the Deal and Earns Her First Major
Tournament Title*
*Biloxi, MS (January 11, 2009) - *This weekend, the Southern Poker
Championship featured a special ladies-only poker tournament. The event
attracted an impressive field of 205 ladies who traveled to the south from
at least 20 different states. This year's ladies competition was hosted in
conjunction with the Ladies International Poker Series (LIPS), which is an
organization created to encourage women in poker and help them improve their
skills (for more information, visit: www.lipstour.com).
The 2009 Southern Poker Ladies Champion is Renee Willis, who works
in sales and lives in Philadelphia, MS. She collected $18,562 for first
place. Following her first major tournament victory, Willis was presented
with the custom-designed white gold and diamond bracelet by Tournament
Director Eric Comer, which is the top prize at all SPC events.
All the poker action took place in the tournament grand ballroom
inside Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, which has become the focus of
the poker world as the first major tournament of the new year. Only the top
18 finishers collected prize money. The tournament cost $340 to enter and
was played over two consecutive days.
After 196 players were eliminated during 12 hours of play on day one, the
lucky survivors returned to begin the final table on day two. Competition
resumed with Paula Halata (249K) holding a slight chip lead over two
opponents, Hilry Shirey (182K) and Rene Willis (175K). The remaining six
players were behind from the start and would need to play their best to have
a chance to win. It was a highly-competitive finale, as several of the
ladies had previously done well in poker tournaments. Players were
eliminated in the following order:
*9th Place -* Only a few hands into play Lindsay Spence's hand lost to Vicki
Campbell's flush. The teacher from Louisiana ended up as the ninth-place
finisher, worth $1,125 in prize money. Spence has done well in other
ladies-only poker tournaments. She finished 11th last month in an event at
Harrah's New Orleans.
*8th Place -* Five hands later, Kristen Deardorff moved all-in with K-J and
was called by Hilry Shirey, holding A-J. Both players caught a jack on the
flop, but Shirey also connected with an ace. The two pair held up, which
put Deardorff on the rail in eighth place with a payout totaling
$1,688. Deardorff
is an electrical engineer at the NASA Space Center, which is near the
casino. Deardorff has performed well in previous ladies events. She took 6
th place in a Tunica event two years ago.
*7th Place -* Phylis Blanton suffered one of the worst beats of any final
table at this year's series when she was dealt pocket aces and moved all-in
with a pre-flop re-raise. Debbie LaVigne had attempted a blind steal
holding K-7 and was pot-committed with an obligatory call. LaVigne caught a
miracle on the river and made two pair - kings and sevens. That brought a
groan from the crowd (and a cheer from LaVigne's supporters) which put
Blanton out in seventh place.
Blanton, a business owner from Dallas,
collected $2,250 in prize money. This was Blaton's third final table
appearance within the past year in ladies events. She had also cashed
previously on the World Poker Tour in Reno.
*6th Place -* Vicki Campbell arrived at the final table with the shortest
stack. Despite this, she managed to leap three spots up the money ladder
with her sixth-place cash. On her final hand she was dealt A-6 and shoved,
which was called by Debbie Lavigne, holding A-J. The dominant hand won,
which left Campbell out of the tournament with $2,813 in prize money.
Campbell,
an operations manager from Pensacola had previously won a few tournaments in
Florida.
*5th Place -* Next, Donna Murray, a registered nurse from Gautier, MS busted
out with a pair of threes, which lost to Renee Willis' pair of aces. Murray
had been one of the most dangerous competitors at the final table. She won
the ladies event at the 2008 Gulf Coast Poker Championship held at Beau
Rivage. She also made it to the final table of a ladies event in New
Orleans two years ago. Fifth place paid $3,375.
*4th Place -* On her last hand, Paula Halata moved all-in with K-J but her
raised was called by Hilry Shirey, holding K-Q. A queen flopped for both
players - good for top pair -- but the king outkicked Halata's weaker side
card. That meant Halata ended up as the fourth-place finisher, worth $4,500
in prize money.
*3rd Place - *When three-handed, Debbie LaVigne and Renee Willis traded
all-ins back and forth at least four times before the next player was
eliminated. That came when Hilry Shirey was deal A-5 and faced Willis' A-8.
Both players made a pair, but the Willis won the pot which put Shirey out in
third place. Hilry Shirey, a real estate appraiser from Haines City, FL is
the daughter of three-time WSOP event winner Hilbert Shirey.
*2nd Place -* When heads-up play began, Renee Willis enjoyed a slight chip
lead over Debbie LaVigne. It was fitting these two players ended up in the
final duel, since they had tangled in many pots most of the day. After 40
minutes of the duel, LaVigne finally went out when she was getting low on
chips and was forced to play a weaker hand than she may have hoped. Her J-2
lost to Willis' A-5 as neither player made a pair and the ace played as the
high card. That put Debbie LaVigne in second place with $10,238. She is a
retired nurse from Fairhope, AL.
*1st Place -* For Renee Willis, it's going to be hard to top this result. Her
first-place finish in this event is the only recorded tournament cash. She
is now the reigning queen of the 2009 Southern Poker Championship.
Through Sunday, a combined 3,757 players have now entered the eleven events
played at this year's SPC. The total payout to date amounts to $1,786,515
in prize money paid out to winners.
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