What's the Deal?
By Sharla Lehrmann

As a young married housewife, I thought I would never have the ability or opportunity to fulfill my lifelong fantasy of actually sitting in an authentic poker game. After many years of dreaming, I made my first visit to the infamous Las Vegas Strip. After pacing in and out of card rooms, looking for a place to call home, I found myself meagerly sliding into an empty seat at a seven card stud table in a 'real live' casino poker room. I looked around to find it was me against at least 200 burly men (or at least it seemed that way).

I immediately found my kitchen poker skills were of no help! An oxygen mask and a prozac would have been more beneficial.

Check... Raise... what? I thought, hey, you can’t do that! Oh, I see... you say, "it's poker strategy". Well, phfffft! Table stakes... but, wait, I have a full house, and I’m out of money. Let me just get some from my husband, really I can. He won’t mind! "NOT" you say!? So, do I lose it all?

I could feel the tears start to fill my eyes. Side pot? What’s that you say?

As I was steadily being fed to the sharks, I learned I can’t 'scoop' my own pot. What do you mean, "don’t touch the chips lady? The dealer will send them to you." Oh, sorry. Sheesh! And just how the heck do they do that with their chips, making them all fold so nicely into one little stack while rattling them between those big ole fingers? Rifling? Never heard of it.

Wait a minute, I didn’t check, I just patted the table because I was drumming my fingers a little bit because I’m so nervous. I have a big ole hand here and wanted to bet. What do you mean, "go home little girl and cook, sweep and look pretty and leave a man’s game where it belongs"?

That was long, long ago..

The year is 2001. Today, I am an independent, self assured, woman of the new millennium. Now I find myself among a steadily rising subculture of worldwide poker enthusiasts. Via the internet, I have met hundreds of wonderful, educated, kind, people who share my love of the game. To my astonishment, "we’ve come a long way baby!"

I have been so pleasantly surprised to find that the majority of men in the poker arena have the understanding and willingness to recognize that women have the same ability and brainpower to compete in tournament poker as well as in ring game activity.

It's a level playing ground and it can be exactly what we make it. Believing in oneself, honing one’s skills, treating others the way one wishes to be treated, and dusting off one’s competitive nature creates an ideal subject for the poker table, online or off, male or female, young or old. Yes, I think I have died and gone to heaven!

My name is Sharla Lehrmann. I call my home Wimberley, Texas. I call the world my poker playground. Being the newest member of the Poker Pages team, I would like to introduce myself to you. It is and always has been my dream to find the perfect work environment where I could play while I work, I could use my personality, sense of humor, education and love of poker and actually get paid for it.

Being a liason between new poker players, and the poker community is a position that will give me much pride and satisfaction. It was not so long ago that I too was a neonate in the poker world, and I do so wish I had had someone to help me find information, places to play, poker etiquette, and the myriad other poker subtleties.

I am elated be have my own location on the women’s page with Poker Pages to provide a place for you, the poker "newbie" to ask questions which will be answered anonymously in the women’s forum thereby creating an avenue for discussion. Check out, What’s the DEAL! I look forward to hearing from you! Until then, Stacks of Racks to Ya!