POKER PRINCESSES BLUFF AND BATTLE THE POKER PRINCES
Having just heard Senator Hilary Clinton reference the 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling of the American presidency, I couldn’t help but keep it in mind when I talked to the Queens of Heart poker princesses taking part in the 2008 World Series of Poker.
Local poker hero Lisa Tenner put together a star lineup of ladies including author Jackie Collins and actress Mimi Rogers as captains of teams that included actresses Teri Hatcher, Camryn Manheim, Cheryl Hines, Joely Fisher in a unique spiderweb dress and carrying a Judith Lieber pineapple handbag, Kathy Najimy, singer Mindy McCready and model turned pro poker player Cloney Gowen. WSOP commissioner Jeffrey Pollack was on hand to watch the girls getting a player tutorial. The two teams of 36 players had first donated $12,000 of their own money to the Nevada Cancer Institute charity they’d selected, that instantly equally what they’d raised last year. So when they cashed out late last night (MON) the amount was easily surpassed!
Lost in Space star Mimi Rogers, once married to Tom Cruise, is also known for her naked role in the 1995 Full Body Massage movie and a nude 1993 Playboy magazine layout. She told me: “Poker is growing in popularity with the ladies I think it is growing exponentially. This will be the third consecutive year that I have played in the ladies event and the number practically doubles each time. I think women percentage wise are better than the guys. If you look at the number of women vs. the number of men and how well they do, by sheer percentage, the women have an edge. I think it is because we bluff less than men. Men tend to over rate bluffing as a tool or don’t understand how to use it properly.
“It is challenging though to keep our emotions in check when we have a great hand. We are supposed to be more emotional than men. It is for both though. I don’t have a poker face. I crack up and smile and I can’t contain anything so I smile all the time. I think this is another proverbial glass ceiling that is being smashed. I think that the concept of poker being a male domain has been put to rest.”