College Times

Media Credit: Ryan A Ruiz

Walking into Casino Arizona is a lot like walking into another world.

A cloud of cigarette smoke hangs like an angry cloak over much of the casino. Hundreds of lights flash as slot machines cling and clang. It is, simply put, an assault on the senses.

But those who had walked into the poker room on a recent Saturday would have been greeted by a different noise – that of the low din of conversation and thousands of poker chips changing hands.

Rather than men at those tables, those there on the morning of September 15 would have seen a field of women – 319 of them to be exact – playing in the second annual State Ladies Poker Championship.

And while some old-fashioned types may say a place where you can smoke, drink and gamble is no place for lady, these women – who range from college-aged to senior citizens – could probably take most men down on the tables.

Gender Differences

The State Ladies Poker Tournament began at 9 a.m. Players were expected to play for 90-minute stretches with the blinds doubling every 30 minutes. With only a 20 minute break in between, it was guaranteed from the start to be an exhausting day of women playing women.

Some differences in playing styles seen in the more popular televised male tournaments were instantly noticeable.

Female players “tend to protect their hands a little bit more to the extent that if somebody has something weak, and you sense that, you bet out at them and they’re more likely to fold, whereas a man might come over the top with you and just try to put you back in your place,” said Julie Moniz, a 24-year-old tournament entrant.

Moniz, who won a spot in the tournament by way of a satellite poker game, came hoping to win the $15,000 first place prize. With the top 45 spaces guaranteed a cash prize, and $125,000 in total prize money, there was plenty of incentive to play.

“There’s a lot more talking at the table. We tend to have a lot more of those girly moments where we’re like, ‘Oh you beat me, nice hand.’ It definitely caters to the experienced players,” said Moniz about playing with all women in the earlier rounds.

More Than Gambling

In Texas Hold ‘Em, players are dealt two cards face down, followed by a round of betting. Eventually, five additional cards are dealt face up across the table, with bets placed after the first three cars are dealt, and then each of the final two.

These five are community cards, which any player can use to make their best five-card hand. With so many possibilities on the table open to everyone, the trick to Hold ‘Em isn’t the cards, but reading your opponent and guessing what she has.

Sometimes it’s more difficult for women poker players.

“They’re very hard to read. They change their game up a whole lot. I never know what they’re doing,” said Alison Richards, a Seattle native who came to Phoenix for the Cardinals vs. Seahawks game and decided to try out for the poker tournament. After losing an “all in” bet with a pair of fours, Richards lost out of the tournament.

“I don’t like playing against women,” Richards said. “It’s easier to read guys than it is girls.”

Checking, betting and folding are the common options for Hold ‘Em players, but Moniz said there is more than gambling when it comes to poker. “It’s a game of real strategy and reading your opponent. For me, it’s like chess and I love that. I love games where there’s psychology and math and this is a good mix of both.”

New Faces

The explosion of Texas Hold ‘Em via ESPN and the World Poker Tournament has brought a slew of new faces to the betting table. Many of these new players are women, who are happily encroaching on the poker world. In fact, some studies indicate as many as 38 percent of poker players are women.

Karina Jett, one of the few women professional players, sat in on the women’s tournament with hopes of a first place finished. Jett has played for years, amassing a small fortune in cash prizes and her own poker magazine. She was clearly a favorite to win, however, it was the inexperienced players that threw her game off.

She eventually was knocked off – just before the cash prizes started kicking in. She was thrown off by the random play.

“When you’re playing with a bunch of professionals and when you’re playing with a bunch of women who haven’t really played before, it’s hard to put them on a hand when they don’t know what they have,” Jett said.

Competitive Character

Still, plenty of tournament entrants had advice.

“Don’t be scared, don’t let anyone bully you,” said Natalie Martinez, an ASU East student. “Take your time and be patient. I should’ve been a little more patient,” said Martinez, after she busted out – a term for being eliminated from the tournament – in 89th place.

As time went on, players became increasingly competitive. As the number dwindled to close to 100 players, Moniz commented on the seriousness of the play.

“At this point, we’ve eliminated most of the novice players. You’ve also seen a lot of the colloquialism die at the table,” Moniz said. “You’ve got a lot more cutthroat action going on.”

Later Moniz reported back: “I’m at 65,000 in chips right now, which is pretty good, [It] puts my medium level above what it should be to play in a normal fashion without fear of your diminishing chip stack. My goal is to always be the best that I can and to hopefully take it down.”

As the tournament dropped to the final 20 spots late in the evening, only the serious players remained. Moniz had survived 300 other players and was looking to take the big prize home.

 However, based on the sheer level of skill and the chip stacks against her, Moniz would gamble on a pair of sixes and lose to an ace-high straight that was picked up on the river.

Jennifer Wayman would suffer from the random play, lasting into the final 20 before losing a bad bet. Obviously angry, Wayman said, “I went all in to try and steal her big blind and she called me with an ace-8. Who does that?”

While the top three spots would go to more experienced players, including 55-year-old winner Deborah Gudinas, later that night, Moniz’s passion for the game served as a reminder that poker is no longer just a man’s game.

“I still love my home game because there’s no rake and all of us [are] learning to sharpen our swords against each other,” Moniz said. “But it was a nice refreshing change from being the only woman among men and to being one among many other good, women poker players.”

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