The best female poker players have a date in London this October 3-6 for Party Poker’s second Women’s World Poker Open.
Just like last year, the Women’s World open will admit 36 players from across the world, provided they are willing to fork over the $3,000 buy-in to create a $108,000 prize pool. Last year saw British poker pro Bev Pace taking the crown and $50,000 after a fierce battle against another Brit, young poker player and blogger Jen Mason. Both players are expected back this year, along with former European Ladies champion Jackie Meecham, former PartyPoker.com World Open winner Pippa Flanders, Late Night Poker finalist Maria Demetriou, Xuyen “Bad Girl” Pham and comedienne Lucy Porter. The American contingent last year included poker (and Hollywood) stars Liz Lieu, Jennifer Tilly and Shannon Elizabeth. It has not been confirmed yet whether they will be attending this year and trying to take the crown to the other side of the Atlantic.
Party Poker’s second all-female event will be again produced by Matchroom Sport, one of the world’s largest suppliers of sports programming since 1982. Eddie Hearn, Head of Online Gaming at Matchroom Sport, looks forward to the second edition of the Women’s World Open: “The PartyPoker.com Women’s World Open was a big hit last year and we’re delighted to see it coming back for its second year. It is one of the most popular events in the eyes of international broadcasters.”
The event will be filmed for broadcast – it will play in the UK on Channel Five next year, and later be distributed worldwide. The action will be commented by popular poker expert Jesse May, Matchroom Sport’s in-house poker expert.
There is often a debate regarding women-only poker tournaments – while Annie Duke has pronounced herself against them, current World Open Champ Bev Pace sees them as a good way to get more women in poker: “Women’s tournaments are good for getting more ladies interested in poker. The standard is no different to a mixed sex game but they do encourage some to come forward who wouldn’t do otherwise.”
The second annual PartyPoker.com Women’s World Open will be played at 3 Mills Studios in London, UK between Friday 3rd October 2008 and Monday 6th October 2008.
