Born in Long Island, New York in 1953, Linda Johnson moved every three years as a child due to her father’s military career. After high school, Linda worked at the Post Office and quickly moved up through the ranks. When she turned 21, Linda began traveling to Las Vegas and playing blackjack. Her father convinced her that if she wanted to gamble, she should learn to play poker since it was the one game that was not played against the house and was beatable. 

             

Born in Queens, NY, Cyndy Violette relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada when she was twelve years old. The first time Cyndy played in a casino was when she was pregnant with her daughter, and followed with a few short stints as a blackjack and poker dealer.    

Cyndy won a 7-Card Stud tournament at the Golden Nugget casino, taking home $74,000, which, at the time, was the largest amount of money ever won by a woman in a scheduled tournament.           

  

Cycalona Gowen, better known as Clonie, was raised in Kiowa, Oklahoma. A high school athlete, she was ranked seventh in high jump and belonged to the state championship basketball team. Clonie also became Miss Teen McAlester, Oklahoma when she was fifteen. 

  

While living in Dallas, Clonie would drive to Louisiana on the weekends to play poker and discovered a natural ability for the game. She became known to the poker community after placing in the top ten at the WPT Costa Rica Classic, and won the World Poker Tour Ladies’ Night Event in 2003, beating world-class players such as Annie Duke and Jen Harman. 

Annie Duke, regarded by many as one of the top female poker players in the world, is releasing her new book ‘How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed, and won millions' this week.  

Not intended to be an instructional book on the game of poker, Annie instead writes about growing up in a competitive household alongside brother Howard Lederer, her marriage (and divorce), and winning her first WSOP bracelet. The book is written in a ‘cutaway’ style, continually jumping from present day to the past. 

If you are interested in hearing Annie Duke’s life story in her own words, the book will be available on September 8 in stores everywhere. 

The WSOP Circuit Tournament continued its run and made a stop at Harrah's Casino in Las Vegas. Action started yesterday with the LIPS Ladies only event. If you are not familiar with LIPS, it's an acronym for Ladies International Poker Series. LIPS is an organization that promotes tournament poker for women. The buy in was $200 + $30 and 126 lovely ladies entered the tournament for a chance to win almost $23,000 in prize money. In the end, Dorothy Canada emerged as the winner after she beat out Kim Austin heads up. Dorothy Canada won $8,260 for first place. Event # 2 starts today and it's a $500 buy in No Limit event. Make sure you read Flipchip's recap over at Las Vegas and Poker Blog.

Jennifer Tilly did it again! She won a World Poker Tour event this time. It was their Ladies Night event and it happened a couple of days ago at the Bicycle Casino in California. This was a WPT invitational so the event was restricted. One of the invited players included last year's defending champion, Isabelle Mercier. First place prize in this event was a $25,000 seat into the WPT World Championship at the end of the season. Besides Jennifer and Isabelle, the other competitors included Marsha Waggoner, Cecelia Mortensen, Lilly Elvir, and London Gallagher. The WPT Ladies Night 3 will air Saturday, October 22nd at 8 p.m. EST on the Travel Channel.

Two Plus Two Internet Magazine interviewed two time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, Jennifer Harman. She took the time out of her busy schedule and answered thirty questions on a variety of topics ranging from her favorite Las Vegas casino to bankroll management and winning a WSOP bracelet against Lyle Berman. Jennifer Harman can be frequently seen playing in "Bobby's Room" located in the poker room at the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas. She's a regular in the "Big Game" against Doyle Brunson, Chau Giang, Johnny Chan,  Barry Greenstein, Phil Ivey, and Bobby Baldwin. One year ago she had a successful kidney transplant and despite some serious health issues, she's fully recovered. She's at the top of her game. She cashed five times at this year's WSOP and even made a final table in Seven-card Stud Hi/Lo. Most recently, she made the money and took 61st place at the Legends of Poker at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. You can visit her website at http://www.jenniferharman.com/.

I figure since I’m not playing poker right now (see last post) I may as well wax poetic about some other happenings with my career. (And speaking of my last post, I appreciate the nice comment from Paris. I was a teensy bit apprehensive about scribing such a brazen post.) Undoubtedly the most exciting thing right now is my induction into the Circle of Outlaws. The COO is a handpicked group of up and coming poker players guided by poker superstar Marcel Luske. I am thrilled to not only be part of such a troupe, but the only woman! Check us out at Circle of Outlaws for more info!

Also, I am in the process of building my website, which has turned out to be so much more work than I ever imagined! EricaSchoenberg.com should be live soon, so stay tuned!

I’m just going to put it out there – I am suffering from a nasty case of PMS. In fact, as I write this, my Napster playlist is pumping out some seriously angst ridden chick rock that would usually NEVER grace my speakers. I am so NOT on my A-game that I won’t play poker. It’s like I’ve been beaten by the ADD/sensitivity stick; I can’t focus on a darn thing and when I do, I just want to cry. I just cannot play during my period, period. The one positive thing about this is realizing my strength in the form of recognizing my weakness. I know that my game would be terrible so I’m not playing until I regain my mojo. More players should know when to say no. Anyway, here’s my ultra-weird playlist.

Well, the past two weeks have been crazier than Tom Cruise, but I'm back! I have a lot to recap from my San Manuel experience to my two trips to Vegas. Rather than go in chronological order, I'll begin with something a little more recent. (OK, I really just need vent about something!) 

I generally try not to blame my poker losses on bad beats. Unfortunately, they happen all the time - it's just a part of the game. (In fact, after my most recent "bad beat" I was waxing poetic with Michael "Grinder" Mizrachi, who told me just to move on. That's all you can do. But I'm getting ahead of myself!)

There is a Women's Poker Convention being held August 12-14 at the MGM.  Jennifer Harman, Barbara Enright, and Susie Isaacs are the big names being touted a longer list of speakers. There will be panel discussions (though they don't name the topics), a welcome address by Lou Krieger, and a tournament on the last day. Again, not enough info because I couldn't even find what the cash prize would be. They are, however, giving a publicity kit, professional photo session, a profile in Woman Poker Player, and a private tutoring session with a professional player.

I'm a bit disappointed in this because I think the idea is a good one, but $450 seems high. I'd rather see a one day seminar for less money that attracts more women. Oh, and $450 is the cheaper price for registering by July 12.

After a rather disappointing fireworks display at the beach in LA (thanks to the darn marine layer) I'm off to light it up in Vegas. My flight leaves early tomorrow, so I'll get there just in time to have lunch with one of my favorite professional female poker players. Stay tuned to find out who she is, why she loves poker and how she got to be oh so good! Back to Los Angeles on Thursday with sordid details of WSOP and more!

 
"It's been an amazing ride...better than an oscar," she exclaimed after beating Ann Le, Carolyn Ancheta, and Cecilia Mortensen at the final table on Monday. "I'm hooked on poker. I'm not going to stop till I lose all the money I've won."

Tilly, a popular Hollywood actress,  credited her boyfriend Phil Laak for teaching her everything she knows about poker. In the ESPN interview that followed her win, Tilly was stunning for the camera. The photographers didn't want to stop shooting her, and it's easy to see she's going to be a great ambassador for bringing more women to poker.

Here is the full coverage on the event...

Video of Jennifer Tilly and event results  [Card Player]
"Jennifer Tilly Wins WSOP Ladies Event" [Las Vegas and Poker Blog]
"Jennifer Tilly Plays a New Role..." [Poker News]
"Monday, June 27, 2005" [Tao of Poker]

The Financial Times ran an article today by and about Isabelle Mercier. Much like a self interview, "Queen of the Pack" tells Isabelle's story. I was already impressed when I saw her finish 28th out of 453 players at the Bellagio Five-Star Classic last month. But after reading this article I'm triple-y impressed. That means very very very. Isabelle has been playing poker since she was four, traded being a lawyer for a dealer at l'Aviation Club de Paris, and thrives on living out of a suitcase for the tournament player's lifestyle.

When she's not playing in a tournament she's playing online at PokerStars, meditating or reading. Isabelle goes on to describe a few accounts of how men have treated her at the table, and it's interesting. Mostly, she doesn't let men intimidate her and plays aggressively. On marriage and kids, Isabelle said this, "I've got no interest in settling down, in marriage and children. I did have a relationship with another poker player but I kept beating him. In the end, he couldn't take it. Winning killed the affair."

Oh Amber, you just had to ask, didn't you? Yes folks, it's Battle of the Sexes time. Amber from Kentucky University asked John the "Poker Counselor" Carlisle at PokerNews.com if he thought women were better players than guys. Back against the wall, John said.....yes. Generally speaking, of course. Why? "Let's face it gentlemen, they have many characteristics that we often lack that helps them in their poker career," the PC started. He sites womens' undertanding of human emotionality, their natural tendency to be observant, and their accuracy at judging people as some of the reasons to back up his answer.

"They would be more accurate (in the long run) of judging if opponents liked their hands, loved their hands, or hated their hands. Likewise, women are more able to keep from tilting. Women like to take time to think things through. We men are likely to react."