Poker News

Byron Liggett

The SENECA WORLD POKER CLASSIC, Jan. 24 - Feb. 2, at the Niagara Casino, in New York, is going to be special. It promises to be one of those memorable events in which participants will declare with pride, “I Was There!”

Seneca Director of Poker Operations, Mike Gainey, one of the most experienced, well regarded Quarterbacks in The Game, has assembled a Dream Team. At key positions are Super Stars Matt Savage, instrumental in the success of Bay 101, particularly it’s acclaimed “Shooting Star Tournament”, and David Lamb, another of Poker’s MVP’s, who took the Reno Hilton program to the top.

Tournament Director Carlee Hunter is one of the Game’s premier Umpires. She keeps the players in line and the action on time.

This columnist is proud to be invited to write and produce the Daily Tournament Newsletter for the Classic. Each edition will report on who’s who, what’s what, where it’s at, where it went, and who got it. It will capture the culture, color and characters that will distinguish the World Classic and make it a unique experience for all who attend.

Seneca intends to win the tournament playoffs by establishing the World Classic as one of the foremost events in Pokerdom. A lot of legends have already signed-up, including Men “The Master”, Tom McEvoy, and Oklahoma Johnny Hale, to mention only a few. These are The Rulers of The Game; the ones you measure yourself by. So come and get fitted.

A handsome new hotel will welcomeparticipants. And hey, if you lose everything you own, Niagara Falls is nearby. LIPS sounds like a sexy acronym. It is. It’s the “Ladies International Poker Series”. And the lady with the LIPS is the brilliant, vivacious, energetic Lupe Soto.

Lupe may be the Joan of Arc of Poker. Through her passion for the game, her spirit for organization, and her knowledge of computer technology, she’s on the verge of making women’s poker as big as women’s golf, maybe bigger.

In just two years, Lupe has launched LIPS, the women’s poker tour, created women’s poker leagues, established an online poker club for ladies called “Poker Chix”, and is about to stage a “U.S. Ladies’ Poker Championship” in which the winners of state championships will compete for the national title.

Lupe markets LIPS ladies-only tournaments to casinos across the country. Important poker tournaments like to feature a ladies event. Now, they just contact Lupe. She has the respect and affection (and contact info) of women poker players coast-to-coast. When Lupe smacks her LIPS, women show up.

The Wildhorse Resort & Casino, in Pendleton OR, featured a LIPS event as part of its “Fall Poker Round-up”. Despite being in the northeast corner of the state surrounded by wheat farms and open range, 150 women warriors came when Lupe called.

The LIPS ladies were also part of the recent “Fall Poker Tournament” at the Peppermill, in Reno. So many women came for the ladies-only No-Limit event that the casino looked like a “Flop House”.

Caesars’, Hollywood Park, Paris Las Vegas, Bay 101, and Harrahs, including the WSOP, all feature LIPS events at their important poker tournaments.

Women have been flirting with the game for the past couple of years. Asked why she thought Poker was becoming so popular with women, Lupe explained, “We discovered that in a poker game, the weaker sex is anyone with the secondbest hand.”

Women and Poker Tournament Directors may contact her at: LIPSTour.

Filed under: Poker News