‘Freshman’
Wins Ladies
“I’m just a freshman,” said Cuiling
Zhang, after winning the two-day Ladies
Poker Party event. Indeed. She’s been
playing low-limit poker for only five
months and this was only her second tournament
and first no-limit event. She was coached
by her poker pro husband, William Tran,
whose most important advice was not to
play medium cards. So she won the last
hand of the tournament with 4-3.
Her
final opponent was the boisterous and
far-more-experienced Zaynab Mogadam, who
sometimes goes by the nom de guerre of
Xena the warrior princess. She tried to
run over Zhang, but the Chinese-born housewife
wasn’t unnerved and just played her cards.
By
winning this event, Zhang becomes the
final of six women slotted for the WPT
Ladies Night Out Invitational, to be filmed
here tomorrow. The seats are worth $25,000
each.
The
final table for his tournament started
with $300 antes and blinds of $1,000-$2,000,
8:11 left. Zhang started with a very big
lead of $89,500, her closest rival being
Kim Sugden with $35,800.
The
first player went out after blinds went
to $1,500-$3,000 with $500 antes. Ruth
Graham moved in with Ah-Kh. Pwint Zaw
called with A-J and Kimiyo Takeya also
called all in for about $8,000 with Jd-8d.
When the board came Q-J-6-8-7, Takeya
took the main pot and tripled up with
two pair, Zaw took the side pot with her
paired jack and Graham cashed out in 10th
place.
Mogadam
was down to $1,000 when she was in the
big blind with just 6-5, but flopped a
six to outrun Zaw, who moved in with Jc-Kc.
“I’m back, don’t mess with me,” the warrior
princess warned. Cecilia de Mortensen
is the wife of former WSOP world champion
Carlos Mortensen and an accomplished player
in her own right. Among her tournament
cash-outs is a $58,000 win in limit hold’em
at Tunica. She is as quiet and demure
as Mogadam is talkative. Down to $11,500,
she moved in with Q-10. Teresa Solmes
called with Ad-7d and left de Mortensen
in ninth place when the board came A-10-9-8-3.
These
ladies were not afraid to mix it up. There
were 10 all-ins in the first 15 hands.
On hand 15 there was three-way action.
Amanda Glogow moved in for $5,000 with
8-4 and was called by Sugden and Zaw.
When the flop came 5-4-3, Sugden moved
in with A-3 and got heads up with Glogow.
Sugden caught a third trey on the river,
and Glogow cashed out eighth.
Blinds
moved up to $2,000-$4,000 with $1,000
antes. On hand 21, Solmes moved in for
$30,000 with Ad-2d and was in big trouble
when Zhang called with As-Ks. Solmes had
hopes when the flop came Qd-10d-3s. “Diamond!
Diamond!” she called out. The poker gods
weren’t listening. It came Spade! Spade!
Zhang had the flush and Solmes retired
in seventh place.
Mogadam
survived with another draw-out on the
next hand. She tried a steal, moving in
with 9-2, got called by Zaw with A-4 and
won when a 9 turned. “Yes!” she exclaimed,
planting a kiss on the dealer. Continuing
to catch cards, Zhang made another kill
on hand 26. After Zaw opened for $10,000
with A-3, Sugden and Zhang called. Zaw
moved in on a flop of 7-5-4 and Zhang,
with A-6, called with an open-end straight
draw. The open-end closed when a trey
turned, and Zaw finished sixth. “You’re
the terminator,” Mogadam said to Zhang.
Mogadam
was the terminator a couple of hands later.
She went all in with A-4 and Takeya called
all in with pocket treys. A board of Q-10-6-A-8
gave Mogadam aces, and the table was now
down to four players.
Vanessa Tran is a dealer coordinator at
the Bicycle Casino. Right after blinds
became $3,000-$6,000 with $1,000 antes,
she went out against Mogadam, K-J versus
K-Q.
Mogadam’s
big hand of the night came after she moved
in for $42,500 with 10-9 and Zhang called
with A-7. In another draw-out, Mogadam
won when a 9 flopped. After
a couple of uncalled all-in moves, the
warrior princess had moved up to $108,000
to $148,000 for Zhang and $26,000 for
Sugden. Xena then disposed of Sugden.
She moved in again with Q-J and Sugden
called all in for $25,000 with J-9. The
board of A-10-8-A-4 didn’t alter things.
Sugden cashed out third and Mogadam was
in a virtual tie with Zhang.
After
nine hands heads-up, Mogadam took a big
lead, about $160,000 to $110,000, when
she made two pair to outrun Zhang’s paired
10. Tournament director Denny Williams
then suggested they chop the tournament,
with each appearing for alternating half
hours for the filming, but they ignored
him. As play continued, Zhang pulled even
again when she flopped a queen to her
A-Q to beat Mogadam’s pocket 9s After
pulling ahead, Zhang took it all on the
25th hand heads-up. On a board of 7-3-4-Q,
Mogadam moved in with Q-5. But Zhang,
with 4c-3c, had flopped two pair, and
she was ready for TV.
BIOGRAPHY
Cuiling
Zhang, whose nickname is Lavinna, once
worked at an accounting firm, is now retired
as a housewife. Her husband, a high-limit
side game player, got her into poker five
months ago and she’s been learning by
watching his play. It was his idea for
her to play in this event, only her second
tournament, and she agreed because she
thought it would be fun. She found the
tournament “exciting,” especially playing
against Mogadam. She had played against
the warrior princess earlier, and was
prepared for her aggressiveness and tendency
to bluff, so she just played her cards
and hoped to get lucky. “I was not intimidated,”
she said.
Tonight
she had plenty of chips throughout the
tournament and was never in trouble. “There
were no exciting hands,” she said. “I
just tried to do my best.” What about
playing 4-3 on the last hand when her
husband warned her not to play medium
cards? “But they were suited,” she explained.
Max Shapiro
|
