In the finale at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, CA, last night, Vanessa Rousso took down the World Poker Tour’s Ladies’ Night invitational tournament for charity while the poker community also bade farewell to WTP anchor Kimberly Lansing.
The players in the tournament – Rousso, Lansing, Liz Lieu, Lily Kiletto, Jessica Dawley and LIPS tournament qualifier Sunny Chen – all started with 250,000 in chips and Rousso took the wheel quickly. She check-raised Lieu off a pot to push her stack up to 412K on the second hand of the night and would take three more over the first ten hands. She continued this aggression as the next ten hands played out, leaving the other ladies on the felt trying to keep Rousso in check.
While Rousso maintained the lead, the other women took turns doubling through each other. Lansing would get a double through Rousso, but it barely put a dent in Rousso’s stack as play wore into the night. The first elimination was Chen, who got her chips in against Lieu and Rousso but came out on the wrong end of a Q-9-8-4-7 board with her A-9. Lieu, who flopped a set of eights, would knock her out and double through Rousso to get back in the match.
Lansing was the next to go only six hands later. Racing against Rousso’s A-3 with her pocket tens, Lansing was dismayed to see the flop bring an Ace to put Rousso in the lead. No ten would come on the turn or river to keep Lansing around a bit longer as she exited the tournament in fifth place.
Rousso continued to pound on the table as she send Lieu out in fourth place when her Q-J caught on the river against Lieu’s A-8 to steal the hand. Rousso would then send the final table to a heads up fight when she vanquished Kiletto in third place, her pocket nines catching an unnecessary set on the flop against Kiletto’s Q-10.
Down to heads up, Rousso held almost a 300K chip lead over Dawley and she continued to steamroll the felt. Over the 32-hand heads up match, Rousso took down an astounding 24 of those hands. On the final deal, Rousso led out with a min-raise and Dawley pushed all in over the top. Rousso calmly made the call and tabled a leading A-K over Dawley’s K-6. The flop brought some interest, 8-7-4, but another eight and an Ace on the river sealed the tournament for Rousso in the charitable event.
1. Vanessa Rousso
2. Jessica Dawley
3. Lily Kiletto
4. Liz Lieu
5. Kimberly Lansing
6. Sunny Chen
While raising money for the ladies’ charitable causes was the main goal of the night, it was also a celebration of Lansing’s time with the WPT. Taking over the WPT anchor chair in 2010, Lansing was the first female to have a prominent role in a poker presentation (in the past, ladies have been sideline reporters or “hostesses,” for the most part). “Kimberly will always be a part of the WPT family, even if she’s no long sitting in the anchor’s chair,” WPT President Adam Pliska commented. “We’re saddened by her departure as Kim helped define the anchor role and elevate the World Poker Tour episodes to another level.”
Taking Lansing’s place in the anchor booth will be recent WPT Alpha8 anchor hire Lynn Gilmartin, who will be doing double duty between Alpha8 and the regular WPT tournament events. “We’re thrilled that Lynn is able to step in and carry on the tradition of providing the expertise and fun Kim has brought to our events and broadcasts over the past few years,” Pliska said.
Gilmartin was understandably humbled by her new position. “Joining the WPT team for Alpha8 was a dream come true,” Gilmartin said upon taking the seat at the Legends of Poker for her first anchoring broadcast. “Kimberly is someone I’ve admired since I first started working in poker and now, to follow her on the WPT? I have some huge shoes to fill and am overwhelmingly honored to be given this opportunity.”
With the Ladies’ Night event in the books – and the sad bon voyage to Lansing issued – the WPT will look to get back to the tables next week. The Borgata Poker Open at the namesake casino in Atlantic City, NJ, will kick off on September 15. If past performance at this tournament is an indication, expect another massive field as the WPT invades the East Coast for one of its top events.
