Upcoming WPT Ladies Night V: Who should/will be @ the table?

[J.C. Gloves]

Ok I was looking @ the upcoming Live Tournaments calender and I saw that this was coming up soon again on the WPT. I didn't wanna forget about it so time to post :b. I agree that watching the ladies play can be mind-numbing sometimes, but who should be @ the table is up for debate amirite?

Last year they chose the players based on merit, so if they continue to do this I think I have the table picked out. Given that there have been no repeat players except for the winners this is what I came up with after a lil research (including results/stats):

First, Honorable mentions-
Jennifer "Jennicide" Leigh: 45th/466 @ '06 Legends ($15,530)
Esther Rossi: 44th/349 @ '06 Mandalay Bay ($13,440)
Jolyn Thompson: 18th/294 @ '07 World Poker Open [Tunica] ($22,850)
Melissa Hayden: 80th/639 @ '07 WPT Championship ($46,410)



Here is the actual table (Well, what I think/want anyway):
1-Joanne "J.J" Liu

The first seat is always reserved for the defending champion, but J.J. definitely could have earned her spot if she had to. She finished 2nd/450 to Ted Forrest @ '07 Bay 101 Shooting Star for $600K. J.J. is due to give birth in late August so she may end up skipping this...

2-Brandi Hawbaker

Let's face it, we all wanna see her, we all wanna make fun of her and we all wanna critique her play; but she did turn one satellite win into a cash on the WPT. 35th/433 @ '06 Festa Al Lago ($20,875)

3-Anna Wroblewski

Her story is tailor-made for TV and her record in just a short amount of time speaks for itself. She did finish 70th/639 @ the '07 WPT Championship ($46,410) to qualify for this just in time BTW.

4-Mimi Tran

Mimi has been around a while, but she doesn't go out of her way to get noticed. She just lets her results do the talking, and Barry G. of course. I think the one in bold should be enough:
20th/433 @ '06 Festa Al Lago ($33,395)
3rd/609 @ '06 World Poker Finals [Foxwoods] ($472,228)
24th/475 @ '07 World Poker Challenge [Reno] ($11,391)

5-Kristy Gazes

Kristy has been on fire this year cashing left and right. If there was a big buy-in tourney going on, chances are she was going deep in it:
29th/384 @ '06 Mirage ($16,647)
49th/349 @ '06 Mandalay Bay ($13,440)
42nd/583 @ '06 Five-Diamond ($33,830)
16th/791 @ '07 LAPC ($58,470)

6-Qualifier~The Bike has always reserved this seat to the winner of the Ladies tournament held during Legends. So who will be the next Kelli Griggs...? [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Plzplzplz WPT make this happen kthx [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[stryker1313]

I like your picks but I think you have to put Katia Thjater over Hawbaker as only woman to get a bracelet this year.

[J.C. Gloves]

[ QUOTE ]
I like your picks but I think you have to put Katia Thjater over Hawbaker as only woman to get a bracelet this year.

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I'd love to see Katja play, but the "merit" is from the previous WPT season so sadly she wouldn't qualify.

Maybe if J.J. doesn't play they can put her in [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].

[olivert]

Melissa Hayden actually cashed for nearly $90K during WPT Season V.

If you were to full the at-large spots based on Season V earnings, and to exclude those who have already played in previous ladies nights, the list wold look like this:

Mimi Tran
Kristy Gazes
Melissa Hayden
Laura Fink (Cashed over 50K at Tunica)

Anna Wroblewski, at 46K, would miss the cut.

--

There is a major Chinese Cold War-Era "political" issue with regards to the defending champion.

(Neither WPTE nor I were fully aware of the extent of the issue until a Chinese-language newspaper reporter in San Francisco brought up the issue to my attention after WPT Bay 101.)

If WPTE ever wants to seek a partnership with the Taiwan Ministry of Finance to be the exclusive online poker partner in Taiwan sometime in the future (i.e. after the 2008 general election, when the current ruling DPP party, whose leader was the lawyer of the defending champion, is expected to lose big against the original ruling KMT party due to an ongoing corruption scandal), then WPTE may potentially jeopardize its future business prospects in Taiwan if WPTE were to do any more business with the defending champion...

(Hint: do a Google search of the defending champion's name in Chinese characters, and you will know what I mean. And yes, WPTE officials are aware of the serious nature of what took place 20 years ago and what can potentially happen in the future depending on what action WPTE were to take with regards to the defending champion.)

[Dima2000123]

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(Hint: do a Google search of the defending champion's name in Chinese characters, and you will know what I mean.)


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Thanks, that makes everything clear.

[Bonified]

Yeah, someone's got an issue with the defending champion.

(Hint: Do a 2+2 search of olivert, J.J Liu and agents getting their ass fired. English characters are fine).

[JoeyStalin]

According to wikipedia, in 1987, JJ Liu was involved in a financial dispute with a Chinese Air Force Pilot who had defected to South Korea in 1982. Older versions of the page also talk about a sexual element to the scandal. My guess is, because of her notoriety in this scandal, JJ is wortless to Full Tilt Poker or the WPT in Asia.

From wiki :
[ QUOTE ]
On October 16, 1982, PLAAF pilot Wu Ronggen flew his Shenyang J-6 from Wendeng to South Korean K16 air base in Seoul. Wu was rewarded 4,000 taels (approximately 200 kg) of gold. In 1987, Wu made headlines because he was involved in a financial dispute with Ms. Liu Jishun and the media claimed that this was part of the reason that after his honorable discharge from the Republic of China Air Force as a major, Wu emigrated to the United States. Wu was eventually married to Ms. Jiang Yuehui . (Note: Ms. Liu Jishun also emigrated to the United States, where she would become known in the world of professional tournament poker as Joanne J.J. Liu.)

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[NickMPK]

Is J.J. Liu the same person mentioned in "Positively Fifth Street" as "J.J. Bortner"? The description of Bortner sounds exactly like Liu, but if Liu is married to Dan Alspach, what is the story here?

[Texter]

Here are my nominees, after spending hours taking pics of fat guys...your eye starts to wander:

[jogsxyz]

[ QUOTE ]
Melissa Hayden actually cashed for nearly $90K during WPT Season V.

If you were to full the at-large spots based on Season V earnings, and to exclude those who have already played in previous ladies nights, the list wold look like this:

Mimi Tran
Kristy Gazes
Melissa Hayden
Laura Fink (Cashed over 50K at Tunica)

Anna Wroblewski, at 46K, would miss the cut.




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The qualifications standards are arbitrary. The WPTE could include secondary events at the WPT site. Then Schoenberg and Wroblewski would both qualify.