MANNING COMES UP JUST SHORT

TUNICA, MS – Donna Jetter is the 2009-2010 Harrah’s Tunica WSOP Circuit Ladies Event Champion.

While a severe regional ice storm forced the closure of area schools, libraries and other public services through Monday, the ladies event attracted a modest field of 162 non-males, each vying to become the 2009/2010 Harrah’s Tunica Circuit Ladies Event Champion.

Unlike at a recent WSOP Circuit event, the men in Tunica recognized the importance of keeping a Ladies-Only event strictly for the ladies, and as such the all-woman field could focus solely on the task at hand -- winning the tournament.

12 players returned on Day Two and after an hour of play, three players were elminiated, setting the following final table.

Final table action got underway shortly after 2:00 pm. Sherri Hollis moved her short stack all-in preflop with     and got a call from Louraine Roberts, who showed    . Dominated, Hollis fell farther behind after Roberts flopped top pair kings. A benign turn and river resulted in the first elimination of the final table. Hollis, a home health agency administrator from Pomona, MO, collected $606 after her fourth WSOP Circuit final table appearance.

A few hands later, Louraine Roberts raised preflop to 33,000 under the gun, Deborah Woit got the rest of her chips in from the small blind and Roberts made the call. Woit was left needing help with     vs. Roberts’     on an       flop. A nine on the turn and river ace was the end of Woit’s run. .Eighth paid $716.

Karen Massey soon moved her 45,000-chip short stack all in from the small blind with     while Donna Jetter called from the big with J-Q suited. A queen along with two clubs on the flop and a   on the turn left Massey looking for a river ace or club. Neither materialized and Massey was eliminated. Massey is a captain in the United States Air Force. She earned $882.

Marie Hernandez of Pueblo, CO was the sixth place finisher. Despite coming into the final table second in chips, she took a few blows to her chip stack, ultimately busting on an all-in with A-10 vs. Jetter’s A-J. Sixth paid $1,322.

Roberts made it 50,000 to go from the cutoff before Jennifer Embrey moved all-in from the button. Roberts called with    , but was an underdog to Embrey’s pocket kings. The jack-high board wasn’t enough for Roberts, ending her bid for the pendant. The insurance agent from Talladega, AL picked up $1,762.

After a flop of      , Jennifer Embrey fired out 25,000. Jetter raised to 115,000. Embrey went over the top all-in and Jetter called. Embrey showed     for middle pair while Jetter turned over     with an open-ended straight draw. The turn was a seven, giving Embrey two pair, but completing Jetter’s straight.

A   on the river sent Embrey out in fourth for a $2,202 payday.

After real estate appraiser Lisa Craven was eliminated all-in with A-8 vs. Anne Manning’s A-J, heads-up was between Manning with 1 million in chips and Jetter with 600,000. Jetter went to work, bleeding Manning’s stack to just below 400,000. The final hand saw the two all-in with Manning showing     and Jetter turning over    . The board came         , giving Jetter the win. Jetter pocketed $7,091 for first along with the gold WSOP Circuit Event ladies pendant. Manning collected $4,367 for second.

The 2009/2010 Harrah’s Tunica WSOP Ladies Circuit Event champion was still shaking a bit as she made her way to the payout table.

"I’m pretty nervous, excited," she said.

Jetter is a poker dealer from Nashville, TN and has been playing poker for two years.

She notes that for her, women’s events are a lot harder than open events because it is harder to put women on a hand.

"You can read em’ a little better," Jetter said about playing against men. "You can tell if they got the hand or not."

However, Jetter says her observation has more to do with experience rather than gender.

"A lot of women playing in ladies events are new to poker and they tend to chase more hands down to the river."

Still to come are 7 more events and single-day non-ring $125, $230 and $340 buy-in events which begin at 4 pm and 7pm. The WSOP Circuit at Harrah’s Tunica runs through February 10th.