Independent Reviews

By Joe Carswald | Orlando CityBeat Writer
Posted March 23, 2005

By the time the Derby Lane Pot of Gold tournament broke down to the final three tables, Hilary Shirey's boyfriend had long ago made his way to the sidelines with the rest of us.

We stood there griping about bad beats and misplayed hands, wishing we were still in the running.
I'm sure a few of those guys standing around had to wonder how a girl could still be raking in chips when they weren't.

But there was Shirey, a 27-year-old residential real-estate appraiser, still playing in one of the largest poker tournaments ever held in Florida.

Not only was Shirey one of four women to make it into the money, she was the last player standing.
She won it all, taking home a gold-plated trophy and a $5,000 first prize.

To get there, she survived seven hours of no-limit Texas Hold 'em and outlasted 449 other players.

Don't fool yourself, guys. Poker is no longer just a cigar-chomping, beer guzzling boys night.

The ladies are closing ranks, fast.

Shirey, who has been playing since she was 16, says sometimes men will talk down to her, as if she needs help understanding the game.

"That is until I beat them," she said.

By the time the St. Petersburg tournament got down to heads-up play, the crowd was decidedly split.
The women were cheering on Shirey and the men in the crowd were pulling for the last guy left.

He might as well have been a sitting duck.

Shirey, who lives in Polk County, didn't luck into this win.

She's the daughter of professional poker player Hilbert Shirey, who in December won the pot-limit Omaha event at the Bellagio's Five-Diamond Classic.
That win paid dad $109,000.

Jeff Gamber, manager of Derby Lane's card room, was impressed with Shirey's game.

"She had moments of aggressive play and knew when to pull back," Gamber said.
"She won several hands without ever having to show her cards, just by the way she bet."

Out of the 450 entrants, less than a quarter of them were women.

Among the four women who made it into the money was one of my poker
buddies, Suzi "Missouri" Albrecht, an Orlando Sentinel marketing rep.

She says men often treat her differently but that seems to be changing. It doesn't
hurt that many players have seen Annie Duke -- one of the top women in the game - simply destroy Phil Helmuth on ESPN's Tournament of Champions for the $2 million first prize.
 

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