Pippa Flanders Kicks Ass At Poker World Open

As one of only two women in the field of over 70 UK, American and European poker stars gathering for the Party Poker World Open II, Pippa Flanders, a UK mother of two who began playing poker professionally in 2002, was considered a non-factor - a "fish" in the parlance of poker. But it was a donkey that Pippa rode to the $200,000 victory, stunning the world of poker.

Flanders, from Preston in the UK, kept 'Eemore', her 22-year-old daughter's cuddly stuffed toy donkey at the table as a good luck charm and it clearly gave her the luck she sought as she seemingly made the big name pros look like donkeys.

Flanders beat a whole host of top names to the $200,000 first prize including Tony G, Roland De Wolfe, Marc Goodwin, Tony Bloom, Kenna James, Harry Demetriou and last year's champion Lee Nelson, to claimed one of the biggest prizes ever collected by a European female player.

"To have been one of only two women who entered amongst over 70 entrants and to have won it is simply unbelievable and wonderful. Go girls!" exuded Flanders, who is mother to Charlotte, 22 and Christopher, 25. "I had a fantastic time playing the game and it was such a wonderful ending that I had always hoped for, but never expected. I still can't believe I beat all those top names to the title. It really is a dream come true."

Flanders largest payday to date had been $26,079 at the 2004 European Poker Championship. Most recently she finished fifth in July at the Women's Poker Tour in east London. Her total career tournament earnings amounted to only $42,000 over four years. She and her husband Tim are both pros trying to make a living playing the European circuit. She considers Tim, whose total career earnings are approximately $240,000, a far better player. But it was Flanders, formerly the company director of the family software business, who played with the brilliance of a long-time champion in the Party Poker World Open.

In a tense final table that saw Flanders and Tony G begin as chip leaders, there were immediate fireworks as Tony G slow-played pocket kings, as did Flanders with pocket 10's. The flop came 10 J x and Tony G's 50,000 bet was immediate raised by Flanders as she moved All-In. Tony pondered and then made the call. A 10 on the turn hammered the nail into his coffin and gave Flanders more than 600,000 chips and a massive lead. Forget about Homer Simpson, this Flanders was a nightmare for her fellow pros at the final table.

Irishman Bryan Lyttle was next to go, shortly followed by online qualifier Paul Christoffersson and it was left to Flanders, Kevin Atkin and Jon Hewston to battle it out. When Hewston took care of Kevin Atkin, he took the chip lead for the first time, but after some gutsy play by Pippa, she clawed it back to even stacks. On the final hand of the tournament, Flanders picked up A7 in the small blind and Hewston called the raise with K9 of diamonds. The flop came 6,7,5 with two diamonds. Flanders moved All-In and was immediately called by Hewston. The turn came queen, the river a 5 with neither diamonds, giving Pippa two pair, and more importantly the Party Poker World Open crown.

Over 70 top players who paid a $7,000 buy-in, plus a dozen online players - some who invested as little as $10 on Party Poker online qualifiers-played down to the final six at The Poker Den in London. Some familiar British celebrities also tried to gain a seat at the table, including England rugby union star Matt Dawson; EastEnders' stars Billy Murray (Johnny Allen) and Michael Greco (Beppe di Marco); Norman Pace, actor/comedian and one half of the hit comedy team Hale and Pace; Steve Backley, three-time Olympic medalist in the javelin, and Zoe Anderson, actress, model and leading pin-up girl (The Sun, News of the World, OK).

Party Poker World Open II, which boasted a $504,000 total prize pool, has gained recognition as one of British television's best bets for thrilling poker action. Party Poker World Open is televised over 16 weeks later this year on the UK's Channel 5.

"This has been an absolutely amazing finish to a great Party Poker World Open," said a Party Poker spokesman. "It's really exciting that Pippa's victory is the first great breakthrough for European women in poker, and demonstrates the rise of women champions around the world in open poker tournaments. We congratulate Pippa and Eemore!"

Now that she has claimed her paycheck from the Party Poker World Open, Flanders says she is planning on making Eemore a fixture at all her future poker tournaments, but it seems that she will have to fight daughter Charlotte for him, who is calling her stuffed donkey home.