The Ladies International Poker Series (LIPS) Tour has been credited with expanding the numbers of women coming to the sport of poker. At each World Series of Poker Circuit stop last year and continuing into this season, the LIPS Tour was able to conduct tournaments that attracted a huge number of female competitors. Along with those events and the resulting awards of seats in the World Series, it helped to drive the Ladies No Limit Hold 'Em Event at the World Series (which broke all previous records with 601 players) to a hugely successful level. Now the LIPS Tour wants to bring even more women into the game.
It was announced August 9th that a new division of the LIPS Tour has been created to draw women into the game outside of and including the conventional casino setting. Called Ladies' Poker Night, the new division will encourage women to play poker in a league type setting. The points that are earned in the league play will assist many women into making it to Las Vegas in May 2006 to play in the LIPS Tour Grand Championship, to be held at Binion's Gambling Hall & Hotel.
Players can earn points in the Ladies' Poker Night division by playing in a multitude of settings. With the explosive success of free tavern and restaurant leagues, Ladies' Poker Night allows women to earn points toward earning their way into the Grand Championship in that setting. There is another way to make inroads into the Ladies' Poker Night via online poker rooms. Even home games get their due by encouraging groups of women to play in a home setting and earning points.
There is a website (ladiespokernight.com) that helps to explain how all women poker players can get involved. The concept of the league and the website has been described as "innovative" by successful LIPS Tour circuit player Michelle Rovello. "I believe Ladies' Poker Night will replace many of the "women" activities of old," Rovello said. "It's innovative because it gives ladies the opportunity to get together, play poker anywhere and offers a seat into a major tournament like the LIPS Grand Championship. Where else are you going to find that?"
Lupe Soto, the director and founder of the LIPS Tour, added, "There are a great number of women living in areas where casino poker isn't available. With the Ladies' Poker Night program, they can gather a group in their own homes or businesses and play, even if a casino hosting one of our events isn't close to them. We want all women to be able to participate in the LIPS Tour, the only poker tour for women in the world!"
The website is very well done and presents the nuts and bolts of how women can organize themselves to be eligible for the Ladies' Poker Night program. If there are some ladies who cannot get a group together, there are also options given so they can get into an already established league. Online, home and business leagues are encouraged to participate, as well as any land based casinos that don't already host a LIPS Tour event.
One of the things that has been constantly noted is the lack of female participants in tournament poker. It is estimated that, of the 5,661 players at the Main Event of the World Series this year, barely five percent were women. The LIPS Tour has been commended for bringing many women into the game and enabling them to become comfortable in a tournament setting, thus helping to bring the sport of poker to a missed segment of the world. With the added attraction of the Ladies' Poker Night program, the number of women can only increase even further! For more information on the Ladies' Poker Night program and how to get your league started, be sure to check out the website at ladiespokernight.com.
Ed Note: Gaming Club are the online sponsors to the LIPS tour, and we think you should support them
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