From PokerNews.......
BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT AS COLLINS WINS WORLD TITLE!
WOOKA ACHIEVEMENT FOR JAPANESE POKER!
Press Release
London -- 28th May 2009 – 28-year-old Aisling Collins, a television producer from Rickmansworth in the UK scooped $50,000 and the title at the
http://www.partypoker.com/ Women’s World Open III in London! Collins, whose aggressive game impressed everybody enthralled by the tournaments strongest ever final table, was in complete shock and there were nearly tears as the gravity of her achievement sunk in.
“I was so, so nervous going into this tournament but after a while I found it easy to relax and play my natural game,” said Collins. “To win this tournament means absolutely everything to me. My previous biggest poker win was in the region of $8k so this is amazing. I’m in shock, it is fantastic to win $50,000 – I just don’t know what I am going to do with it yet! One thing I do know I am going to do is get some Christian Louboutin shoes. I saw Jennifer Tilly’s and they were great!”
Collins, who has produced educational programming for Sky Poker alongside the likes of leading professional players Roland De Wolfe, Neil Channing and Marty Smyth, is also a talented online player with the potential to progress in the game, either side of the camera. She had a large fan base sweating her in the green room, on the tv show and on the online forums. She is a prominent member of the Blonde Poker Community and a member of ‘Shrewdies on Tour,’ a stable of Blonde online players led by UK pro James ‘Flushy’ Dempsey. Collins credits UK figurehead Tony ‘Tikay’ Kendall with introducing her to the game and, naturally, all the Blonde members were delighted.
“The Shrewdies went on tour to Vegas for the WSOP yesterday,” said Tikay. “They were on a flight until 9pm last night so when they landed there were messages flying around everywhere. We’re all thrilled for Ling.” Collins doesn’t intend to join her friends in Vegas, however, despite the fact that she is $50,000 better off! “It’s back to my day job,” said Collins.
Aisling was involved in a tense heads-up battle with Japan’s Kim Wooka and there were a number of swings either way before Collins came out on top. It always seemed as though Aisling was going to emerge triumphant, however. When heads-up play started Collins held a 450,000/250,000 advantage but Wooka soon clawed her way back. The decisive hand came when the blinds were 10,000/20,000. Aisling raised to 70,000 with
and was called by Kim with
10d. The flop came down
and Kim checked. Collins raised another 70,000 and Wooka went all-in. Collins calls and the
on the turn gives her the flush and victory!
28-year-old Wooka is a professional poker player from Osaka in Japan and was playing in her first major tournament in Europe. She was Japanese Ladies Champion in 2007 and cashed at the WSOP last year. She was invited to the tournament by the organizers after the Asian Poker Tour Manila back in January. “I wanted to win but I have to give credit to Aisling – she certainly wasn’t afraid to move all-in,” said Wooka. “This has been a great experience for me and fantastic exposure. Poker is just beginning in Asia – it is so important at this early stage to advertise a good image and emphasise the skill in the game.” PartyPoker.com is currently offering online qualifiers to the Asian Poker Tour Macau, more details can be found at
http://www.partypoker.com/news/items/apt_macau_2009.html Collins showed brilliant spirit and superb skill during the tournament and her aggressive play meant she had one star fan in the form of poker prodigy Annette Obrestad, who was in the commentary box. Aisling finished second place in her heat and only won her way through to the final through the last gasp runner’s up table. In that heat she was so dominant in taking out last year’s champion Soraya Homam that many regarded her as favourite at the start of the seven seat final table. Collins had two good friends on the final table in the form of Jen Mason and Maria Demetriou, both of whom have reached the final table in this event in previous years. How did she feel about busting them? “I treat my buddies well,” said a joking Collins.
The final table was the strongest in the event’s history. Jen Mason reached the final table of this tournament in its inaugural running in 2007, finishing second to Beverley Pace but, surprisingly, was first to exit even though she was one of those fancied to triumph. Out in sixth was Cat O’Neill from Belfast, who was put forward for the tournament by WSOP bracelet holder, Poker Million and PartyPoker.com World Open winner Marty Smyth. Fifth place belonged to the popular Maria ‘Chili’ Demetriou, who was gunning for a top three finish to give her a Vegas bankroll but she fell victim to her buddy Collins on a tear-up. Next to go was Cecilia Nordenstam, who has for a long time been one of the most glamorous figures on the Swedish circuit but also a deadly player as she showed in her heat. Cecilia cashed in her first five WPT events and put on a great show here.
As the table went three handed Collins had 306,000, Shana Casaletto had 254,000 and Wooka 140,000. Brighton’s Casaletto, however, was the next to go. She was expected to run deep in this tournament after recently winning back-to-back GUKPT side events but fell victim to lady of the moment Collins. This left Collins and Wooka to fight it out. Full details about all the hands can be found at
http://www.matchroompokerforum.co.uk/A PartyPoker.com spokesman said: “Aisling was a fantastic and deserving winner and overall we were delighted with the great final table. Japan’s Kim Wooka is also a brilliant runner-up – there is little doubt that she is one to watch out for in the future. Britain’s got talent but so does Japan!”
Eddie Hearn, Director of Matchroom Sport said: “As the Voice of Poker Jesse May said, the final table is not where champions meet it’s where champions are born and no one deserved the title more than Aisling. She was drawn in arguably the toughest heat and then had to come through the gruelling runners-up heat before taking down the final table. The standard throughout the whole tournament was simply stunning.”
The Women’s World Open III was a Matchroom Sport organized tournament that saw 36 players from around the world battle it out for a $108,000 prize pool in the $3,000 buy-in event. The line-up was formidable and included PartyPoker.com Premier League III star and inaugural WSOP Europe winner Annette Obrestad, EPT Dortmund winner Sandra Naujoks, Germany’s Christine Klecz and WSOP bracelet holder Jennifer Tilly. Others who failed to make the later stages included UK Women’s Poker Tour Champion Lynne Beaumont, Veronique Gordon, European Ladies champion Liv Boeree, France’s Lise ‘The Pink Lady’ Vigezzi, Ireland’s Colette Murphy, Eliza Burnett, Stephanie Bergener and Polish boxing champion Agnieska Rylik. There were also four specially invited players from PartyPoker.com’s VIP club,
http://www.palladiumlounge.com/ Women’s World Open II defending champion Soraya Homam from Germany narrowly missed out on a place at the final table by finishing runner-up in the second chance heat. ‘There is always next time,” said Homam, who put up a valiant defence of her title. The UK’s Beverley Pace won the inaugural Women’s World Open I title.
The tournament featured six six-seater heats with one six seat runner-up heat. The final table featured seven players. Commentary will be led by Jesse May, who will be joined by Annette Obrestad. The action will be broadcast on Five in the UK later this year and then distributed internationally. A limited number of qualifiers took place with Equal Chance, International Club and the Eglinton Casino in Galway all running satellites.
PARTYPOKER.COM WOMEN’S WORLD OPEN III – London 24 - 27th May 2009 - FINAL TABLE PRIZE POOL
1st - $50,000 – AISLING COLLINS (UK)
2nd - $20,000 – KIM WOOKA (JAP)
3rd - $12,000 – SHANA CASALETTO (UK)
4th - $10,000 – CECILIA NORDENSTAM (SWE)
5th - $8,000 – MARIA DEMETRIOU (UK)
6th - $5,000 – CAT O’NEILL (UK)
7th - $3,000 – JEN MASON (UK)
FINAL TABLE SEATING POSITIONS
SEAT ONE – KIM WOOKA (JAP)
SEAT TWO – JEN MASON (UK)
SEAT THREE – AISLING COLLINS (UK)
SEAT FOUR – MARIA DEMETRIOU (UK)
SEAT FIVE – CECILIA NORDENSTAM (SWE)
SEAT SIX – CAT O’NEILL (UK)
SEAT SEVEN – SHANA CASALETTO (UK)
News Added: 28 May, 2009
Author