Also out there is Bodog poker pro Evelyn Ng. Ng’s chip stack is pretty formidable with about 130,000. Beware the Ng at the WSOP.

Then we have Liv Boeree. This English beauty is currently around her Day 1 starting stack of 20,000. Liv has cashed twice so far in this year’s WSOP and took down a $2K Ladies Championship in Europe earlier this year.

This just in… Shannon Elizabeth is also hot. Elizabeth is short-stacked. What else is there to say? You’re only here for the pictures anyway.

Stay tuned to the Beat for more WSOP news, updates and sexy ladies.

Our first stop was Wells table where we picked up after the gentleman two seats to her left had reraised her almost all-in. Wells pushed and her opponent called and flipped over pocket Queens to her A-K of diamonds, the classic "two over-cards vs. pocket pair" race situation. When the flop produced an ace, all Wells had to do was dodge a Queen on the flop and turn, which she did and double up for a very healthy stack as we approach the dinner break.

Next up was Ho, just a few tables away. We arrived in time to see her move all-in over the top of editor of CardPlayer magazine Jeff Shulman's raise, sending him into the tank for a fair amount of time. He stared her down for a while while ESPN filmed the whole thing, including the "look for Maria's hoes" on the back of her shirt, and eventually folded. We didn't get to see Maria's cards, but we'll just assume that she had him dominated. She moves up to about 26,000 in chips.

Stay tuned for more Team Bodog and WSOP live updates courtesy of the Bodog Beat.

If the name and the uber-serious demeanor seem familiar it's probably because she has cashed three times at the WSOP and run deep in several major tournaments, including a final table appearance at the 2007 US Poker Championship where she finished seventh. A strong force at the poker tables, the NYU grad has been playing online poker for more than three years now and is translating that success very well into the live arena.

However, for us Gromenkova is familiar for a completely different reason. About a month ago, she qualified through Bodog Poker for a $12, 000 VIP Prize Package to play in the 2008 WSOP Main Event. We wrote up a quick profile on her when she qualified back in May and are really excited to see her doing well in the preliminary events and capturing her first WSOP bracelet

When she did finally grasp that victory after the arduous final table she was asked by PokerNews if she wanted the world to know anything about her. All she had to say was , “I just want people to know I’m a good player, and I guess they know it now.”

That could be the understatement of the year. We're sure this is this isn't the last we'll see of her, especially since she'll be playing the Main Event as part of Team Bodog.

Join Gromenkova in Vegas for the 2008 WSOP by getting started with Bodog Poker's WSOP online satellites, which start for as little as $1.50.

Coming out on a Sunday to play in this prestigious event, Bodog poker pro Evelyn Ng and Team Bodog poker players Lacey Jones and Shirley Williams, the mother of Bodog poker pro David Williams, all looked to take home a piece of the $1,082,900 prizepool generated by the 1,190 participants. They had stiff competition as some of the best female poker players in the world came out to play, including Jenn Tilly, Erica Schoenberg, Diane Nguyen, Kathy Liebert, Van Ngyuen (wife of poker pro Men "The Master" Nguyen), defending champ Sally Anne Boyer and many others.

Then there were the guys who tried to enter the event and were politely asked to leave, like Allen Jaffrey. However, we think this one may have slipped through the cracks…

As we type, Evy is still stacked pretty well as we approach the end of the day. Unfortunately, Lacey and Shirley fell victim to the kind of loose-aggressive, and quite frankly, bad (no, not because they are ladies, it's because of the low buy-in) poker that happens in these kinds of events. We know that they were expecting more out of themselves, but still, enjoy these pics of Lacey and Shirley enjoying their experience at the tables

In other news from the Amazon Room, Vinny Vinh made us wonder if his chair would have to go it alone again this year, but he did eventually show up. Since then, he has been behaving erratically but not enough to donk off his chips. He is at the final table of Event 12 – $1,500 Limit Hold'em – and is currently third in chips with five players remaining.

Stay tuned for more live updates from the 2008 WSOP and make sure to qualify online for the WSOP with Bodog Poker.

I think that having these kinds of unintentionally deceptive characteristics has allowed me to benefit from other people's misconceptions, and it’s also part of what has helped me become a successful poker player. Some poker players that come to mind who are experts at exploiting these stereotypes are Tuna Lund, Barbara Enright and Dan Harrington.

Read the rest of Evelyn Ng’s article, "Everything (You Think) You Know Is Wrong".

Here are the odds:

"Yes" even

"No" -140.

Along the same lines they have another WSOP prop asking whether you think there will be a woman at the WSOP Main Event final table.

The odds given are:

"Yes" +400

"No" -800

Considering that there are more women in the field every year and with sharks like Jennifer Harmon and Annie Duke swimming around out there this bet is looking better all the time.

Team Bodog’s Maria Ho almost went the distance last year when she was the last woman standing before busting out in 38^th place.

For these and plenty of other great WSOP props head over to the Bodog Sportsbook.

Female poker pro Lacey Jones (seen here interviewing Bodog poker pro Justin "Zeejustin" Bonomo at the 2007 WSOP) was featured on the cover of Woman Poker Player magazine. (Bodog Beat Image)

Bluff Media announced yesterday the purchase of Woman Poker Player magazine, the source for news and information on, well, woman poker players. The print version of the magazine will cease to exist and subscribers to WPP will now receive Bluff Magazine each month instead, which will now reportedly cater to more female poker issues than before.

“We’re very happy to accept Woman Poker Player’s readers into the Bluff community,” said Eric Morris, co-president and publisher of Bluff Media. “As women are beginning to make up a larger percentage of the overall player base it’s important that our magazine properly reflects this and we feel that this move does just that."

Much as some notable female poker pros have voiced displeasure at the insinuations behind needing to have a separate poker tournament for women, the publishers of WPP have decided that woman should be absorbed into the poker community in general instead of being kept separate.

“Woman Poker Player magazine was founded as a vehicle for the encouragement of women to play poker. At that time women were only representing about ten percent of live players, and this is no longer the case,” said Maryann Morrison, publisher of Woman Poker Player. “We all know women are fierce poker players and have substantially grown in numbers over the past two years. It is not a progressive step for women to have segregation in poker since everyone can play on an equal basis.”

WomanPokerPlayer.com, the online version of the magazine, will continue to offer female-centric poker news, tips and strategy.

Charles Simmons writes poker news for the Bodog Beat on a regular basis.

2007 WSOP Ladies Camp attendee Sally Boyer celebrates her win in the No Limit Hold'em World Championship Ladies Event event at the 2007 World Series of Poker. (Bodog Beat Image)

The 2008 WSOP is drawing closer and closer, and now is the time to start polishing your game for a run at one of those sparkly bracelets. For female poker players, the best way to do that is at the World Series of Poker Academy's Ladies Only Event, which last year saw one of its participants, Sally Boyer, go on to win the title of Ladies World Champion at the 2007 World Series of Poker and is heading back to Las Vegas this summer.

The two-day poker school will be hosted by female poker pro Annie Duke and is scheduled to take place on June 6-7, 2008, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, just in time for the $1,000 buy-in Ladies No-Limit Hold'em World Championship.

Joining Duke as an instructor at the Ladies Only Event is ex-FBI agent Joe Navarro, who will tailor his unique poker tells class to female-specific nonverbal actions at the poker table. He will also be joined by noted instructor Alex "The Insider" Outhred and many others.

"More women are playing poker, and winning, than ever before, and our goal is to help even more women master the game by giving them the confidence and skills they need to be a threat at the table," said Brandon Rosen of Post Oak Productions, the company that produces the WSOP Academy.

"The fact that we had a novice poker player go straight from our academy to become a World Champion two days later is a testament to the level of instruction Annie Duke and all of our instructors offer our participants. We’re expecting to see more WSOP Academy grads go on to win bracelets in 2008."

The WSOP Academy first debuted its Ladies Only Event last year during the World Series of Poker, and the sold-out event saw one of its graduates, Boyer, capture the title of Ladies World Champion by outlasting 1,286 players, the largest field ever assembled for a ladies poker tournament. Boyer's accomplishment was made all the more remarkable as she had only been playing poker for a year and won the tournament immediately after attending the WSOP Academy.

"The WSOP Academy gave me the confidence I needed at the table and taught me key concepts that I was able to put into action right away in the tournament, like pot odds, table demeanor and what to look for when reading someone," said Boyer after her record-setting win, which netted her $262,077 in cash. "The Academy is the quickest way to your WSOP bracelet."

Attendees of the camp will also get the opportunity to compete in a private tournament that will award the top four finishers a $1,500 entry into a 2008 WSOP event of their choice.

Female poker pro Vanessa Selbst is guarding the chip lead at the WPT Ladies Championship. (Bodog Beat Image)

While it only took a short time to eliminate the three ladies needed to cement the final six for the televised final table of the WPT Ladies Championship, it will take over a week to crown a champion. That's because the final table is not set to film until April 25, which means that chip leader Vanessa Selbst will have to guard her chip stack fiercely for the next ten days. Looks like she could be up to it.

Selbst has four WSOP cashes to her name, including a third-place finish in the $5,000 World Championship Heads-Up event last year, and a WPT LA Poker Classic preliminary event win earlier this year. However, if she can hold onto this lead it will be her first championship event win. Again, looks like she could be up to the challenge.

Karina Jett was eliminated on the bubble in seventh place to end play. The six remaining players include Van Tuyet Nguyen, wife of poker pro Men "The Master" Nguyen, Nancy Todd Tyner, Donna Varlotto, Janice Kim and Cindy Kerslake.

When they do get around to playing out this final table, first-place will walk away with about $67,000 and Komen for the Cure will get 15% of everyone's buy-ins, or $33,750.

Charles Simmons is a regular contributor of mildly interesting poker news to the Bodog Beat.

Bodog poker pro Evelyn Ng was in the field for the WPT Ladies Championship. (Bodog Beat Image)

With female poker pros like Bodog's own Evelyn Ng, Erica Schoenberg, 2007 WSOP Team Bodogger and last woman standing Maria Ho, Sabyl Cohen and Jennifer Tilly all in one place, the above headline could be true. Well, in our minds at least. Or in a Carmen Electra Strip Poker DVD in Schoenberg's case.

Instead it will just be hot poker action, *sigh*.

The WPT Ladies Championship kicked off yesterday with a over 150 female poker players putting up $1,500 to play. The day wound down early this morning when Melissa White was eliminated in 11th place, leaving the last ten women at a single table. Current leader is Vanessa Selbst and Schoenberg is one of the short stacks, which means she's probably still only wearing the really important pieces of clothing. Why do girls do that? Seriously, just get straight to the good stuff.
Anyway, here are the full chip counts:

Vanessa Selbst – 112,100
Nancy Todd Tyner – 73,900
Janice Kim – 63,300
Donna Varlotto – 62,800
Karina Jett – 61,000
Cindy Kerslake – 39,800
Jennifer Cason – 21,300
Van Nguyen – 7,200
Erica Schoenberg – 5,400
Emeline Boich – 3,000

Play will resume in just about an hour and will finish when the six players who will make up the WPT televised final table are remaining. Stay tuned for updates and if you want to play at the WPT but don't want to lose your shirt to do so, check out the WPT online poker qualifiers at Bodog. The Player's Choice qualifiers run daily for as little as $1.