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Kathy Liebert’s name always comes up when the question of “best female poker player” arises. Now, it may be time to drop the “female” denomination, and simply say she is one of poker’s “best players.” Period.

Liebert made her case by winning the $1,500 buy-in Limit Hold’em Shootout event at the 2004 World Series of Poker. She officially received $110,180 for first place, along with her first gold bracelet. “Best poker players,” indeed. End of argument.

Throughout her ten-year career as a touring poker pro, Liebert has always maintained an emotional equilibrium that sets her apart from most of her competitors. Liebert never told bad beat stories, complained about bad luck, or misbehaved in the poker room. She accepted the wins with the losses, and took it all in her stride. Her peaceful demeanor personified a new breed of poker player that began to emerge onto the tournament scene during the early to mid 1990s.

Liebert was born in Tennessee, grew up on Long Island (New York) and graduated with a business degree from Marist College. She worked in investments at Dunn and Bradstreet for a few years before realizing she was not cut out for a career in a structured 9 to 5 work environment. She considered going to law school, but changed her mind when she discovered a new vocation that would bring riches and even some personal fame.

Liebert moved to California, then eventually settled down in Colorado and began playing in the local low-limit poker games. She scratched out a living at the tables and used her knowledge of investing to make a small fortune during the stock market boom of the late 90s. She achieved financial independence at an age when most of her peers were just getting their first job promotion. That put her on the launching pad to a new career path.

Liebert began playing poker tournaments and eventually moved to Las Vegas. She ranked in the top 12 of the Card Player Tournament Player of the Year rankings, in both 1997 and 1998. She made final table appearances at all the top events, including the World Series of Poker. In 2000, she was the chip leader after day two of the main event. Her biggest win came in 2002, when she won the main event of the inaugural Party Poker Million. Liebert went on a poker cruise and came back home with a million dollars. How many tourists can say that?

But for all of her financial success and peer respect, the one thing that eluded Liebert (until this day) was the coveted gold bracelet – presented to the winner of each WSOP event. Liebert came very close to winning last year. In 2003, she got heads up in the $1,500 Limit Hold’em event with an off-duty Horseshoe poker dealer named John Arrage, who eventually won. It was a tough loss for Liebert.

That two-hour showdown between Arrage and Liebert was truly remarkable, and featured an ending that no one in the audience could possibly have predicted (including Arrage, perhaps). Arrage started off with roughly a 3 to 1 chip advantage over Liebert, but saw his lead crumble gradually over the first hour. When Liebert built her marginal chip lead into a 3 to 1 chip advantage during the heads-up finale, her victory seemed to be a foregone conclusion. It appeared Arrage was content with the second-prize showing and $91K, while Liebert was primed for her first world championship.

Then, the limits went up and the world might as well have been turned upside down. Liebert's dream was shattered. Arrage went on a 25-minute run that left everyone in the room shaking their heads in disbelief. Liebert finished second.

Twelve long months later, Liebert sat down to her first WSOP final table of 2004. The cards were dealt. Time for redemption. The finalists were eliminated in the following order:

9th – HIPPI JON ANDLOVEC – The gambler from Nevada’s capital, Carson City, was the first player to be eliminated about an hour into day two. The 59-year-old who has won a few tournaments was making his third WSOP final table, and first since 1991 (he has 4th and 6th place finishes in two prior showings). Andlovec was down to his last $5K and moved in with a weak ace, which lost to Q-10 when a queen flopped. Andlovec collected $6,620.

8th – RONNIE EBANKS – The 40-year-old ex-jockey and agent from Florida was making his first-ever final table. Normally, a full-house would be a great hand to go “all in” with -- but not when your opponent has four-of-a-kind. Ebanks “tens full of queens” lost to a sledgehammer -- four tens. Ebanks added $9,940 to his bank account.

7th – ANDREW HALLENBECK – Hallenbeck, 29, made it into the money earlier this year (22nd in the $1,500 Limit Hold’em event). He made his final bet of the night with A-4, which was completely dominated by A-K. A four failed to rescue Hallenbeck, which translated into $13,240 for 7th place.

6th – IVO DONEV – The eccentric Austrian chessmaster, Ivo Donev came in second in chips, but was never able to gain much momentum at the final table. His big hands were repeatedly cracked by his opponents, most commonly Kevin Song. His final hand was J-10 against A-10. Although he caught a 10, the ace kicker played and checkmated Donev into 6th place. Donev, who won the WSOP $1,500 buy-in Omaha event in 2000, took $16,560.

5th – MICHAEL TASHMAN – A local retiree, Tashman busted out in 5th place. He was severely short-stacked and went “all in” with Q-9 against Q-10. Dominated hands usually don’t fare too well heads up, and this was no exception. Tashman received $19,880.

4th – JOE CASSIDY – The young California poker pro, Joe Cassidy went out next. He cashed in the $1,500 Limit hold’em event earlier this year, and made a respectable 4th-place showing in this event. He lost to trip deuces and added $23,180 to his poker bankroll.

3rd – BROCK PARKER – The youngest player at the final table was Brock Parker -- age 22. He finished 10th in the previous event, and came much closer to winning this one. Parker, who lives in the Washington, DC suburb of Silver Spring, MD, had his luck finally run out when he lost his final hand of the night to Kevin Song. Parker collected $29,800.

When heads up play began, Liebert faced the veteran tournament pro, Kevin Song. The chip counts were as follows.

LIEBERT: $200K SONG: $160K

It took two and a half hours for Liebert to defeat Song, and dispel the ghosts of heads-up matches of the past. Liebert’s critical hand took place when she called repeated bets by Song, who was bluffing – while holding a vulnerable small pair, pocket threes. That hand gave Liebert not only a massive chip lead, but the confidence to close the victory.

Towards the end, Liebert won five pots in a row. Then, on the final hand of the night, Liebert was dealt J-3 – not usually one of hold’em best hands -- versus Song’s A-Q. Song’s last $15K went into the pot on a draw with two overcards when the flop came 6-3-2, and Liebert called with the small pair. An 8 and 5 came on the turn and river respectively – no harm to the Liebert’s pair of threes. Liebert proved to be a popular winner, as she was swarmed by many of her peers.

Korean-born Kevin Song finished as the runner up. The winner of the 1997 $2,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em title, Song left the tournament poker scene for three years to build a successful retail business. He now limits his poker playing to the World Series. He received $58,300 for second place.

Liebert now has 11 cashes at the WSOP, and is now third on the Women’s top money winner list. She was eager to cite 1983 world champion Tom McEvoy as an inspiration, both personally and as a teacher. Liebert said she learned a lot about tournament strategy from McEvoy’s numerous books and writings on the game. Afterward, Liebert was asked to compare her tournament victories. “The World Series of Poker is the premier poker tournament, so winning an event here is a big accomplishment,” she said. “It might not be as much money (as I won in the Party Poker Million), but it’s a bigger accomplishment.”

by Nolan Dalla (WSOP Media Director)

Pos.	Name	Prize
1	Kathy Liebert (Las Vegas, NV)	$110,180
2	Kevin Song (Rowland, CA)	$58,300
3	Brock Parker (Silver Spring, MD)	$29,800
4	Joe Cassidy (Huntington Beach, CA)	$23,180
5	Michael Tashman (Las Vegas, NV)	$19,880
6	Ivo Donev (Austria)	$16,560
7	Andrew Hallenbeck (Las Vegas, NV)	$13,240
8	Ronnie Ebanks (Hollywood Beach, FL)	$9,940
9	Hippi John Andlovec (Carson City, NV)	$6,620
10	Russell Rosen (Los Angeles, CA)	$4,000
11	Blair Rodman (Las Vegas, NV)	$4,000
12	Todd Bleak (Downey, CA)	$4,000
13	Anthony George (Mesquite, NV)	$3,500
14	Jerry Rand (San Diego, CA)	$3,500
15	Roy Poulter (Laguna Hills, CA)	$3,500
16	Robert Geers (Las Vegas, NV)	$3,000
17	Michael Parisi (Wooddale, IL)	$3,000
18	David Warga (Tempe, AZ)	$3,000
19	Aaron Katz (Seattle, WA)	$2,000
20	David Pham (Cerritos, CA)	$2,000
21	Ron Faltinsky (Montebello, CA)	$2,000
22	Surindar Sunar (London, England)	$2,000
23	Eric Buchman (Valley Stream, NY)	$2,000
24	Alex Brenes (San Jose, Costa Rica)	$2,000