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Maryann Guberman has been a writer and editor with many gaming publications, including Sports Form, Card Player, Poker World, Player's Panorama and Systems and Methods. She also has written and edited numerous books on gambling.

Aug. 25, 2007

Poor Poker Fact Checking or Vera Who?

Journalism largely consists of saying 'Lord Jones is Dead' to people who never knew that Lord Jones was alive. -- G. K. Chesterton

It's time to set the record straight.

With all apologies to Barbara Enright, who certainly (in my opinion) belongs in the Poker Hall of Fame (ahe was induced this year), the current crop of poker reporting is wrong, wrong, wrong! Or at least one of a single current crop is wrong.

Perhaps it's laziness, maybe a lack of knowledge or just total dependence on (fear of?) advertisers who put out a press release knowing full well that it won't be challenged, but somebody definitely fell for a total bluff concerning the accomplishments of women in high-stakes poker. Before we go any further, though, we have to admit we do not know where the error originated. But a magazine that claims to be the "poker authority" should be more careful with what it publishes, especially when it's the publisher doing the reporting..

So I'm here to set the record straight about the following Poker Hall of Fame announcement (and this is a direct quote from Card Player Magazine Volume 20, Number 14, author Jeff Shulman, also known as Publisher).

"This year, in early July, it was announced that the newest members were Phil Hellmuth and Barbara Enright. Barbara, who was the first woman ever to win a major open-field World Series of Poker event (pot-limit hold'em in 1996) and is the only woman to make the WSOP $10,000 main-event final table, is the first female member of the Hall of Fame."

Barbara is not the first woman ever to win a major open-field event at the series.

In heralding Barbara's accomplishment, the reliable Chuck Weinstock, in his reporting of the event wrote on his Web site (http://www.conjelco.com/wsop96/event19.html): "She is only the second woman to win an open event in the Horseshoe's annual tournament (Vera Richmond captured the Ace-to-Five Draw title in 1982)."

Vera Richmond was the first woman to win an open event at the World Series of Poker.

In reading Susie Isaacs's account of Vera's accomplishment ("Queens Can Beat Kings," Kensington Publishing, 2006), we learn that "Although her win is a matter of public record, the men never recognized her outstanding achievement because of their distain for her."

It appears, as Isaacs recounts, that Vera had as much (probably more) money than any of the men she came up against (they included Doyle Brunson, Johnny Moss, Stu Ungar and Bobby Baldwin), and she was impossible to intimidate.

Oddly, Vera was the daughter of Alfred Neiman whose company (Neiman Marcus) designed those snazzy pieces of bling (gold bracelets) awarded to World Series of Poker Champions before Harrah's became the event owner.

I'm not "blaming" Shulman for what he wrote because it appears he just quoted the announcement from either Harrah's or the party responsible for the Harrah's announcements. I am questioning, though, whether or not anyone ever checks facts.

On the obvious point, I'm sure they would not automatically quote or print a press release that claimed Jon Kyl was going to sponsor an online million-dollar poker competition open only to citizens of the United States or that the prize for the next ladies only event at the World Series would be a date with Flava Flav.

Now I'm just waiting to see if anyone else notices this boo-boo.