$ 100 Ladies No Limit Hold'em
2005 Legends of Poker
Bicycle Casino, Los Angeles
Wednesday 31 August 2005

[ Back to Index ]

‘London’ Wins Ladies Party

Article by Max Shapiro on 02-Sep-2005

Teresa “London” Gallagher, an accounts supervisor, went on a tear late in the tournament to capture the Ladies Poker Party event, winning $20,375 and a seat in the WPT/Ladies Night Out invitational event on Thursday, the final event of Legends 2005.

There she will be joining Marsha Waggoner, Cecelia Mortensen, Isabelle Mercier, Jennifer Tilly and Aidiliy Elviro. She also collected a customized WPT chip set.

The key hand came when Gallgher missed a flush but made a straight to double through against Karina Jett. Jett was left with only $5,500, soon busted out and Gallagher, with nearly a 3-1 lead, coasted to a win.

This $100 event drew an impressive crowd of 566 ladies, and 45 places were paid. It was also a very fast tournament that lasted only 46 rapid hands without much pondering by the players. When the ladies moved in or called, they did it speedily.

Blinds in this no-limit event started at $1,500-$3,000 with $500 antes, 9:15 remaining. Things got off to a fast start when we lost a player on the second hand. Anita O’Brien, a construction supervisor, called all in with K-9 after Gallagher raised with A-K. All rags came and we were quickly down to nine.

On hand nine, soon after blinds went to $2,000-$4,000 with $500 antes, a second player departed. Tracy Phan, a poker player, moved in for $60,000 with pocket 10s. Sandy Williams, a paralegal, called with A-Q. The board came K-J-7-3-9, and Phan now had about 110k as Williams cashed out ninth.

And just two hands later, we lost one more player. Dorothy Colleen Shuey, a middle-school teacher, had earlier lost most of her chips when she called with K-J (“Let’s rock and roll,” she said) after Lien Khu moved in with pocket queens. Now, she put in her last 6k with 10h-4h and was easily beaten by Lien Khu’s A-Q after an ace flopped.

Lori Howe, a high school career counselor, was down to 11k when she moved in with pocket eights. Julia Rea, who is retired, called with As-6s, made two pair on the turn, and then improved to a nut flush.

Karina Jett, a pro player and wife of Chip Jett, dropped down to 20k after her pocket 6s were beaten by Phan’s K-J, but she would recover nicely from there. Instead it was Lisa Ferguson, a mortgage broker, who went out next. Holding Js-5s, she went all in after a flop of Q-5-2 gave her a pair. Gallagher had A-10 and passed her on the turn when an ace came.

Blinds now were $3,000-$6,000 with $1,000 antes. The approximate counts were: Rea, 140k; Gallager, 125k; Phan, 93k; Khu, 50k; and Jett, 45k. Jett began to take off a few hands later when her pocket 5s held up against Phan’s A-8 and she doubled up. Next, London took the lead when she knocked out Khu, who handed over 51,500. London had Q-Q and flopped a set to demolish Khu’s pocket 10s and leave her in fifth place.

Meanwhile, Jett gained more altitude when she eliminated Phan three hands later. Phan moved in with 9-7 and ran into Jett’s pocket kings as Jett climbed back up to about 170k. But Jett crash-landed on the next hand. Gallagher opened for 20k with Ac-Qs and Jett moved her in with pocket 10s. A flop of Jc-10c-3c gave Gallagher a nut flush draw. Instead, an offsuit 9-8 came, and Gallagher settled for a straight. Jett, down to about 5,500, splashed all her chips in on the next hand and got two callers. Rea, with Qs-5s, made a flush and Jett mucked and cashed out third.

Heads-up, Gallagher had about 330k to 120k for Rea. A few hands later, blinds went to 4k-8k with 1,500 antes, and two hands later it was over. Gallager had Kc-Qc and Rea had Ah-8h. The flop was Kd-6h-3h. Gallagher, with a paired king, bet 20k, then moved in on a 5d turn card. Rea called with a flush draw and instead saw a river king give Gallager trips. “Now I don’t have to stay here tomorrow,” Rea said philosophically, referring to the ladies invitational event. Gallager does, but she won’t mind.

BIOGRAPHY

Teresa Gallagher explained how she got “London” for a name. “I’ve never felt Teresa was a fit,” she said. At a basketball game, a player, now her husband, asked her what she would like to name a daughter, and she came up with London. She liked it so much she
kept it for herself, and after she did have a daughter four years ago, the kid had to settle for Lacey.

Gallagher is an account supervisor for the Laemmle movie chain, where her husband is operations manager. She’s played a few prior tournaments, coming in second in the limit hold’em event at Oceans Eleven’s California State Ladies Championship, after attending a seminar. She also won the LIPS tournament at Hollywood Park in April.

She plays $3-$6 hold’em, but only online. She also won two online satellites for this event, but neglected to cash them in and had to buy her way in tonight via her ATM card.