WSOP report: Event #26, Ladies Championship, June 29, 2005

If anyone thinks playing poker for a living is tough, try being an actor. Aspiring actors must live with rejection. Prospective careers are destroyed by talent agencies and casting directors. Bad beats are not just a hazard. They are a way of life.

Not only do good actors develop thick skin, they must also demonstrate tremendous physical and emotional versatility. Acting requires the performer to play different roles and conceal natural instincts.

Read that again: Playing different roles and concealing natural instincts.

These qualities apply not just to acting, but to poker playing, as well. It's no surprise then, that over the past 30 years, many well-known actors have played at the World Series of Poker. Telly Savalas (best known as "Kojak") played in the main event numerous times between 1983 and 1991. Gabe Kaplan (TV's "Kotter") started playing in poker's world championship during the late 70s and is still competing today at the highest level. Matt Damon, Ed Norton, Ben Affleck, Tobey Maguire are just a few famous actors who have come to play in the world's biggest poker game in Las Vegas.

But no notable actor had successfully made the conversion from "Hollywood Celebrity" to "World Poker Champion."

Until now. In a year that has truly been record-setting, yet another milestone was crossed when Hollywood actress Jennifer Tilly won the 2005 Ladies World Poker Championship. It was not just that Tilly won. It was how she won. Tilly made a shambles of this tournament by becoming a human chip magnet. Every major confrontation Tilly was involved in seemed to bring more chips to her stack. By the time the final table was set with nine players, Tilly enjoyed a 3-to-1 chip lead on her opponents. When play became four handed, which marked the start of Day Two, Tilly was up 5-to-1 over the remaining three players.

This tournament was special for other reasons. An all-time record number of 601 women entered this year's championship, nearly tripling the event's size over last year. The huge turnout and high level of competition meant that play on Day One lasted nearly 15 hours. On Day Two, the four finalists arrived at the final table (the finale started with nine, and five were eliminated on Day One). Players were eliminated in the following order:

4th Place: Cecilia de Mortensen, $38,220
Cecilia de Mortensen arrived with the greatest amount of tournament experience. The native of Spain had previously won a major event held at the 2003 Jack Binion World Poker Open. She has also finished high in the money in several previous WSOP events during the last three years. Mortensen arrived low in chips (with 36,300 versus chip leader Tilly with 449,600). A few minutes into play, Mortensen moved all-in with 9-9 and was crushed by Anh Le's A-3 after the flop came 5=4=2.
3rd Place: Carolyn Ancheta, $43,680
Carolyn Ancheta was the lowest stack, with only 31,500 remaining. She survived four times before she was eliminated. Ancheta's final hand was K-J versus (who else?) Tilly's A-7. An ace flopped and Ancheta went out as the 3rd-place finisher. This was Ancheta's first major live tournament and her first time to play at the WSOP.

Runner up: Anh Le, $83,540
When heads-up play began, Jennifer Tilly held the chip lead over Anh Le - 478,000 to 131,000. The final hand was déjà vu all over again for Tilly. Just as in the previous hand, her opponent (Le) had K-J and made an over-the-top all-in pre-flop re-raise. Again, Tilly had A-7 and called. Tilly failed to catch an ace this time, but she didn't need the pair, as the ace-high played as the winning hand.

Runner-up Anh Le was born in Vietnam and now lives in San Jose, CA. Although Le plays poker online regularly (she's won eight online tournaments), this was her first time to play at the WSOP.

1st Place: Jennifer Tilly, $158,335
Jennifer Tilly was born in Harbour City, CA. She moved to Victoria, BC (Canada) as a child. She now lives in California, although her real home is often on movie sets and (now) at major poker tournaments. First prize paid $158,335, although money seemed to be the last thing of interest to Tilly as she proudly snapped on the coveted gold and diamond bracelet presented all world champions.

Following her victory, Tilly said that receiving her first WSOP gold bracelet was "better than winning an Oscar."

What a performance.

View final results.

Tournament reporting by Nolan Dalla / worldseriesofpoker.com