Jeff Haney gets actress and poker champ Jennifer Tilly’s take on the women who succeed in a male-dominated game

Wednesday, June 13, 2007 | 7:27 a.m.

Given her bona fides as an Academy Award nominee and a poker tournament champion, it's appropriate that Jennifer Tilly has a decidedly theatrical take on the subject of women in poker.

"You know how you hardly ever see women serial killers?" Tilly said. "But when you do see one, she really stands out because of her viciousness.

"It's kind of the same in poker. The women who are successful playing in tournaments against the men are so competitive, so intense, so strong ... It's kind of amazing how good some of the best female poker players are."

Tilly ("Bullets Over Broadway," "Bride of Chucky"), who began studying poker seriously when she started dating professional player Phil Laak, established her reputation as one of the game's leading female players when she won the 2005 World Series of Poker ladies' championship tournament, beating 600 other entrants to earn the title.

That victory attracted the attention of Las Vegas entrepreneur Lisa Tenner, who invited Tilly to join her inaugural Queen of Hearts charity poker organization, an informal team formed last year to raise money for the American Heart Association during the annual World Series of Poker.

With this year's World Series in full swing at the Rio, Tenner, Tilly and more than a dozen female poker pros, celebrities and business executives have joined together for the 2007 version of the Queen of Hearts team. A portion of any World Series of Poker tournament winnings accrued by the players will be donated to the American Heart Association's "Go Red for Women" campaign and the Nevada Cancer Institute.

"Once Jennifer agreed to participate on last year's team, it was easy to bring many of the other leading women poker players aboard," said Tenner, whose Tenner & Associates Inc. produced the first Rock & Roll Celebrity Poker Tournament on VH1 Classic and other poker events. Tenner was previously behind the music festival and conference Emerging Artists & Technology in Music (EAT'M).

Tenner said she launched the Queen of Hearts team after her husband, poker player and author Mark Tenner, declined her request for a $1,000 stake to enter the ladies' event, an annual World Series of Poker tradition.

"That inspired me to go out and do this one myself," Tenner said, although Mark Tenner remains involved in the effort behind the scenes.

This year's team features a number of poker's most recognizable female personalities, including Mimi Rogers, Susie Isaacs (World Series ladies' championship winner in 1996 and 1997, 10th place in the 1998 World Series main event), Mary Jones (2006 ladies' championship winner), Clonie Gowen, J.J. Liu and Vanessa Rousso.

Tilly, who placed 15th in the World Poker Tour Borgata Open last fall, said charitable pursuits such as the Queen of Hearts team allow poker players to show they have a social conscience.

"Sometimes I think poker players might feel guilty for not giving back enough," Tilly said at a reception for the Queen of Hearts team at Caesars Palace. "This project brings awareness to a serious cause, raises money , and it brings people together. Poker is a very solitary game, so it's nice having other people on the same team, somebody to root for."

Rogers, who distinguished herself on the tough Hollywood circuit of private high-stakes home games and serves on the board of World Poker Tour Enterprises, said playing against men as opposed to a field made up only of women presents a "different dynamic" for female poker players.

"Some men still want to run right over you because you're a woman," Rogers said. "For a talented woman, that can definitely give you an edge. But playing against women, that edge you have against men goes away. There's more of a mutual respect, but no edge you can exploit."

Tilly agreed, saying she has encountered male opponents who have deliberately tried to put her on "tilt," or throw her off her game.

"If you don't know, you might think, 'Oh, women are really bitchy,' or that women playing poker against each other is like 'Women Behind Bars' or something," Tilly said. "I've actually run into a lot more bitchiness among men."

Jones of Henderson finished 16th in this year's ladies' championship in a record field of 1,286 entrants. (The winner was to be decided Tuesday night as the final table played down to a champion.) She said the gold bracelet she won last year commands plenty of respect against her opponents, male and female alike.

"One guy was deciding whether he wanted to play a big pot with me," Jones said. "Someone else at the table said, 'You don't want to mess with her.' The guy looked at my wrist and said, 'I might want to play against her, but I don't want to play against that bracelet.' "

Hellmuth's 11th

Phil Hellmuth became the first player with 11 World Series of Poker bracelets when he won a $1,500 buy in no-limit Texas hold 'em tournament Monday, finishing atop a field of 2,628 entrants. Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan each have 10 gold bracelets.

"This is the one I really wanted," said Hellmuth, who collected $637,254. "I have so much respect for Doyle and Johnny. To be at the top of the all-time list is about as good a feeling as I have ever had."

Stud champ

Chris Reslock of Atlantic City outlasted runner-up Phil Ivey to win the $5,000 buy in world championship seven-card stud tournament at the World Series. Reslock, 58, who earned $258,453, was a licensed taxi driver but turned to poker full time when he began making more money at the tables in Atlantic City than he did driving a cab. The tournament has the largest buy in of any stud tournament in the world.