By Jessica Willard
Weston’s Tania Hunter played the poker game of her life recently when she took out the state Australian Poker League final at Gosford RSL.
Tania qualified for the game after winning a free roll game at Kurri Workers Club and said that she didn’t think she could win a state title in a million years.
She topped a gigantic field of 430 players to win the competition and earned herself $5000 in prizemoney.
She is now getting ready to travel to Las Vegas where she will compete in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) championships in June.
“The whole experience has been just crazy,” she said.
“I don’t know what came over me in the game but I just cleared my head and the fact that I was able to win is just insane.
“I still can’t believe it.”
Tania only started playing poker four years ago, when after years of playing darts she decided she needed a new hobby.
She said that while she had played in many regional competitions over the years, she never imagined the game would lead her all the way to Vegas, let alone land her $5000 prizemoney.
“I have never been out of the country so I am very excited,” she said.
So far Tania is the only female player on the 60-strong Australian team that will compete in Vegas, where some of the best poker players from around the world will converge for a week of play.
And while Tania said there are a lot of female poker players around, it is usually the men who dominate at the major competitions, making her state title victory even more remarkable.
“If I can achieve this, any other female player can too,” she said.
“I still can’t believe that I am a state champion but it is great being able to say it.”