LAS VEGAS – Actress Jennifer Tilly (search) is no poker pretender. Tilly won the Ladies no-limit Texas Hold 'Em event at the World Series of Poker (search), marking the first time a celebrity has won a bracelet at the famous tournament.
Tilly's skillful and self-admitted lucky play earned her $158,625. She beat 600 players to capture first place in the grueling two-day event that featured some of the top female pros in the world. The buy-in was $1,000.
"I think she showed an incredible amount of talent," WSOP media director Nolan Dalla said. "She had an enormous chip lead and never looked back. It was almost as though her victory was never in question."
Tilly, 46, said she's learned plenty of pointers from her boyfriend, poker player Phil "Unabomber" Laak.
"When you're living with Phil, you kinda learn by osmosis," Tilly told CardPlayer.com. "Even in the middle of the night, he wakes up screaming out poker terms. Most guys scream out other girls' names. He'll wake up and go, `I should have bet more on the turn.'"
Tilly, an Oscar nominee for her role in the 1994 film, "Bullets Over Broadway (search)," is the first woman in this year's WSOP to win a bracelet.
The WSOP is being held at the Rio hotel-casino.
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