Amanda Musumeci, Claudia Crawford 2011 WSOP Main Event Darlings

Every year, there are a couple of women who battle for the title of “Last Woman Standing” in the WSOP Main Event. And this year, Amanda Musumeci and Claudia Crawford are both making strong runs at being the last woman standing in the 2011 WSOP Main Event. After five days of play with 174 players left, Crawford is in the best position at 46th with over 2.1 million chips, while Musumeci is 87th with 985,000 chips.

Obviously Crawford has the strongest chance to be the last woman standing; however, anything can happen in the Main Event, which means Musumeci could also make a move.

Regardless of what happens, both women are already winners since they’ve gained lots of publicity by making it this far. For Crawford, who only had nine small cashes in her career, making it into the final 200 players of the Main Event means that she’s finally a recognized face. And seeing as how she’s attractive, this Main Event run could lead to a big sponsorship deal for Crawford.

For Musumeci, her strong Main Event play has finally earned her a live poker tournament cash. Before this year’s Main Event, she was primarily known for online poker tournaments, which doesn’t usually land people sponsorship deals. This being said, there was outcry when Bodog Poker signed Musumeci to a big deal since men with similar stats (over $700k in online winnings) probably wouldn’t get the same opportunity.

On the other hand, Bodog has always exemplified the playboy image of owner Calvin Ayre, and they often bring plenty of women to commercial events such as Poker in the Park. In any case, this Main Event cash further legitimizes Musumeci’s career.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,