Allyn Jaffrey-Shulman wins seniors event at WSOP, $603K

Allyn Jaffrey-Shulman won the $1,000 Seniors event at the World Series of Poker on Monday at the Rio-All Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The well-known Card Player magazine attorney and writer collected $603,713 in prize money.

This year’s seniors event, open to players age 50 and over, drew a whopping 4,128 entrants, making it the largest such event in poker history. The turnout eclipsed last year’s number by more than 400 players. In fact, the tournament was the largest single-day start in poker history.

Jaffrey-Shulman topped a stellar final table that included some notable players, including two-time gold bracelet winner Hoyt Corkins. Dennis Phillips, best known for his third-place in the 2008 Main Event Championship, was the runner up this time to Jaffrey-Shulman.

The victory by a female in an event open to both genders breaks a long-running streak of 249 straight male winners of gold bracelet events. Vanessa Selbst had previously been the last female winner of a gold bracelet (aside from the annual Ladies World Championship). Selbst's victory took place in 2008.

"I don’t think women have been given their due," said Jaffrey-Shulman. "I’m happy for myself, but I’m happy for all women that I won this. Showing that any woman can win a poker tournament and I’d like to see more of them out there playing, feeling comfortable with going at it with the boys and winning."

Jaffrey-Shulman is originally from Brooklyn, N.Y. However, she spent much of her life in Los Angeles, where she worked as a criminal defense attorney for 25 years. She now resides in Las Vegas. Since joining the staff of Card Player magazine, Shulman has not only served as legal counsel; she also has worked tirelessly as an advocate for the legalization of online poker in the United States. Allyn-Jaffrey has written extensively about this important issue to the poker community and is one of the cause's most vocal and articulate voices.

This was Jaffrey-Shulman’s first WSOP gold bracelet victory following several previous deep runs, cashes, and final table appearances. Her husband, Barry Shulman, and step-son, Jeff Shulman, both made final tables over the course of the past week – a WSOP first.

Jaffrey Shulman became the second female to win this event, following Claire Miller’s win in 2006.

Phillips had the chip leads at various stages late in the tournament. But he was not able to overcome his final victorious adversary. Phillips took home $372,895 as a consolation prize.

Bob Phelps won $270,727 for third, Corkins won $199,023 for fourth, while Bill Stabler (fifth, $147,605), Stuart Spear (sixth, $110,416), William Thomson (seventh), Martin Mitzmaurice (eighth) and Horline Lilie (ninth) also made the final table.

The top 423 players finished in the money. Notable players who cashed but did not make the final table included: Marcel Luske (40th), Chris Bjorin (97th), Humberto Brenes (244th), Susie Isaacs (250th), and Toto Leonidas (326th).

Modified from tournament notes provided by WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla.