Lady Chess Stars Dominate WPT Invitational

Lady Chess Stars Dominate WPT Invitational

Two World-class female chess players dominated the World Poker Tour Celebrity Invitational in Los Angeles this weekend en route to making the final table.

While Minnesota lawyer and model Damon Schramm grabbed the lead heading into the Mar. 2 final six, stars of the Chess world Almira Skripchenko and Dinara Khaziyeva both retain a shot at the $74,500 in cash and $25,500 WPT Championship Seat that await the winner.

The rest of the final table includes poker pros Davidi Kitai and Dan Heimiller as well as West Coast regular George Rechnitzer.

The freeroll event drew 482 players to the Commerce Casino in the suburbs of Los Angeles this weekend, including a host of poker pros and Hollywood celebrities.

Stars including Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon, Lou Diamond Phillips, Don Cheadle, and Shannon Elizabeth were joined by poker pros like Scotty Nguyen, Liv Boeree, Antonio Esfandiari, Barry Greenstein, and Phil Laak to walk the red carpet and play a little cards in the name of charity.

For the second consecutive year, Chrysalis, an organization dedicated to helping economically disadvantaged and homeless people become self-sufficient through employment opportunities, was named the event’s official charity partner.

The final table will play out Mar. 2 and will be filmed for television.

Here’s how the chip stacks look going in:

1 Damon Schramm 865,000
2 Davidi Kitai 845,000
3 Almira Skripchenko 710,000
4 Dan Heimiller 700,000
5 Dinara Khaziyeva 670,000
6 George Rechnitzer 660,000

Source: http://www.pokerlistings.com