The $300Million Woman Taking On The Big Boys

The Super High Roller Bowl kicked off with the biggest names in the poker world being bandied about as potential winners of the $5million first prize, retired Fedor Holz and man on a heater Jason Koon chief among them, with Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu also in the mix – but it was Kathy Lehne who burst into the early lead and finished day one up with the leaders.

Well, amateurs simply aren’t expected to do well in the massive buy-in events, they’re there simply to hand some $$ to the pros and enjoy themselves in the process – but Lehne had a different idea in mind when she took on the best and handed them their asses on a plate.

She started by sending Brian Rast to the rail as first man out when his bluff went horribly wrong, and then finished off Doug Polk’s fading tournament hopes when she rivered a flush to defeat Polk’s flopped trips and sent him packing.

As the only female in the 48-player field, Lehne has been here before – the self-confessed ‘hobbyist’ at the poker table finishing in an admirable 17th place a couple of years back.

Poker, however, is not her main passion: that award goes to her work, Lehne being the Founder, CEO, and President of the wholesale fuel marketer and distributor Sun Coast Resources, which she founded as a young woman back in 1985 with just $2000. Now she is estimated by Forbes magazine to be worth a staggering $340 million!

Perhaps the fans should now be getting behind the poker-loving businesswoman and chanting instead Hellmuth, Hellmuth, who the heck is Hellmuth?