By Sean Chaffin
The room is packed and Gayle Knorr (pictured) is in the spotlight. She may have a few butterflies in her stomach, but her smile remains. Despite everyone focusing on her, she’s ready for her big moment.
Those watching aren’t poker players though, but a convention of thousands of people. While the Zynga Poker WPT500 Las Vegas may be her first major poker tournament, being under pressure is nothing new for Knorr. As a member of the Elks Lodge back in Colorado, she’s a regular singer at events and even performed three years ago for a crowd of 6,000 at a convention in Houston, Texas.
As well as working a mic, Knorr also knows how to work her cards in a poker tournament. In May, she topped a field of 1,400 in a ClubWPT qualifying tournament led her to play at the Aria today.
ClubWPT is the tour’s sweepstakes poker site, where players can pay a $24.95 monthly subscription with a chance to win a share of $100,000 in cash and prizes each month. The site offers plenty of action and even chances to win spots in major WPT tournaments. It turned out to be a nice investment for Knorr, who has played on the site for years.
“I play some larger tournaments about three or four times a week,” she says. “My screen name is y2Kplayer, since I’ve been playing poker since about 2000.”
Now she has a shot at an even bigger score and is excited to add a big event to her poker repertoire.
“It’s my first live event,” she says of playing in the Zynga Poker WPT500 at ARIA. “I wish I was in a little better position chip-wise, but it feels great. I’m enjoying myself.”
Married with two sons and two grandchildren, Knorr lives in Dillon, Colorado, about 70 miles west of Denver. When not playing cards, she works as a bookkeeper but is now semi-retired. Her skills with numbers help her at the poker table, Knorr says. Her husband Robert also came on the trip, but they have different views on poker.
“He hates poker,” she says laughing. “He likes the old-style poker with Five Card Stud and that kind of stuff.”
After the first break in the day, Knorr was still alive and Robert was at the craps table. Should she bust out today, is another bullet in her budget?
“Possibly,” she says. “It depends on how far I am in the tournament, but I think I’m okay so far.”
Both are active in the in Elks Lodge, a patriotic fraternal organization that services its communities through raising money for scholarships, service to veterans, and running drug awareness programs.
Knorr has been known to play in some Colorado poker tournaments on occasion with an occasional game even breaking out in the members-only lodge.
“But we keep that quiet,” she says with a laugh, “just between friends.”
Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer in Crandall, Texas, and his work appears in numerous websites and publications. Follow him on Twitter @PokerTraditions.
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