Folding her hand in Hollywood

Now that she's a bona fide poker champion, Jennifer Tilly says she'll probably scale back on making movies to focus on the card games.

Tilly stunned the poker world last week by winning the World Series of Poker's No Limits Texas Hold 'Em Ladies Event and a $157,625 prize.

She's hungry for more.


"The movies are annoying because they get in the way of my poker playing," Tilly said Tuesday at a party at the Palms Hotel & Casino to promote the upcoming poker documentary No Limit. "I have a new movie (Tideland) coming out, and I am super-bummed because I have to do the publicity, and it'll take place in the middle of a tournament I want to play."


Tilly, a 1994 Oscar nominee for Bullets Over Broadway, is so serious about poker that she recently bought a unit in the Cosmopolitan, a high-rise condo on the Las Vegas Strip to be built next to the Bellagio Hotel & Casino.


"I'd rather do this than be in some crappy movie that will end up on cable," says Tilly, 46. "I'm financially secure, and mostly I want to be with my man and play in the tournaments."


Her man, Phil "Unabomber" Laak, 33, is one of poker's biggest stars and her teacher "by osmosis," she says. Laak is competing in this week's World Series of Poker tournament here. It has a record purse of more than $8 million.


Tilly says she and Laak are amused that she's now approached as often as he is for poker tips. "I started as a big tag-along wannabe, but now I won, so I guess I know what I'm doing," Tilly says. "To these people, I'm now a poker player who happens to be a celebrity."


Well, not quite. One reason many professional poker players are happy for Tilly is that her success boosts interest in the game, especially among women. "If people are inspired by her win, it only helps all of us," says Annie Duke, one of the top female players.


Hollywood is taking a growing interest, too. Lucky You, featuring Drew Barrymore as the girlfriend of a poker pro played by Eric Bana, arrives in December. A biopic about the late poker legend Stu Unger also is in the works.


No Limit filmmaker Tim Rhys started work on his documentary in 2003, just as poker was bursting into the mainstream.


In the 90-minute film, partially previewed Tuesday, Rhys follows ex-girlfriend Susan Genard as she plays six tournaments in eight months with their 4-year-old son in tow. Interviews with dozens of poker celebs are interspersed with Genard's journey. No Limit is expected to make its debut at the Toronto Film Festival in September.


Tilly, who was not part of the documentary, believes Rhys' timing is perfect. "These guys are like the last American cowboys. There are some great stories to be told."
By Steve Friess

News Added: 07 July, 2005

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