(Sept 16) - Like life itself, the game of poker is full of sudden changes of fortune.
Just ask Nicole Rowe, a 40-year-old Salisbury, N.Y., woman who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer -- the same disease that killed her grandmother. Rowe learned she would need to undergo a double mastectomy.
Days after she got the news, Rowe decided to travel to Atlantic City, N.J., and enter a poker tournament for women. Friends urged her to go.
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Courtesy Nicole Rowe
Nicole Rowe, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, poses with her 6-year-old daughter.
"The whole reason was to keep my mind off of reality, which is cancer," said Rowe, a mother of two who works as an optician at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
But when she arrived at the Borgata Hotel and Casino on Saturday, she was surprised to find a man among the competitors for the "Ladies No Limit Hold 'Em" tournament.
Knocked out of an earlier tournament by a woman, Abraham Korotki, a 65-year-old real-estate developer, entered the ladies' event unaware of any gender restrictions. "I saw five or 10 guys in line, and was told when I registered that men were welcome," he said.
As the tournament progressed, word of Rowe's cancer diagnosis spread. She took the opportunity to encourage the other female players to get baseline sonogram exams in addition to traditional mammograms.
"It became my mission to spread the word that mammograms don't always catch certain cancers," Rowe said.
A camaraderie developed among the women at the table, even as many were eliminated.
"I was playing for all the women there, not just for me. Several of the others were upset by the presence of a man, but not me," Rowe said.
She said she's no stranger to playing against men. "Ninety-nine percent of the time it's the other way around, there's just one woman at a table of men."
After 16 hours of play, Rowe and Korotki were the only two players with a chance at winning. In the end, it was Korotki who recieved the trophy engraved with the words "Ladies Champion."
He also earned $20,982 in prize money. He said he is donating all his winnings to three charities, including the Susan G. Komen for the Cures breast cancer foundation, in Rowe's honor.
"I wish Nicole nothing but the best," Korotki said.
Rowe took home a second-place payout of $11,889, but the experience was worth much more.
"There was a buzz in the casino. They put up my picture, and people heard my story. I had strangers coming up to me, hugging me, telling me I was going to be all right," she said.
Officials at the Borgata Hotel were moved, as well. They decided to have a new trophy made in recognition of Rowe being the last woman standing in the ladies' tournament. And the hotel is donating $5,000 to the Komen breast cancer foundation.
As for Rowe, she'll soon undergo surgery for her cancer. She has started a blog to chronicle her experiences and help support other women stricken with the disease.
As for poker, it remains what she calls "a great diversion," whatever unforeseen twists life throws her way.
