SUBMITTED NEWS RELEASE
The Eldorado’s Margie Heintz a candidate for one of two inductee spots
The Eldorado Hotel Casino is proud to announce Poker Room Manager Margie Heintz has been nominated for the Women in Poker Hall of Fame in Las Vegas. She is one of five finalists—and the sole nominee from Reno—vying for two spots in the Hall for 2011, which the public is invited to vote for online.
Heintz is credited with being the first woman to ever deal at the famous World Series of Poker. Her story starts in Billings, Montana, where poker was legalized the early 1970s. She played often and became a dealer, often criticized for being a young girl in a “Man’s World.” After dealing for a year in her hometown she ventured to Las Vegas, where she was hired as a dealer at The Golden Nugget in 1976.
In 1977, famous rodeo cowboy and poker player Byron “Cowboy” Wolford suggested Heintz deal at the upcoming World Series of Poker at Binion’s Gambling Hall. When she went to inquire, she was told no woman had ever dealt the tournament, or had even applied to deal before, so she went to talk to owner Benny Binion herself. The two hit it off immediately when she mentioned her Montana roots and she was hired.
Though many men playing in the 1977 World Series didn’t think she was capable, Heintz took the reigns and ended up so highly recommended that she was invited to deal the final table. In front of a national audience covered by the CBS Wide World of Sports, Heintz dealt the championship round of the tournament, opening the door for women in the poker industry across the nation.
The Eldorado encourages the community to support Margie Heintz by voting for the 2011 Women in Poker Hall of Fame candidates www.wiphof.com. Voting ends July 30. For more information on Heintz and the Eldorado Poker Room visit www.eldoradoreno.com or call 775-786-5700. Updates on Heintz’s nomination can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.
