Two rings in Tulsa. Two rings in Durant. Now, the Queen of Oklahoma poker has her sights set on Appalachia and winning a fifth WSOP Circuit Ring at Harrahs Cherokee in North Carolina.
As chronicled by the PokerOrg team in Durant, OK during this week's WSOP Circuit Choctaw event, Belote won her fourth Circuit ring and an entry into the WSOP Tournament of Champions after besting the 147-entry field.
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She talked to PokerOrg after her win, and you can catch some of the Queen's wisdom in the video below.
"One of the pros said, you can't be a good cash player and a good tournament player. You have to be either-or. I choose tournaments."
A poker road trip to Cherokee?
All four of Belote's rings have come out of WSOP Circuit ladies events in Oklahoma, but Belote is thinking about taking her show on the road.
She went to Vegas for this year's WSOP and ran deep in the WSOP Super Seniors event, finishing in 23rd place out of more than 3,000 entries.
“On my bucket list is Cherokee, North Carolina, and I haven’t gotten there yet,” said Belote.
Belote's parents used to--in her words--drag her and her sisters along when they went to play cards. Eventually, the sisters put together their own game full of wild cards and pocket-change pots.
Belote graduated to adult poker when she married another card player later in life. In the video above she talks about playing a game called Booray that eventually ended up costing her a week's income--simply because she ended up playing a big pot with her spouse.
Today, she doesn't have to worry about that kind of loss. She only has to worry about how to get to North Carolina...and whether she can fit a fifth Circuit ring around her thumb.
