Only one player has won a WSOP bracelet in their only recorded Hendon Mob cash.
That player was Vera Richmond, who also became the first woman to win a WSOP bracelet in an open event – although her victory in the 1982 $1,000 Limit Ace-to-Five Draw event was almost erased from the record books.
According to Linda Johnson, the third woman to win a WSOP bracelet in an open event, Richmond’s name was removed from the records by the WSOP itself, “because she was so detested by everyone.”
Speaking on Jennifer Shahade’s The Grid podcast, Johnson said that while she was “mean and nasty”, Richmond still deserved to be remembered for her win.
Johnson said she asked WSOP officials why Richmond's name had been removed. Their response, she recalled, was, “because she’s a bitch.”
Johnson hit back: “There’s plenty of asshole men who’ve won bracelets and are in there, you have to put her in.”
After Johnson's intervention, Richmond’s name was added back to the record books.
According to Johnson, “[Richmond] cussed, she had a mouth like a sailor. She had a lot of money and didn’t put up with any crap from the men.”
But was Richmond really that bad, or was she the victim of a different era, when the men running the WSOP didn’t know how to handle strong women? Cussing and not putting up with any crap from men sounds like a solid toolset for dealing with the modern game.
Green: Richmond had to act tougher than she was
90-year-old Perry Green, who finished fourth in the event Richmond won in May 1982, remembers her differently. The event attracted 77 players, with eight getting paid and Richmond taking $38,500 for first place.
“She viewed herself as an outsider being a woman without recognition of skill,” Green tells us. “Since she was competing with a largely male-dominated group, she had to act tougher than she appeared.”
Green says he held no animosity towards Richmond and offers a more personal recollection.
“I remember her adoring husband rooting for her quietly,” Green says. “She came from money, I believe, and I think that led to her looking at the professional players with a little disdain.”
“In the old days we enjoyed the company of fellow players outside the ring of competition and dined with them as well. While I recall socializing with all my fellow players including their spouses and intimate friends, I never recalled a single social time with Vera except at the tables.”
Richmond almost missed out on her bracelet
Richmond also had to fight for her bracelet.
In 1982, the WSOP gave out watches instead of bracelets, but according to WSOP’s own reporting at the time, “Since Vera has her heart set on a bracelet, an exception will be made in her case.”
Richmond never cashed again – unless those cashes were also stricken from the record.
Johnson said nobody knew what had happened to her, although she believed Richmond had died.
“After a few years, she disappeared,” Johnson said. “ She was elderly at the time and used a wheelchair. She was probably 65-70 back then [in 1982].”
It would be another 14 years before Barbara Enright became the second woman to win an open event at the WSOP.
Richmond made history in 1982. According to Johnson, it took another fight to make sure she stayed in the history books.
Footnote: There is one other player who almost matched Richmond’s record of one cash and one bracelet – John Paquette.
Coincidentally, he also won his bracelet in 1982, in the $1K NLH but ruined his perfect one-for-one with a $490 cash in a Daily Deepstack at the Rio in 2013.
Feature image created with AI.
