Three years ago, when Marin resident Kimberly Lansing was named the first female anchor of the World Poker Tour, the poker world swooned. Since then, media outlets have dubbed her "the Bob Costas of poker" for her abilities to manage a broadcast and analyze hands quickly.
Now, however, she is headed for the rail: She has announced that this season of the WPT will be her last and that Lynn Gilmartin will take her place when the season ends in October.
For Lansing, the decision has been bittersweet - exciting to start thinking about the next phase of her career but saddening to think about turning her back on the game that helped make her who she is today. "Poker has given me a lot over the years," she said recently, noting that she met her husband, Zach Hyman, through the game. "I can't imagine life without it."
That's precisely why Lansing won't be giving up cold turkey. Because she, Hyman and his twin brother, Matt (who made the final table in this year's WPT World Championship) are poker players on the professional circuit, Lansing says she will attend tournaments at Bay 101 in San Jose and other cardrooms.
She adds that she and her husband are building a house near Lake Tahoe, and they'll have a room big enough for a regulation-size poker table for home games. She's also been hitting the felt: For her final event, instead of sitting behind the anchor desk, Lansing played in the WPT Foundation Ladies' Night Invitational at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. The event will air during Season XII of WPT on Fox Sports Net, which begins in March.
Lansing says she wants to continue her career in television broadcasting or hosting, and acknowledges that most of those jobs probably will be in Los Angeles or New York. Still, she vows: She'll never move out of the Bay Area.
"I just think this is a perfect place to raise kids and live," she said. "My husband is from here. I love it here. I'd rather commute to L.A. or New York than leave the Bay Area."
As for the game itself, Lansing says she hopes women continue to learn the game and play it. She adds that when she steps away from the WPT, she'll take away an appreciation for how broad and complex poker can be.
"If I've learned anything about this game, it's that it is ever changing," she said. "Right when you think that you know it really well, right when you think you have it figured out, you get a bad beat or a bad read and all of a sudden everything is upside down. I know it's just gambling, but this is what makes it interesting."
Matt Villano is a Healdsburg freelance writer. E-mail: 96hours@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mattvillano
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