A Golden Finale to Girls’s Poker Week
Regrettably, all good issues should come to an finish, and so concludes Girls’s Poker Week 2025. However what every week it was, capped off by an exhilarating remaining occasion held on the smooth and fashionable Resorts World Las Vegas on Monday, June 30! Cardplayer Way of life was on-site to seize each thrilling second.
This yr’s Girls’s Poker Week was nothing in need of a smashing success, boasting all the pieces from high-stakes buy-in occasions to combined video games and spectacular prize swimming pools. Occasions spanned throughout the town at iconic venues together with South Level, Westgate, The Venetian, MGM Grand, The Orleans, Aria, Wynn, Golden Nugget, and Horseshoe & Paris Las Vegas. One of many standout occasions was the inaugural excessive curler at The Venetian, which drew 117 gamers, a powerful discipline that displays the rising enthusiasm for ladies’s poker. Amongst them was Jin O’Grady, who gained her seat at Jamie Kerstetter’s Meet-up Recreation earlier that morning and powered by to a four-way chop on the remaining desk.
Girls put in lengthy, grueling hours, pushed by the dream of taking dwelling championship trophies, Participant of the 12 months factors, and life-changing payouts. Most of the gorgeous trophies have been supplied by the Girls Worldwide Poker Collection (LIPS), led by the ever-charismatic Lupe Soto, and the Girls’s Poker Affiliation (WPA), championed by leaders AJ Rudolph (President) and Tara Smith (just-retired President).
AJ Rudolph, Lupe Soto, and Tara Smith
Gamers got here from across the globe to participate within the motion. Amongst them, the energetic “Queens Squad” from France, led by Cecile Ticherfatine, made their presence felt with deep runs and enthusiastic rail assist. Tales of resilience, triumph, and neighborhood echoed by each occasion.
A headline second got here when Shiina Okamoto of Japan captured her second consecutive WSOP Girls Occasion bracelet, together with $184,094 in prize cash, a dominant efficiency that cemented her standing as a powerhouse (right here’s final yr’s recap). Additionally making the ultimate desk, ultimately ending runner-up, was Heather Alcorn, the 2019 WSOP Supplier of the 12 months, proving her abilities on the felt prolong far past dealing.
PLON Girls Occasion at Resorts World
At Resorts World, the Poker League of Nations (PLON) Crystal Cup Championship introduced collectively 148 rivals, all vying for the title, a share of the $45,288 prize pool, and a coveted trophy. PLON, based by Lena Evans, is the world’s largest ladies’s poker neighborhood, providing free content material, world assist, and common tournaments, with over 50 ambassadors worldwide. Closing desk members have been additionally handled to well-stocked swag baggage, a signature PLON contact.
Leon Wheeler, Director of Poker at Resorts World, shared his heartfelt assist: “At Resorts World, we’re at all times proud to assist ladies’s occasions. The extra ladies we see within the sport, the higher it’s for poker as a complete. Personally, it’s near my coronary heart. My spouse, who’s an unimaginable participant herself, and I really met on the poker desk. So supporting Girls’s Poker Week means so much to me on a number of ranges.”
A feel-good theme of the day was “Maintain it Golden”, a reminder to remain constructive and gracious each on and off the felt. That vitality was epitomized by Ayaka Muraishi of Japan, who hit a straight flush close to the bubble and beamed with pleasure.
Straight flush 2025 Resorts World PLON WPA
Additionally within the discipline was Salima Dhanani, who kicked off Girls’s Poker Week with a win within the warm-up occasion at Horseshoe & Paris and returned to complete the week robust.
With 15 gamers paid, the winner walked away with $12,678, whereas the minimal money was $1,010. As the cash bubble neared, the desk tightened significantly. However as soon as it burst, the Director noticed with a chuckle, “Effectively, that was the best bubble ever.”
The ultimate 17 gamers featured a who’s who of girls’s poker, included Ruth ‘Ruthless’ Corridor, who notched eight cashes over the week and is on observe to reclaim Participant of the 12 months, Lena Evans, PLON founder and neighborhood powerhouse, Svetlana Gromenkova, recent off a Fifth-place end on the LIPS Nationwide Championship, Sumire Uenomachi, who completed seventh on this yr’s WSOP Girls Occasion, and Barbara Enright, a Poker Corridor of Famer and three-time WSOP bracelet winner, simply to call a number of.
The winner was Gunisha Sinha, who agreed to an even-money chop with Lynn Samples, leaving Gunisha with the trophy and the first-place title.
RankPlayerPrize1Gunisha Sinha$10,2602Lynn Samples$10,2603Lena Evans$5,2134Svetlana Gromenkova$3,6285Melanie Pittard$2,7226Hassiba Haimiche$2,1787Ayaka Muraishi$1,7918Ruth Corridor$1,5049Kelly Slay$1,29110Tiffany Wong$1,137
Gunisha Sinhas Winner PLON 2025 WPA
From begin to end, this yr’s Girls’s Poker Week was a celebration of ability, spirit, and sisterhood. We noticed daring bluffs, emotional wins, worldwide camaraderie, and unforgettable moments. The sport of poker is best due to these ladies, and we will’t wait to see what subsequent yr brings.
WPA Participant of the Day: Barbara Enright
Our remaining WPA Participant of the Day is dropped at you courtesy of Tom Wheaton, Founder & CEO, Light Spade Enjoying Playing cards & Above the Felt, and Jamie Kerstetter, Advocate for Girls in Poker, Commentator, Skilled Poker Participant, Venetian Poker’s Girls’s Poker Ambassador.
“Poker isn’t nearly playing cards, it’s about neighborhood. We assist the WPA as a result of they’re serving to construct a extra balanced and inclusive future for the sport, one the place ladies really feel welcome, empowered, and revered at each desk, whether or not taking part in within the poker site or main within the boardroom. That mission aligns with all the pieces we stand for at Light Spade,” mentioned Tom, when requested about Girls’s Poker Week.
Jamie added that supporting Girls’s Poker Week was important when she acknowledged, “The WPA does nice work creating alternatives, constructing neighborhood, and mentoring new ladies in poker. I’m proud to face behind WPA and push for extra ladies to get within the sport.”
Participant of the Day: Barbara Enright, A True Trailblazer
Our WPA Participant of the Day is none aside from the legendary Barbara Enright, a real icon on the earth of poker, notorious in the easiest way. A proud proprietor of three WSOP bracelets, Barbara has been an unwavering inspiration for ladies within the sport, particularly at a time when feminine gamers have been a rarity on the tables. She additionally proudly serves as a PLON ambassador, persevering with to assist and elevate ladies within the sport.
Barbara’s first WSOP bracelet got here practically 40 years in the past, in 1986, when she gained the $500 Girls Restrict Seven Card Stud occasion for $16,400, a second she nonetheless considers her proudest achievement. Remarkably, she hadn’t even come to Las Vegas to play poker. She occurred to win $77 after betting $11 on a horse named Now Victory on the Union Plaza. An opportunity encounter with a good friend led her to a satellite tv for pc match for the bracelet occasion, which she entered together with her newfound winnings and gained. Barbara fondly recollects the golden period of poker: low rake, elegant buffets, and jackets awarded to all remaining desk gamers. When she gained her first bracelet, she was so overcome with emotion that she cried. Again then, that prize cash was actually life-changing.
Eight years later, Barbara returned to win the identical occasion for her second bracelet and $38,400. Her third bracelet, and her largest money prize of $180,000, got here in a Pot-Restrict Maintain’em occasion, making her the primary lady to win a bracelet in an open (non-gender-restricted) occasion.
In 2007, Barbara made historical past as the primary lady ever inducted into the Poker Corridor of Fame. The next yr, she was honored once more with induction into the Girls in Poker Corridor of Fame, cementing her standing as some of the revered figures within the sport.
When requested how her poker journey started, Barbara credited her mom, who was an avid participant and would come dwelling with fascinating tales from the tables. That early inspiration caught. Over time, Barbara has advanced her taking part in type, saying she now performs “not as wild” as she as soon as did. As for finding out the sport? She’s learn precisely one poker ebook: Play Poker, Give up Your Job and Sleep Until Midday by John Fox. The philosophy of independence and freedom resonated together with her, and she or he dedicated absolutely to a poker profession that has since earned her practically $2 million in match winnings, permitting her to journey the world, usually with bills lined by poker magazines for occasion protection.
When requested for a enjoyable truth about herself, Barbara laughed, “I’m not as imply as I look.” As for a way she maintains stamina in lengthy tournaments, she mentioned, “I used to play money video games for 40 hours straight. If I’m within the zone, I’d relatively play by.” By comparability, in the present day’s 12-hour match days are a breeze.
Her third bracelet virtually didn’t occur; exhausted and sleep-deprived, she hadn’t deliberate to play. However with a bit of encouragement and a few monetary backing from mates who lined half her buy-in, Barbara entered the occasion and dominated her solution to victory.
She closed with a smile and a easy fact: “Poker has been good to me.”
Recapping 2025 Girls’s Poker Week
As we conclude Cardplayer Way of life’s unique protection of the 2025 Girls’s Poker Week, we share a message of gratitude and hope for the continued progress of girls’s participation within the sport. We thank our readers for his or her assist, whether or not by studying, sharing, or participating with our content material, and emphasize the significance of media protection in highlighting the achievements of girls in poker.
That sentiment nonetheless holds in the present day. As we look forward to one other thrilling yr, we stay dedicated to celebrating and amplifying the voices of girls in poker and to serving to develop the sport all of us love. On behalf of the WPAs’ President AJ Rudolph, the retiring President Tara Smith and LIPS Founder Lupe Sote, we wish to thank all the fantastic ladies who participated this week, all the venues who hosted Girls occasions, and naturally our fabulous sponsors; Faraz Jaka from Jaka Teaching, Maria Ho, Jamie Kerstetter, Adrian Naggy from LearnWPT, and Tom Wheaton from Light Spade Enjoying Playing cards & Above the Felt.
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