On Saturday, June twenty first, the energetic Orleans poker site performed host to the $600 Girls Championship, one of many marquee occasions of Ladies’s Poker Week. As a part of our ongoing partnership with the Ladies’s Poker Affiliation (WPA), Cardplayer Way of life was on-site to cowl all of the motion.
The event kicked off at 11 a.m., with late registration open till 6:15 p.m. Gamers started with a beneficiant 40,000-chip beginning stack, and the construction featured 30-minute ranges that prolonged to 40 minutes after Degree 12, making a player-friendly and aggressive setting. The occasion carried a $50,000 assured prize pool, which was simply surpassed due to a powerful turnout of 181 gamers. When registration closed, the prize pool had soared to a powerful $93,215. A complete of 24 locations have been paid, with the winner set to take house $22,606 and the minimal money value $1,258.
✨It’s Ladies’s Poker Week in Vegas & right here’s what you must learn about Sat 6/21!
🎟️ Don’t miss our Summer time Raffle Fundraiser!
Tickets: 1/$25 or 5/$100. Every ticket enters you into each prize drawings. Particulars are within the picture beneath!
🍀🏆Good luck on the tables!#wpaglobal pic.twitter.com/uG4jKtlps1
— Ladies’s Poker Affiliation (@WPAGlobal) June 21, 2025
Chris Pleasure, Vice President and Common Supervisor of the Orleans, had this to say in regards to the event, “The Orleans is proud to host the Summer time Open Collection Girls Championship, bringing in among the high ladies in skilled poker from all around the world. An increasing number of ladies are becoming a member of aggressive poker as an thrilling sport of endurance, technique, and psychological toughness. We’re honored to offer this expertise to so many gifted ladies within the poker-playing world.”
WPA Participant of the Day: Debbie Espe
Our participant of the day part is dropped at you by Ladies’s Poker Affiliation’s sponsor, Jamie Kerstetter | Advocate for Ladies in Poker, Commentator, Skilled Poker Participant, Venetian Poker’s Ladies’s Poker Ambassador. Observe Jamie on X right here.
When requested why she needed to assist this sequence of girls’s occasions, Jamie answered, “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.”
Debbie Espe has been enjoying poker for 25 years, ever since she bought her actual property brokerage enterprise. She holds levels in each sociology and anthropology, and is among the unique advocates for the Ladies’s Poker Affiliation (WPA). Obsessed with supporting ladies within the sport, Debbie continues to advertise and play alongside them.
Her love for poker and journey has facilitated alternatives to play at tournaments throughout the US in addition to in London, Costa Rica, Canada, Eire, and Malta — her most cherished poker vacation spot. Backed by the complete assist of her household, Debbie is a proud mom of three, grandmother of eight (with a ninth on the best way), and great-grandmother of three. Although her husband doesn’t play, he’s her largest cheerleader.
Whereas she gained’t be enjoying on this yr’s WSOP Girls Occasion attributable to an upcoming Norwegian cruise, Debbie plans to return for Occasion #90: $777 Fortunate 7’s and Occasion #97: $1,500 The Nearer.
Debbie attributes a lot of her poker success to her sturdy instinct. She recounted a current hand the place she made a troublesome name, prompting one other participant to ask, “How did you name that?” Her response: “I simply felt it.” Though she as soon as tried to delve into superior sport concept, she discovered it extra complicated than useful, and in the end needed to unlearn it to reconnect along with her pure instincts. In the present day, she works with a mindset coach and has additionally acquired teaching from poker professional Kenna James.
Debbie’s gut-driven strategy is clearly working. With over $120,000 in lifetime event earnings to her title, she thrives in each money video games and tournaments. Amongst her notable finishes is a deep run in Occasion #1: $1,000 Thriller Tens of millions this yr, the place she scored two $1,000 bounties and positioned 132nd for $7,460. Her largest event rating got here in 2014 at a Day by day Deepstack, the place she cashed for $32,050.
Don’t let the “great-grandma” label idiot you! Debbie Espe is a drive to be reckoned with on the poker desk.
Last Desk Outcomes and Payouts
Bubble play at Orleans’ $600 Girls Championship stretched out as quick stacks tightened up and the motion slowed, with everybody treading rigorously. As soon as the ultimate desk was set, chips moved round for a bit, however because the night time wore on, fatigue started to set in. When the sector was down to 6 gamers, discuss of a possible chop started, although there wasn’t instant consensus.
Then, Florence Mazet of France was eradicated in sixth place. She had been short-stacked for a lot of the night and had begun a promising comeback, however in the end couldn’t win her last flip, regardless of the cheers and vitality from her French rail.
With Mazet’s exit, chop discussions resumed. An Unbiased Chip Mannequin (ICM) deal was proposed, and after some preliminary indecision, all 5 remaining gamers agreed, particularly on condition that it was approaching 2 a.m.
When the mud settled, it was Rachel Usack of Florida who held the chip lead and walked away with the most important payout, together with the championship trophy. Reflecting on her journey, Rachel mentioned she’d been short-stacked for a lot of the day however caught to her technique and stayed composed. Arriving on the last desk as one of many shorter stacks, she managed to win just a few essential flips and rapidly surged to the highest.
As for what’s subsequent, Rachel plans to leap into the Excessive Curler Match, until, she joked, she’s too exhausted to play.
Last Payout Outcomes
RankPlayerCountryPrize1Rachel UsackThonotosassa FL, USA$13,3342Jill BryantAurora, IL, USA$13,0143Maria ScardavilleLanghorn, PA, USA$12,7104Ruth HallRound Rock TX, USA$9,2805Danielle ChaputSavannah GA, USA$7,6396Florence MazetFrance$4,0087Phakwalan ChonwiranThailand$3,4028Christina GollinsHenderson NV, USA$2,8909Chris ReadPhoenix, AZ, USA$2,47010Toni BiscontiCuyahoga Falls, OH USA$2,09711Nancy BirnbaumFort Lauderdale FL, USA$2,09712Ayaka MuraishiJapan$2,09713Ting Ting HoUnited States$1,81814Kayla ClackumClarksville GA, USA$1,81815Janet BerryHenderson NV, USA$1,81816Lais LouencoBrazil$1,58517Jennifer AvilaModesto CA, USA$1,58518Sigrid DenckerAustria$1,58519Laura HoppeHouston TX, USA$1,39820Jennifer JonesSandy UT, USA$1,39821Sandra LeflerLas Vegas NV, USA$1,39822Rebecca TrianoskyGreenville TN, USA$1,25823Cindy ManningPeachtree Metropolis GA, USA$1,25824Bridgette AdkinsDearborn MO, USA$1,258
2025 Ladies’s Poker Week: What’s Subsequent?
Cardplayer Way of life’s unique protection of 2025 Ladies’s Poker Week continues:
Sunday, June twenty second | $2,500 NLH LIPS Girls Excessive Curler $100K GTD (3 day), on the Venetian, beginning at 12:10 p.m.Monday, June twenty third | $600 NLH on the Wynn kicking off at 11:00 a.m.
