Welcome to the Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship. Last year’s winner, Yen Dang, outlasted a field of 936 players to claim victory along with a $170,587 prize and her first gold bracelet. In an attempt to make this a true ladies event this year and prevent men from entering, the WSOP increase the buy-in to $10,000 with ladies receiving a 90% discount.
Just because the field is made up of women doesn’t mean it is any less difficult to navigate. In the past, this event has drawn many of the most well-known female poker players including: Vanessa Selbst, Kara Scott, Kathy Liebert, and 2005 champion Jennifer Tilly.
The cards will be in the air at 12 p.m. Las Vegas time and we will be here to cover all the action straight from the tournament floor. While you are waiting for updates from the field, here is Sarah Grant with your June 28th update.
In this, another abridged version of the PokerNews Podcast, Rich and Mark take a look at the bubble of the $111,111 One Drop High Roller and discuss Jack Effel's decision to halt play for the evening before the bubble could burst. The two then look at some of the recent bracelet winners and discuss the 2013 Ladies Event.
We came to the table and saw Amanda Baker studying the board. The pot was roughly 2,300 and she was facing a 1,200 bet from her opponent and was in the tank when we got there. A solid minute later Baker made the call and was happy to see her held up against her opponent's .
With nine WSOP cashes including an 11th (2011) and 76th (2012) in the event, Baker has the experience and poker prowess to make a deep run. Keep it here to find out how far she goes.
When action folded to Fatima Moreira de Melo, she decided to move all in with her remaining 3,400. Janice Nguyen made the call and the hands were tabled.
Nguyen:
Moreira de Melo:
The board ran out and Moreira de Melo will be leaving the tournament without a new medal to add to her collection.
Chris Priday leads the field in the annual Ladies Event at the 2013 World Series of Poker, finishing the day with 96,200 in chips. A total of 954 players took their seats at the beginning of the day. After 10 levels of play, only 122 remain.
Several famous players and recognizable names were in the field today. Most of them didn’t survive the day, including Vicky Coren, Vanessa Selbst, Vanessa Rousso, Cherish Andrews, Jennifer Tilly, Jennifer Shahade, Kara Scott, Susie Isaacs, and Cyndy Violette. A few fared better, however, and Liv Boeree, Jackie Glazier, and Danielle “dmoongirl” Andersen will all return tomorrow.
This year, the WSOP changed its policy for the Ladies Event. Officially, the event has a buy-in of $10,000 and is open to anybody, both men and women. However, female entrants receive a 90% discount. The change was brought about by male players who in past years have taken advantage of legal loopholes to disrupt the spirit of the Ladies Event. It appears the change was successful, as we were informed that nobody paid the full $10,000.
Following Priday on the leader board are Sari F. Utchen (80,500 in chips), Lauren Billings, (74,600), Vanessa Kade (71,300) and Kristen Bicknell (69,400). Exactly 117 players will make the money, so five players who return tomorrow will leave empty-handed. The rest are guaranteed a payout of at least $1,631, but every player is eyeing the $173,922 and the WSOP gold bracelet that comes with it.
Play resumes Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. Join us here at PokerNews as we bring you live updates from Day 2 of the 2013 WSOP Ladies Event.