The $10,000 buy-in Ladies NLHE Championship competition – number 53 on the World Series of Poker schedule – came to a conclusion over the weekend with a heads up between two amateur players, businesswoman Haixa Zhang and digital marketing specialist Mikiyo Aoki.
It was the culmination of a three day affair in which 793 entrants competed for the lion’s share of a $713,700 prize pool, with the heads up decided quickly after a 30-hand tussle at the three-handed stage saw third placed Meikat Siu eliminated for $61,114.
Mikiyo Aoki, who had held the chip lead at the start of the final table, was pitted against Haixa Zhang in the final hands of the event, with Zhang holding a slight advantage that she managed to build on with some good cards, enabling her to bust Aoki in a little over an hour and claim the main prize of $153,470 and her first WSOP bracelet.
Aoki took home $94,800, whilst the remaining players enjoyed pay-days of:
Meikat Siu $61,114
Elizabeth Montizanti $44,770
Patti Landis $33,279
Persia Bonella $25,072
Kendra Wray $19,120
Stacey Sullivan $14,752
Patricia Cahill $11,504
When we went to press late evening Las Vegas time the star studded charity match Big One for One Drop (event 57) was in full swing with 37 of the original 42 entrants still in action and UK poker pro Sam Trickett leading the pack on 14.35 million chips – comfortably ahead of nearest rival Tom Hall on 8.25 million.
The prize pool for the event is $37,333,338.