| First Female WPT Champion Crowned One of the poker industry’s most glamorous live events, the World Poker Tour Invitational crowned its first woman player as champion since the tournament’s inception.
“The Master” Nguyen, managed to beat 444 other players to become the first female to win a major televised tournament in WPT’s history. The Invitational began at the Commerce Hotel on March 1st with a star-studded red-carpet ceremony and attracted major players and celebrities who are traditionally lined up to play against each other for the duration of the tournament. Among the stars that took part in the event were Oliver Hudson, Ricky Lake, Josh Malina, James Woods and Mimi Rogers. Harbor Private Funds donated a $20,000 prize pool that was split among the last ten celebrities still standing in the tournament, and was donated to a charity of their choice.
Van Nguyen beat a table of poker aces to take home over half the generous prize pool put up by the Commerce Hotel. Others around the first-ever five seat final table were Elias Madias (author), Billy Baxter (Poker Hall of Fame), Ethan Ruby (Poker4Life founder) and Justin Marchand (‘Card Player Magazine’ associate publisher).
Praising Nguyen’s win, Steve Lipscomb CEO of the World Poker Tour said: “This great sport of poker is the only one that focuses on an individual's skill--regardless of gender--and we're thrilled the time has finally come to celebrate a female WPT Champion. It was only a matter of time before a female took down a major WPT tournament, and what better way to mark this historic event than Van Nguyen battling for the title while her husband--a well-respected pro--cheered her on from the audience. Her win is one of many recent events that solidify women as a major force to be reckoned with on and off the tables.”
The World Poker Tour Invitational will be aired on the GSN network, the new home of WPT events, on July 21st.
The final placings at the WPT Invitational were as follows:
Van Nguyen – first place
Ethan Ruby – second place
Billy Baxter – third place
Justin Marchand – fourth place
Elias Madias – fifth place
Author: Renee Kingsley |
