Monday June 24 saw our first doubleheader of 2024 Ladies Poker Week, with a pair of stellar events taking place in Las Vegas, at the Orleans and Resorts World, respectively. The $400 Orleans Ladies Championship kicked off at 11am, while the show got underway at Resorts World at 1pm for the $360 PLON Crystal Cup. Both events carried a $40,000 guarantee, and as part of our partnership with the Women’s Poker Association, Cardplayer Lifestyle was on hand to cover both.
Orleans Poker Room (left) and Resorts World Poker Room (right)
$400 Orleans Ladies Championship
“The Ladies Championship is one of my favorite events every year,” said Orleans Poker Room Manager Eric Ewing. “Poker, in general, brings together people from all different walks of life, but when it’s a Ladies event it’s that much more special; for them to have their own event to just have fun. We like to welcome all sorts of groups here at Orleans, be it Hold’em, mixed games, ladies; you name it, and we want everyone to feel as welcome as possible.”
The @OrleansPokerRo1 $400 buy-in $40,000 GTD Ladies Championship is now underway, with 64 players having showed up for the “shuffle up and deal”.
Ladies who make the final table get a @WPAGlobal gift bag, with the winner receiving a special enhanced gift bag and the trophy. pic.twitter.com/kISYK9IxgO
— Cardplayer Lifestyle (@PokerLifeMedia) June 24, 2024
One of the Orleans dealers, 25-year-old Brandon, was eyeing all the gift bags and the WPA trophy, and asked “what’s all this extra stuff?” When I explained, telling him about the Women’s Poker Association and what they do to help promote women in poker, his response was “That’s really cool! I’m going to tell my stepmom about this! She wants to learn the game and that seems like a perfect way for her to do that.”
$360 PLON Crystal Cup at Resorts World
“We are very pleased to welcome back the Poker League of Nations Ladies Event,” said Leon Wheeler, Director of Poker Operations Resorts World. “This is our fourth year, and all have been highly successful. I have always been an advocate for promoting women’s events and will continue to do so. So far, we have had a great turnout and look forward to next year.”
The @PokrLeagNations (PLON) Crystal Cup is now underway at @PokerRoomRWLV!
130+ ladies have registered thus far for this $360 buy-in $40K GTD tournament.
Registration open until approximately 5:30pm
cc: @WPAGlobal pic.twitter.com/NcLp0jBnwX
— Cardplayer Lifestyle (@PokerLifeMedia) June 24, 2024
Here’s what 183 ladies (and counting!) are playing for at @PokerRoomRWLV today, the PLON Crystal Cup. 🏆
The champion will also receive a special @TiffanyAndCo Bracelet 💎
(and thousands in prize money 💰, of course 😀) pic.twitter.com/hxrjyDjR2l
— Cardplayer Lifestyle (@PokerLifeMedia) June 24, 2024
No Tilt Poker Tables Players of the Day
With a pair of Ladies Events attracting a total of over 400 combined entries, it’s only fitting that we recognize two of No Tilt Poker Tables Players of the Day, Jennifer Solomon at the PLON Crystal Cup and Christina Black at the Orleans Ladies Championship.
Jennifer Solomon
Jennifer is PLON’s Travel Ambassador, having originally gotten into poker when Chris Moneymaker won the 2003 WSOP Main Event. “I like the rush when I play, and it’s actually very relaxing for me,” she remarked. Away from the felt, Jennifer works as a travel agent, with poker being her favored pastime. “What I like the most about Ladies events is the camaraderie; getting together, seeing my friends, and it’s much more relaxed. Just a very friendly environment.”
Jennifer also shared a special announcement with players just prior to the “shuffle up and deal” — namely a special “Ladies Week at Sea”, with back-to-back WPT at Sea cruises departing from Miami on November 10-15 and then November 15-21. While it won’t be a full ship takeover like this past March’s WPT Voyage, passengers on Virgin Voyages’ Resilient Lady will enjoy a few bespoke Ladies Events will be added to the tournament schedule as part of the cruises.
Rather than a particular tournament run or memorable cash game session, Jennifer shared that she felt her marquee achievement after 20+ years of being into poker has been recently getting involved in the industry side of the game. “I’m just getting started and I hope to have many years ahead of me,” she beamed.
Christina Black
Christina is a Women’s Poker Association (WPA) Board Member and functions as the Program Director for the organization’s Raise It Up initiative, which helps get poker rooms and managers to elevate the overall level of respect for ALL players. She happens to have an additional connection to the Orleans poker room, as she’s married to one of their Tournament Supervisors, Zach Black. Besides the obvious appreciation for the Orleans, Christina likes the room because it’s “open, friendly, and has lots of action. The players and staff are great, tournaments are great, and you always have a good time here.”
When I asked her what she loves about poker, Christina’s face positively lit up: “I love the competitiveness and the strategy, to be able to outthink your opponents. What I love about ladies tournaments in particular is that every single time I look around at another table I see a friend! Poker brought us together, but all our personality types, that’s what keeps us friends away from the table as well. We’ve been through everything together — divorces, remarriages, babies, kids’ graduations — all these life milestones together. And we always cheer each other on at life but we’re extremely competitive at the poker table.”
Christina went into the tournament’s dinner break on a high, with close to double the average chip stack, after her two red kings somehow managed to make a flush against her opponent’s two black kings. This is the first time she’s ever won a hand in a tournament against a player having the same holdings due to a fortuitous board runout, “and I feel pretty good right now.”
Payouts, Final Tables and Winners
Both of today’s Ladies events exceeded their respective $40,000 guarantees. Below you’ll see the payouts for the top 9 finishers who made the final table of each event.
A total of 147 entries generated a $49,980 prize pool at the Orleans Ladies Championship with the winner Svetlana Gromenkova receiving a $13,491 payday, and 18 players cashing for a minimum of $950 apiece.
| Player |
Payout |
| 1. Svetlana Gromenkova | $13,491 |
| 2. Carolyn Gardner | $7,797 |
| 3. Galya Zhekova | $4,998 |
| 4. Lorena Sanchez | $3,649 |
| 5. Deepa Alban | $2,949 |
| 6. Anne Bui | $2,399 |
| 7. Veronica Rivera | $1,974 |
| 8. Janet Berry | $1,649 |
| 9. Elizabeth Huey | $1,399 |
Meanwhile, a total of 259 entries generated a $79,254 prize pool at the PLON Crystal Cup at Resorts World, with the winner Amy Mynderse receiving a $19,023 payday, and 27 players cashing for a minimum of $880 apiece.
|
Player |
Payout |
| 1. Amy Mynderse | $19,023 |
| 2. Ada Lang | $11,888 |
| 3. Hayley Hochstetler | $7,925 |
| 4. Loni Hui | $5,487 |
| 5. Megan Chapman | $3,844 |
| 6. Laurie Clouse | $3,099 |
| 7. Micaela Yanigro | $2,536 |
| 8. Raechel Whetstone | $2,140 |
| 9. Katherine Stahl | $1,823 |
2024 Ladies Poker Week: What’s Next?
Cardplayer Lifestyle’s exclusive coverage of 2024 Ladies Poker Week continues on Tuesday June 25 with the $600 LIPS Venetian Ladies Championship, which begins at 11am tomorrow and carries a $50,000 guarantee.
In case you missed it, be sure to check out our recap and highlights of yesterday’s $20K GTD Ladies Kick-Off event at MGM Grand.
Our coverage is brought to you courtesy of No Tilt Poker Tables, which produces custom, handcrafted poker tables for families, card rooms, and casinos all over the world.
