What happened at the Champions Club's "Queens and Poker" event in Texas Hold'em?
Regional newsChampions Club Texas hosted the "Queens & Cards" women's poker event, which included a team tournament, a cash game with Phil Hellmuth, a bounty tournament, and a main event. Hellmuth personally stepped in to add a $25,000 prize pool. The multi-day "Queens & Cards" event at the Champions Social Club in Texas featured record-breaking attendance, a unique tournament format, highly anticipated cash games, a bounty tournament, and a main event. The series kicked off with a $150 buy-in women's team tournament, attracting 120 entries, breaking the venue's previous record of 85 entries for a team tournament. The tournament format stipulated that teammates must exchange chips whenever the tournament director called "switch." Swaps could occur at almost any time, including during a hand or while a player was making a decision. Tricia Symansic and Sarah Landell ultimately won the tournament, each receiving $1,975 chips. On Day Two of the "Women vs. Hellmuth" series, a special live-streamed $5/$10 NLH cash game, titled "Brat Attack," featured an all-female lineup plus 17-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth. Hellmuth maintained a valid stack of $900 throughout the game, with a consecutive bounty of $1,000. This meant that any player who eliminated Hellmuth would receive an additional $1,000 chips on top of the pot (as shown below). Hellmuth told PokerNews, “The enthusiasm was incredible! I was so surprised and happy when female players came up to me and told me how important this was for them. We had women from all over the country participating. I want women to know that the poker world welcomes them.” Players at the cash game included Nikki Limo, Caitlin Comeskey, Brandi Rook, Rachelle Park, Katie Lindsay, AJ Rudolph, and Esther “ETay” Taylor. Limo told PokerNews, “I really enjoyed playing against Phil and his 4% VPIP in the cash game. All the ladies had a great time, and I hope we can do it again!” Etay said, “It was a great honor to be invited to Phil Hellmuth’s Champions Club ‘Queens and Poker’ weekend event.”
