What happened at the Champions Club's "Queens and Poker" event in Texas Hold'em?

Champions Club Texas is hosting the "Queens & Poker" women's poker event, which includes a team tournament, a cash game with Phil Hellmuth, a bounty tournament, and the main event. Hellmuth is personally stepping in to raise the prize pool to $25,000.

Recently, the Champions Social Club in Texas hosted a multi-day women's poker-themed event called "Queens & Cards," featuring record-breaking attendance, a unique tournament format, highly anticipated cash games, bounty tournaments, and a main event as the grand finale.

The series kicked off with a $150 buy-in women's team event, attracting 120 entries, breaking the previous record of 85 entries for a team event at the venue. The tournament rules stipulate that teammates must exchange chips whenever the tournament director calls "switch." Swaps can occur at almost any time, including during hand play or while players are making decisions.

Tricia Symansic and Sarah Landell ultimately won the title, each receiving $1,975 in prize money.

Heroines vs. Hellmuth

On the second day of the series, a special live-streamed $5/$10 NLH cash game event called "Brat Attack" took place, featuring 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 means that any player who eliminates Hellmuth in the game will receive an additional $1,000 bonus on top of winning 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 participating in 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 tremendous honor to be invited to Phil Hellmuth's Champions Club 'Queens and Poker' weekend. The energy, enthusiasm, and hospitality behind the event were top-notch! I'm so proud of Phil, not only for his generosity, but also for his vision for women's participation in poker and everything he's done to foster growth!"

Rudolph said, “The Champions Club’s Queens and Poker weekend couldn’t have been better! The venue did everything it could to make sure everyone had a great time and everything ran smoothly. Phil Hellmuth was incredibly generous, not only financially but also in his time. He participated in the live stream and the Maneater bounty, played cash games with us, and even paid the bubble prize in the Main Event when we asked. It was a weekend about community, friendship, and competition. I was thrilled to be a part of it. Many of the women are already planning to come back next year.”

Comeskey added, “There’s been a lot of discussion about whether we need women’s tournaments and who they’re for, and I continue to support them. The Champions staff and owners genuinely welcome new female players, cheer for the celebraters, and comfort those who are having a tough time. I think they’ve been very successful in that regard. I’m not only proud of Phil’s efforts, but also of the many women there who wanted to spread goodwill and care for the game and female players.”

"I will always be grateful for Phil's kindness and generosity towards female poker players in my hometown, and for what he said directly to me. His praise and gratitude were so touching that I could hardly process it, and honestly, I still can. But if Phil wants us to come back, he better not finish Kahlua and Bailey's next time."

The replay of this live stream can be viewed below:

The following day, a "Maneater" bounty tournament with a buy-in of $250 was also held, with all participating male players receiving a $100 bounty (the organizers encouraged male participation).

Lisa Fleischman ultimately emerged victorious, winning the championship title, a $6,350 champion prize, and a $600 bounty.

Main Event

The third day featured the $500 buy-in Main Event, which attracted 158 entries. Hellmuth personally contributed an extra $25,000 to the prize pool!

This allowed champion Cheryl Spencer-Nejtek to take home the prize money of $25,230.

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