Skye Chen came to Las Vegas with her friends for a mahjong tournament but didn’t want to pay the $600 entry fee.
She decided to enter the World Series of Poker’s $1,000 buy-in Ladies No-limit Hold’em Championship instead.
“It seems to have gotten me a lot more,” Chen said on the WSOP stream.
The recreational player from Sunnyvale, California, won the event late Sunday at Paris Las Vegas, defeating Aubrey Williams in a heads-up duel that lasted more than three hours.
Chen, playing in her second-ever WSOP event, earned the $194,630 top prize and her first career bracelet, which are awarded for tournament victories.
“It’s always been a dream of mine as a poker player to get a bracelet. But I absolutely did not expect this on the second try ever,” Chen said. “It’s a dream come true really.”
Chen started heads-up play facing nearly a 2-to-1 chip deficit but made a stunning hero call for her tournament life with only ace high, giving her more than 80 percent of the chips in play at the first break.
Williams clawed back from almost being eliminated on two occasions, but her luck finally ran out when Chen’s pocket fours held up against ace-five on the final hand.
Williams, an online poker pro from Yardley, Pennsylvania, earned $129,692, which is more than double her previous best cash in a tournament.
The Ladies Championship, which drew a record 1,475 entrants, is open to men and women based on Nevada anti-discrimination laws. Starting in 2013, the WSOP officially made the event a $10,000 buy-in and gave women a 90 percent discount to $1,000 to discourage men from entering.
The WSOP confirmed that no men registered for this year’s event.
Lisa Teebagy, an experienced tournament player from Florida, finished third ($93,149), while professional poker player and poker content creator Caitlin Comeskey finished fourth in a cruel knockout.
Comeskey’s pocket fours ran into the pocket aces of Teebagy, but a four on the flop briefly appeared to provide new life. Comeskey collapsed to the floor in disbelief as the fans roared their approval.
The final two cards were clubs, however, putting four clubs on the board and giving Teebagy the winning flush. Comeskey earned $67,735, the largest cash of her career.
