Understanding hand ranges isn’t just theory—it’s the key to making smarter, more profitable decisions at the table. Whether you're grinding…
Read MoreLadies Poker Week in Las Vegas Shows Mixed Numbers

Ladies Poker Week, as many women call it, is now more like two weeks. There are tournaments in nearly every poker tournament series around Las Vegas, from Wynn to Venetian, Aria to South Point, Resorts World to Orleans, and Golden Nugget to Westgate. Of course, there is also the WSOP Ladies Championship, which was the event that started it all years ago and upon which the other women-only events were built.
Some tournaments saw women’s participation increase this year, while the Golden Nugget, Wynn, and WSOP saw a decrease in the number of entries. The results are a mixed bag of entries and a sign that the tournament organizers may want to consolidate the women-only events into a shorter period of time next year.
Growth in Many Events
More than half of the women-only poker events across Las Vegas did see year-on-year growth in attendance. Let’s take a look at the numbers that tell the story.
Note that some of the events played in coordination with LIPS (Ladies International Poker Series) and comprised what they called Ladies Poker Summer Camp. Two of the events were hosted by PLON (Poker League of Nations) and not listed on the Ladies Poker Summer Camp schedule.
- 2024 $250 buy-in LIPS MGM Ladies Kickoff at MGM Grand ($20K GTD)
- 204 entries (up from 162 entries in 2023)
- $41,820 prize pool (up from $28,760 in 2023)
- Natalja Howel won for $10,315
- 2024 $400 buy-in Orleans Ladies Championship at the Orleans ($40K GTD)
- 147 entries (up from 115 entries in 2023)
- $49,980 prize pool (down from $50K in 2023, buy-in was $500 in 2023)
- Svetlana Gromenkova won for $13,491
- 2024 $600 buy-in LIPS Venetian Ladies Championship at Venetian ($50K GTD)
- 296 entries (up from 273 entries in 2023)
- $149,480 prize pool (up from $115,206 in 2023, buy-in was $500 in 2023)
- Natalia Rozova won for $30,481
Congratulations to Natalia Rozova of New Zealand who was the outright winner in our DeepStack Championship Event #41 $600 NLH @LIPS_Tour Ladies $50,000 guarantee on 6.25.24
Natalia takes home the DeepStack Championship bronze coin, the LIPS trophy, and $30,481 pic.twitter.com/6Z6kF8S3ek
— Venetian Poker Room (@VenetianPoker) June 26, 2024
- 2024 $360 buy-in PLON Crystal Cup at Resorts World ($40K GTD)
- 259 entries (up from 246 entries in 2023)
- $79,254 prize pool (up from $74,538 in 2023)
- Amy Mynderse won for $19,023
CRUSHED AGAIN! 259 entries @PokerRoomRWLV broke our previous records & $40K GTD by 2x $79,254.
1st *Amy $19,023
2nd *Ada $11,888
3rd Hayley $7,925
4th *@Luscious_Lon $5,487
5th *Megan $3,844
6th Laurie $3,099
7th Micaela $2,536
8th Raechel $2,140
9th Kat $1,823
*Chopped $2,980 LL pic.twitter.com/aDDytGZXGH— PokerLeagueOfNations🌎 (@PokrLeagNations) June 25, 2024
- 2024 $500 buy-in Aria Ladies Championship at Aria ($50K GTD)
- 351 entries (up from 246 entries in 2023)
- $147,420 prize pool (up from $103,320 in 2023)
- Ayaka Muraishi won for $30,219
Ayaka Muraishi (Los Angeles, CA) is the winner of @BetMGM ARIA Poker Classic Event #29: $500 Ladies NLH!
Ayaka outlasted a field of 351 entries earning $30,219 for the win!
She also takes home the ARIA Ace and the Women’s Poker Association trophy for her efforts. Congrats! pic.twitter.com/f8UKbW7J0o
— ARIA Poker (@ARIAPoker) June 28, 2024
- 2024 $400 buy-in LIPS National Championship at South Point ($35K GTD)
- 253 entries (up from 175 entries in 2023)
- $86,020 prize pool (up from $53,375 in 2023)
- 2024 $150 buy-in PLON Omaha-8 at Westgate
- 40 entries (up from 29 in 2023)
- $4,800 prize pool (up from $3,480 in 2023)
- Heather Kimel won for $1,440
Decreased Participation in Several Events
Despite the appearance of more women becoming involved in poker and joining Facebook groups, study groups, and coaching and staking stables, there were some events in the two weeks of Ladies Week that saw decreased participation, two with rather significant drops.
- 2024 $600 buy-in Wynn Ladies Championship ($50K GTD)
- 209 entries (down from 373 entries in 2023)
- $107,635 prize pool (down from $179,040 in 2023, buy-in increased from $500 in 2023)
- Lisa Childers won for $9,868
On June 17th, Lisa Childers defeated 209 players in the $600 WSC Ladies NLH event, claiming the victory, along with $9,868 in prize money. Congratulations Lisa on the win! pic.twitter.com/aO1p9UmK8r
— Wynn Poker Room (@WynnPoker) June 18, 2024
- 2024 $250 buy-in Ladies Event at Golden Nugget ($10K GTD)
- 96 entries (down from 181 entries in 2023)
- $18,720 prize pool (down from $27,150 in 2023, buy-in increased from $200 in 2023)
- Chris Read won for $5,940
Golden Nuggett 2024 Ladies Champ!
Today is the start of the WSOP Ladies Championship. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/HAGtdH7oz0— Chris Read (Chris Read Poker Player) (@read_poker) June 28, 2024
WSOP Women’s Events Down from 2023
One of the most popular of the women-only tournaments during this period of the summer is the World Series of Poker Ladies Championship. There is also a low buy-in Ladies Warm-Up event before that. Both tournaments offer high buy-ins but discounts for women who buy in, which was established by the WSOP to discourage men from entering. (The $10K Ladies Championship costs only $1K for women, and the $1,500 Ladies Warm-Up costs just $150 for women.)
Unfortunately, attendance for both events decreased this year.
- 2024 WSOP Ladies Warm-Up
- 171 entries (down from 214 in 2023)
- $18,810 prize pool (down from $23,540 in 2023)
- Monica Mejia won for $4,470
- 2024 WSOP Ladies Championship
- 1,245 entries (down from 1,295 in 2023)
- $1,095,600 prize pool (down from $1,152,550 in 2023)
- Shiina Okamoto won for $171,732
Congrats to Shiina Okamoto on winning Event #71: $10,000 LADIES Championship No-Limit Hold'em after finishing in 2nd place in the 2023 LADIES Championship! What an amazing followup to her 2023 deep run! #wsop2024
Read the full recap here:https://t.co/aFSoG01nFr pic.twitter.com/tn4rOWRNux
— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) July 2, 2024
Coordination is Key in 2025
There is no argument that more women-only tournaments are better for women in poker. For those who enjoy playing them, it provides an environment in which to play poker away from male harassment, questions, and criticism. Some women use it as an entry point for getting comfortable in poker tournaments, while others simply enjoy the friendly atmosphere among friends.
The problem happens when tournament organizers and sponsors place more importance on branding than on helping to foster a week of poker tournaments for players who take a week to be in Las Vegas for it in the summer. When it drags out to two weeks, most women have a difficult time setting aside that long of a time in Vegas. They have to decide the best time to be in town and what events to play, which often leaves the first and last events to suffer lower attendance. Whether or not this was the case, the June 17 Wynn Ladies Championship the June 27 Ladies Warm-Up, and the June 28 WSOP Ladies Championship all showed lower numbers this year as the primary bookend events of Ladies Week.
WSOP Ladies Week Events
Some events were listed on the Ladies Poker Summer Camp schedule as qualifying for the LIPS Player of the Year points. PLON events are not included and always listed separately. The Warm-Up didn’t make it onto either list. The WPA (Women’s Poker Association) coordinated with Card Player Lifestyle for media coverage of the women-only tournaments of the week (two weeks), but the WPA dubbed the week as only June 23-29 and only listed select events for which a WPA trophy would be awarded to the tournament winners.
While it is understandable for various brands to want to promote their offerings, these groups’ different schedules can be confusing for players who don’t understand industry dynamics and differences. The women’s group that seemed to have the most comprehensive list without any preferences was Globetrotting Poker Women.
Of course, no schedule is going to please all players. This goes for any poker schedule and any group of players. But the more coordination, the better for women in poker and the growth of this segment of the poker community overall.
Feature photo credit: Eloy Cabacas for PokerNews