Kristen Bicknell Wins WSOP 2013 Ladies Championship
While it’s well known that there are some amazingly talented ladies in the professional poker business, it’s also statistically proven that they aren’t nearly as adept at winning WSOP bracelets as their male counterparts. Thanks to the ingenuity of World Series of Poker organizers, there’s generally at least one woman walking away with a bracelet each year in the WSOP Ladies NL Holdem Championship. This year’s white-gold wrist adornment went to femme fatale Kristen Bicknell, along with a 1st place paycheck of $173,922.
The significance of Bicknell’s win goes far beyond her professional poker prowess. It also marked the 10th WSOP bracelet going to a Canadian player in the 44th Annual World Series of Poker, extending the nation’s record as the highest single-year bracelet-earning country outside of the USA in the history of the WSOP. Bicknell joined a field of 954 participants who all posted the $10,000 buy-in to enter the 3-day Event #51, Ladies No Limit Holdem Championship, building a prize pool of $858,600. The final table was highly variegated, representing America, Australia, Canada, France and the United Kingdom.
Cindy Kerslake, another Canadian poker player, was the first to leave the final table of nine. Short stacked to begin with, Kerslake pushed all-in with dual Jacks. America’s Amanda Baker called with pocket Tens and the board came down Ac-8h-3c. Another Ace on the turn kept Kerslake in the lead, but a Ten on the river gave the pot to Baker as Kerslake exited the table in 9th place for $12,389.
Chris Priday, who’s cashed three times in this event in the past, would be the next to leave the table when her pocket 6’s ran into the Ah-Kd of fellow-American Connie Bruce. Connie paired the King on the flop and never looked back. Priday finished 8th with $15,858 to show for it. Next, it was Baker’s turn to hit the rails as she contended with Bicknell. Baker’s Ad-Ts led after the Tc-9d-2d flop against Bicknell’s Ah-Qc, but the turn dropped a Queen that gave Bicknell the final lead. Baker ended the day in 7th with $20,572.
A rapid trio of eliminations took place at that point. England’s Eleanor Gudger (6th – $27,045) was first when a strong A-Q off-suit fell to the triple Jacks of France’s Leanne Haas. Connie Bruce (5th – $36,078) would follow right after as her K-J off-suit couldn’t stand up to Bicknell’s top pair of Aces. Next, American Shana Matthews’s (4th – $48,871) ship ran aground when her pocket Tens were overrun by the pocket Kings of Haas.
Only three players remained; the Canadian Kristen Bicknell, the Australian Leanne Hass and the French Julie Monsacre, who had been relatively quiet up until this point. Monsacre’s cautiousness would be her ultimate demise as, slowly but surely, she ran out of chips, taking the 3rd place finish to earn $67,331.
Heads-up play ensued between Bicknell and Haas, and before long the bracelet and top prize was delivered into the lap of Kristen Bicknell, the 10th bracelet to be awarded to a Canadian player in the 2013 WSOP. Bicknell earned $173,922 for the historic win. Leanne Haas walked away in 2nd with a worthy payday of $107,616.