Courtney Kennedy, a poker dealer from Detroit, Michigan, won this year’s $10,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship, scooping her first-ever WSOP-related cash of $149,108 and her first gold bracelet, respectively.
In her post-victory interview, the player said that she likes to make others laugh and that she is doing this even as a dealer. Of her performance during the Ladies Championship, Kennedy said that at some point she was just happy that she had not been eliminated before the bubble burst. The latest Ladies Championship winner further noted that her triumph had come as a bit of a surprise to her.
Kennedy has been playing poker since she was 2. The game has turned into an indispensable part of her life as she is now a poker dealer at Motor City Casino. However, her involvement in poker is not just limited to that. She plays recreational games quite often and is a frequent visitor to casinos in the Detroit area.
The $10,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship was played from July 8-10. Although the tournament was officially a $10,000 buy-in one, female poker players were offered a 90% discount and had to pay only $1,000. There were 819 entries in the event, with 818 of these being women. There was only one male player to take part in the tournament and quite expectedly, he had to pay the full buy-in fee.
A prize pool of $745,200 was eventually generated and distributed to the top 123 finishers. Each of the players at the official nine-handed final table were guaranteed a payout of $10,292. And speaking of the final table, it was actually played on Day 3 of the tournament. Nine-handed play began with Wendy Freedman as the chip leader. Kennedy was third in chips at that point.
At the time there were only four players left at the table, the eventual winner took the lead and seemed to be unstoppable. She had a 3 to 1 chip advantage over her remaining competitors and was in possession of more than half of all chips in play.
Kennedy had a really tough opponent during heads-up – former WSOP Circuit gold ring winner and WSOP regular Amanda Baker from Las Vegas, Nevada. Despite the seasoned competitor, it was eventually the Detroit poker dealer to scoop the final pot and the top prize. On what turned out to be the very last hand in play, Baker moved all in for her remaining 420,000 and Kennedy called.
Baker tabled [Kc][8s] against her opponent’s [Ac][Kh]. The board ran out [Ks][10s][4c][7h][6d] and it was clear that Baker would have to settle for the runner-up finish and a payout of $92,121.
Xiu Deng from Las Vegas, Nevada took 3rd place in the tournament for $64,401. UK player Natalia Breviglieri finished 4th for $45,683. Amanda Musumeci from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was paid $32,889 for finishing 5th. Shelly Johnson-Ochoa from Reno, Nevada scooped $24,037 for her 6th place in the prestigious event.
Wendy Freedman from Las Vegas, Nevada finished 7th, good for $17,837. Nicole Schwartz from Wilmington, Delaware was paid $13,443 for taking 8th place. Chinese poker pro Yaxi Zhu rounded out the official nine-handed final table for $10,292.
