Hundreds of poker queens will descend on the South Point Casino in Las Vegas next week to find out who be crowned the 2023 Nevada State Ladies Champion. Sponsored by the Ladies International Poker Series (LIPS), the championship event is the headliner of its annual poker festival. This year’s party runs April 19-23.
The $360 three-day $35K guaranteed Nevada State Ladies Championship event begins on Friday, April 21, at 11 a.m. with the first of two starting flights. The second flight starts at 11 a.m. Saturday, and the tournament will conclude Sunday.
Joining the championship event are returning favorites like the $180 “Pajama Jam” on Friday at 6 p.m., where players are encouraged to show up in — guess what? — jammies. Another favorite, the $180 “Poker Queen Roundup” takes place Saturday, April 22, at 6 p.m., which gives the players a chance to bust out their tiaras or crowns, as well as their competitors.
Ruth Hall looking to repeat
Ruth “Ruthless” Hall is a two-time defending Nevada State Ladies Champion. The Texan won the title last year, outlasting 156 women for the $18,537 top prize and the glass and metal trophy. Hall, who according to the Hendon Mob has nearly $420,000 in tournament winnings, also won the LIPS Championship held at the Orleans in 2019 for $14,614.
In 2015, she took down her first Nevada State Ladies Championship in Reno. The $150 event attracted 143, and Hall won $6,652.
She’s been cashing live events since at least 2007, and scored her first win at a LIPS event in 2008. She owns one World Series of Poker Circuit ring from a 2015 $125 buy-in Ladies event held at the Palm Beach Kennel Club in Florida.
Hall will be in Vegas to defend her titles even though she suffered a medial crisis on March 18. Chest pains sent her to the emergency room where she was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. No matter, she’s playing.
“With my Live Vest defibrillator on and my Hubby with me for any heart emergency, I will be in Vegas to try to win the Nevada State Ladies Poker Championship a third time,” she told CardsChat.
Get well soon and good luck Ruth!
Schedule of fun
The series kicks-off on Wednesday, April 19, with the $200 “mini-main.” It has two starting flights (11 a.m. and 6 p.m.), with the restart on Thursday.
Also on Thursday, $60 single table satellites into the NSLC will be run. The winner gets a $360 seat and $40, the runner-up, $100.
At 2 p.m. the same day, poker legends Jan Fisher and Linda Johnson will hold a Q&A. A Women’s Poker Association Purple Poker Party follows at 3 p.m.
A new format was added this year: The US Ladies Team Poker Championship will take place that evening as well. Entry is $200 per player, and teams will be created if players show up to this dance alone. More information can be found here.
Saturday is the second starting flight of the NSLC, and the Poker Queen Round-up at 6 p.m.
On Sunday, those who didn’t make the final day of the NSLC can play in a $240 Omaha 8 Championship at 10 a.m., followed by a $180 double green chip bounty survivor tourney that closes the festival at 2 p.m. Players who make the final table of this event will split the prize pool and cash in their bounties.
Players can get special room rates at South Point using the code LIPS23. The rates are $59 Sunday through Thursday, $109 Friday and Saturday. Visit LIPS site for more information.
