Betfair’s Poker Goddess tournament culminated in the Poker Ladies Night Live final this week, hotly contested by thirty very skilled and aggressive players.
This event was the highlight of a month of online tournaments and promotions as Betfair Poker searched for the Betfair Poker Goddess.
The players had a diversity of experience from professionals to first-timers, flying in from all over the United Kingdom and Ireland to meet for a chance to win a seat at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Ladies Event 2006 in Las Vegas. There was a GBP 3000 prize pool on offer for those unlucky to miss out on the top prize and everyone on the final table got a slice of the action.
Despite having never been involved before in a live poker event, Angela Thacker, 30 from Halifax, was crowned the Betfair Poker Goddess. She was presented with a giant plane ticket by Betfair’s Head of Poker Ben Fried.
At the close it was Thacker against two other tough cpompetitors: Francine Brandler and Vera Duffy. Angela had a large chip lead and was playing with a confident and aggressive style which backfired when she allowed short-stacked Duffy to double up. But Angela knocked out Brandler (with three-of-a-kind two’s) who had played consistently well up to this point.
Duffy, a 61 year old grandmother from Ireland, fought back to level chips before her all-in on a flush draw was called by Thacker with a pair of fours. Duffy, who had played superlatively throughout the night, was knocked out as the flush failed to appear.
Angela Thacker commented, “It’s brilliant, absolutely brilliant. I’ve never been to London before, let alone Las Vegas. This is my first experience and I’ve absolutely enjoyed it. The world is wide open.”
Betfair Poker’s Ben Fried was impressed by the positive atmosphere surrounding the event. “The sportsmanship and camaraderie between the players was fantastic. Remember poker is fun, and these ladies certainly had some of that. Well done to Angela – she’s done brilliantly and we will be supporting her all the way at the WSOP.”