Tammy Abraham is the 2023 World Series of Poker Ladies Champion and she did it by being the last player standing in a record-breaking field of 1,295. She scored a career-best $192,167 and her first WSOP bracelet.

Tammy Abraham celebrates her 2023 World Series of Poker Ladies Championship with a bunch of friends. (Image: WSOP)

The field was the largest for the Ladies event since 2006, when 1,128 showed up at what would be the biggest WSOP until this year. Abraham, a member of the Women’s Poker Association, had made a few deep runs in this event before, finishing 30th in 2018 and 45th in 2021. She has five WSOP cashes for $201,597.

Runner-up was Japan’s Shiina Okamoto, who made her fourth WSOP cash a good one — $114,000 more than her second-best. Okamoto was in the driver’s seat with a 4-to-1 chip lead when the final table began on Sunday, but things changed early after getting caught in a set-over-set situation with pocket threes to Abraham’s pocket eights.

As the queens fell a champion emerged

Chrysi Phiniotis was the first to go after running her short stack into Nam Nguyen’s pocket eights. The woman from Cyprus has been playing tournament poker since at least 2014. 

Abraham increased her chip lead after busting out Tara Cain in sixth with AQ versus KK by spiking an ace on the river. A poker pro who lives in Las Vegas, Cain was the most accomplished player at the table.

The only player with any WSOP hardware — she won a Circuit ring online in 2018 — she is approaching $600,000 in WSOP cashes. Cain was also the runner-up in two online bracelet events in 2017 and 2019.

Day 1 chip leader Mary Dvorkin left in fifth-place after getting it all in with A7 suited only to be called by Okamoto’s AK.

Suzanne Malavet secured her largest cash by getting knocked out in fourth. She shoved with AJ only to be called with Abraham’s AK and that was all she wrote. 

Las Vegas nail and beauty salon owner Nguyen had to go to war with J7 of diamonds shorthanded, and she was called by Okamoto’s AT, which held. She beat her best cash by $22,000. 

Okamoto faced a 4-to-1 deficit once heads-up play began, and although she won a few pots, she was never able to get back into the game. The final hand was a limp-fest: T3 spades for Abraham, 54 unsuited for Okamoto and the fireworks began as both hit their top pair on the flop.

Okamoto called a significant check-raise (about a fifth of her stack), only to face an all-in bet on the turn, which also gave Abraham a flush draw. Down to four outs, Okamoto missed and the Ladies’ champion was crowned.

Shiina Okamoto contemplates what could have been. (Image: WSOP)

Final table of 2023 WSOP Ladies Championship.

Last year’s champion Jessica Teusl made a deep run, but flamed out in 33rd for $5,385.

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