The PokerStars Women’s Summer Festival that took place in London, UK this past week has wrapped. PokerStars Ambassador and Chess Grandmaster Jen Shahade was in attendance supporting the event — and ended up taking down the Main Event for £22,200.
The event took place between August 12 and 17 at the Clermont, Charing Cross, featuring a rich tournament schedule, with the focus on the £100,000-guaranteed Main Event. The event fell short of its £100,000 guarantee, creating an overlay and extra value for the players of around £30,000.
“There is such an incredible atmosphere at this tournament”, said Shahade via a press release. “It was such a pleasure to play and be here, let alone win the thing! I’m thrilled, but more excited about seeing more and more women fall in love with the game.”
The summer festival follows on from the debut Winter Women’s Festival that took place back in November of last year at London’s Hippodrome Casino. The event cemented PokerStars’ dedication to creating inclusive environments for all fans of the game and particularly women.
“The Women’s Only Main Event is to enable and encourage women to participate in live poker games with aspirational outcomes,” PokerStars Ambassador and Director of Poker at the Hippodrome Casino Kerryjane Craige said back in 2024. Craigie is also the architect behind the event, spearheaded the initiative from the start. “The attention to every detail of this four-day festival has been amazing to be part of, and I believe we have hit the mark. We have built an event around the audience — now I am hoping they will come.”
Jen Shahade Headlines a New Era of Growth in Women’s Poker
That hope has now been powerfully realized. Just months later, PokerStars Ambassador Jen Shahade captured the title at the Women’s Summer Festival, further underlining how quickly the women’s game has grown in both size and stature.
Figures released by PokerStars highlight just how remarkable the expansion has been. Women-only live tournaments have seen overall attendance rise by 49% in the past two years, while flagship stops have posted record-breaking surges. At the Irish Open women’s event, participation jumped 116% between 2023 and 2024, with another 20% lift this year. Other standout increases included NAPT Las Vegas (up 94%), EPT Monte-Carlo (up 51%), EPT Prague (up 33%), and EPT Cyprus (up 31%).
The dedicated Winter Women’s Festival and now the Summer Festival have acted as milestones, but the ripple effect runs much deeper. Women are entering mixed-field events at unprecedented levels, reshaping the competitive balance. At EPT Prague, female participation climbed 40% from 2023 to 2024, while EPT Monte-Carlo saw an 18.75% increase this year. Tour stops including Eureka and FPS have also reported strong upward trends, pointing to a sustained and widespread cultural shift across global live poker.
Shahade’s victory symbolizes the momentum behind this movement — one that is not only drawing bigger fields, but also fostering long-term pathways for women to compete at the very highest levels of the game.
PokerStars leadership also framed the growth in broader terms, emphasizing not just attendance records but the purpose behind them. “PokerStars has always believed in the power of poker to transform lives,” said Lizzie Wilson, PokerStars Marketing Communications Manager.
She added that the game is increasingly recognized as a way to “build confidence, decision-making skills, and resilience, qualities that extend far beyond the felt.” For Wilson, the festival’s vibrant atmosphere was proof that the game is evolving — and that PokerStars “is proud to be leading the charge to a more inclusive future.”
What’s Next on the PokerStars Live Calendar
Although the London event has wrapped, there is plenty of PokerStars Live action coming up.
Fan favorite European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona has gotten underway in the Spanish city, which is always a crowd pleaser. EPT Barcelona runs until August 31 with a packed schedule of events for players to sink their teeth into, both on and off the felt. On the felt highlights include the €5,300 Main Event, €100k Super High Roller, and Spin & Go Championship Live. The Spin & Go Championship features 81 qualified players competing in a fast-paced, three-handed format and makes its live debut.
Along with international events schedule after the summer, we are looking at you EPT Malta, some of the most exciting events will take place in the US. For instance, October will welcome PokerStars Open Maryland for the first time. The live debut of PokerStars Open Maryland will take place October 19 to 26 at Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland.
The full schedule has yet to be released but highlights include a new tournament, which is a single-day mystery bounty tournament with a sports betting twist called the Sunday Sweat and a $2,200 High Roller.
Continuing with the company’s emphasis on Women in Poker, the PokerStars Open brand is once again featuring a $300 Women’s Event, mirroring the buy-in of the women-only event that ran earlier this year at PokerStars Open Philadelphia.
After the Maryland event finished, the North American Poker Tour will take place in November with two women’s event on the docket as part of the total 48 events that will run. There will be a $330 Women’s event on November 9 that will feature a $50,000 guarantee and a $1,100 Women’s High Roller will follow on November 10 without a guarantee.
The NAPT runs November 3 to 12, 2025.
