The Main Event of the first Women’s Winter Festival by PokerStars at London’s Hippodrome Casino is in the books, and Maria Lampropulos was the last lady standing.
Lampropulos outlasted 270 entrants on her way to victory, and for her efforts, she was rewarded with a cash prize of £20,000 and a nice trophy to keep as a memory of this special tournament.
Following the conclusion of the Main Event, the last couple of events on the Women’s Winter Festival played out as well, bringing yet another exciting live festival staged by PokerStars to a close.
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The Main Event Brings in a Solid Crowd
With a buy-in of £400 and the guarantee of £100,000, the Main Event of the Women’s Winter Festival in London was always a bit of a risk for an overlay, but the organizers didn’t seem to mind.
By the time the registration period ended, the tournament clock was showing a grand total of 271 entries, which made the total prize pool a few grand short of its guarantee after house fees.
A total of 44 players made the money, with the smallest payout of £570. The eventual winner could look forward to a nice, round sum of £20,000 — a very respectable return on a £400 investment.
Online Qualifiers Putting up a Show
There was a number of players in the Main Event who qualified for their Winter Festival packages online, and eleven of them made it past the bubble, securing a payout.
Two of the qualifiers made it all the way to the final table, finishing in the third and second place, making their trip to London well worth it.
Lithuania’s Marta Porter may not be a professional player, but she is certainly a poker enthusiast who enjoys the game and travels for tournaments whenever she gets a chance. After qualifying for the London event online, she put up a great showing, eventually finishing in third place for £9,000.
Ann-Roos Callens hails from Belgium, and she managed to turn her online package into a runner-up finish worth £12,610. Callens started the final table as the chip leader but couldn’t quite go all the way. Still, soon-to-be-a-grandmother will probably not complain about the outcome.
Argentina’s Maria Lampropulos started the final table with a fairly short stack, but what she lacked in chips, she made up for in experience. Maria was by far the most experienced player, with almost $4,000,000 in live tournament winnings, and that experience paid off.
Lampropulos managed to spin her stack up from just 14 big blinds to start the day and eventually got to the heads up as a chip leader. Although Callens put up quite a fight, the experienced Argentinian managed to bag the title about an hour into the final skirmish.
Generally speaking, the Festival was truly an international affair, attracting players from all over Europe and the world, and this kind of versatility is always nice to see in a tournament field.
2024 Women’s Winter Festival Final Table Results
| Position | Player | Country | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maria Lampropulos | Argentina | £20,000 |
| 2 | Ann-Ross Callens | Belgium | £12,610 |
| 3 | Marta Porter | Lithuania | £9,000 |
| 4 | Franky Green | UK | £6,850 |
| 5 | Lisa Roberts | USA | £5,280 |
| 6 | Jenny Steele | Ireland | £4,070 |
| 7 | Kim Dockery | UK | £3,260 |
| 8 | Celine Diot | France | £2,730 |
| 9 | Berivan Dag | UK | £2,280 |
The First Women’s Winter Festival a Big Success
All said and done, the Winter Festival at London’s Hippodrome Casino was a successful one. Featuring the first-ever ladies’ only high roller and an action-packed Main Event, it could pave the path for more similar events in the future.
It is worth mentioning the festival wrapped up with a freeroll event that attracted 88 players, and the winner, Wendy Watson of the UK, received a $2,500 Silver Pass for the upcoming EPT Prague.
On top of the action at the tables, the proceedings were marked by camaraderie and good vibes all over the place, showing that more events promoting women in poker are needed. With the success of the 2024 Women’s Winter Festival, it’s safe to assume that it won’t be long before we see PokerStars put together a similar gathering in the months to come.
