December Poker Series Aimed at Women Grow Participation
December poker offered many options for players in live settings. Of course, the three main tour operators – World Poker Tour, World Series of Poker, and European Poker Tour – dominated the news with their series. There were also several series around the world for women in poker, dedicated to mostly women-only events to create a more comfortable playing environment for women and welcome more of them to the tables.
Not only did these events do that, the two that were repeat series increased participation year-over-year. It is clear that the demand for women-only tournaments is only growing, as is the women’s poker community as a whole.
Women’s Winter Festival
PokerStars sponsored this multi-event series for which women flew in from around the world to participate. PokerStars Ambassador Kerryjane Craigie hosted the Women’s Winter Festival at Hippodrome Casino in London from November 21-24.
By all accounts, it was a success. Calling it an inaugural women’s series and finding that it was the largest women’s poker event outside of Las Vegas means there will be another Women’s Festival. Women will wait to find out if it’s an annual event or perhaps there will be a spring version in early 2025.
Queens of Tallinn
OlyBet sponsored the Queens of Tallinn at Olympic Casino in Tallinn, Estonia. This was the second year for the series, this one running from November 28 to December 1. It included everything from freerolls to satellites and a main event, all but two limited to women only.
The 2024 Queens of Tallinn was adjusted from the inaugural year in 2023, with most buy-ins changed. Even so, we can look at the following as growth in some of the events.
- Deepstack NLHE: 79 entries in 2024 v 61 entries in 2023 (€20 lower buy-in in 2024)
- Main Event: 85 entries in 2024 v 65 entries in 2023 (€100 lower buy-in in 2024)
Next year’s series will provide the opportunity for a better comparison if some of the buy-ins and restrictions remain the same.
Women in Poker Winter Festival
The Ladies International Poker Series (LIPS) sponsored the Women in Poker (WIP) Winter Festival this year. Both year’s schedules included five unique events and others that were parts of other series, such as the WPT World Championship at Wynn and the Winter Poker Open at Wynn.
There was a marked increase in participation in 2024. Not only is this series of women-only tournaments garnering more publicity, the options for live poker tournaments in December in Las Vegas grew this year as well. In addition, the Women in Poker Hall of Fame (WiPHoF), which hosts a ceremony and inducts new members every other year, did so this year and not in 2023, so this may have also contributed to larger numbers in 2024.
- Orleans Ladies Championship: 149 entries in 2024 v 121 entries in 2023 ($100 lower buy-in in 2024)
- Resorts World WiPHoF Bounty: 168 entries in 2024 v 53 entries in 2023
- WIP Championship: 173 entries in 2024 v 135 entries in 2023
- WPT Wynn Ladies Championship: 485 entries in 2024 v 457 entries in 2023
- LIPS Toast to Twenty: 68 entries in 2024 v 16 entries in 2023 (named Deepstack in 2023)
While some of the events changed from year to year, the growth of the overall series was clear.
Feature photo courtesy of Women in Poker.
