The daughter of poker legend Doyle Brunson was crowned champion of the fifth annual ladies night at Los Angeles’ Bicycle Casino last weekend.
Pamela Brunson began the second day of the two-day California tournament in the final 18 with a low chip stack but managed to double through the chip leader several times to finally take her out and make herself the chip leader.
The event saw 125 players including notables such as Karina Jett, Evelyn Ng, Kathy Liebert, Pam Brunson and last year's event winner, Kelly Griggs. Celebrity players included Victoria Pratt, Jean Smart, Cassandra Hepburn and Gina Hecht and, for the second time, the Susan G Komen Foundation for breast cancer research was the sponsored charity.
This was Pamela's first major no-limit title, although she had made several recent final tables, and she has now received an invitation to participate in the televised Woman’s Poker Tour (WPT) Ladies Night on August 31. This event will feature Pamela playing alongside five other poker professionals, Linda Johnson, Mimi Tran, Kristy Gazes, Melissa Hayden and the returning champion from last year's event, JJ Liu, with the winner receiving a $25,000 seat into the biggest event on the poker circuit, the WPT World Championship at the Bellagio in April.
“‘The Bike’ started over nine years ago building on the women's poker market with a tournament once a week for a mere twelve dollars and it's grown quite significantly,' said Kelley O'Hara, Marketing Director for Bicycle Casino.
'We've listened to our women players and they have consistently asked for higher buy-ins and more tournaments. That's why ‘The Bike’ has partnered with the Ladies Poker Association to be a part of the new professional tour that organization has formed.'
The daughter of poker legend Doyle Brunson was crowned champion of the fifth annual ladies night at Los Angeles’ Bicycle Casino last weekend.