The 2009 Cleopatra Open concluded today at Caesars Palace Las Vegas. The $300 buy-in ladies-only poker tournament attracted 115 entries. It has become a custom for all WSOP Circuit events to hold a special tournament for ladies-only who prefer playing in their own event.
The winner was Courtney Wulfe, from Houston, TX. She was one of the lower stacks when final table play began on the second of the two-day event. But Wulfe ended up defeating Kathryn Meeks in heads-up play, who finished second. Wulfe earned $8,868 in prize money.
After Vanessa Peng, from Las Vegas, busted out in tenth place, the top nine finishers were as follows:
9th Place – Lisa G. Bartlett, from upstate New York, was the ninth place finisher. This was her first time to appear at a WSOP Circuit final table. Bartlett received a payout totaling $920.
8th Place – Siriwan Sukmekerd, aka “Magnets Lady” finished in eight place. The travel agent from Las Vegas earned $1,088. Previously, Sukmekerd won a ladies tournament held at the Golden Nugget and was the runner up at the LIPS poker championship last year.
7th Place – Dorianne May, who is currently serving in the US Army, finished in seventh place. May, who is stationed in California, pocketed $1,339.
6th Place – Sixth place went to Laura Wakeland. She arrived at the final table as the player with the most impressive tournament track record. Wakeland has over $80,000 in career tournament winnings to date, including two previous cashes in WSOP Circuit events. She ended up collecting $1,673 in prize money.
5th Place – Deb Snead took fifth place. The lady with the unusual nickname “Sock Monkey” works as an educator in Colorado. Snead received $2,092. Snead is another player who has performed well in the past, with final tables made in various events in Gilpin (Colorado) and Las Vegas.
4th Place – Garilyn “G” Nelson was the fourth-place finisher. This was a back-to-back final table for the microbiologist from Utah. At last year’s Cleopatra Open, “G” finished fifth. She also cashed last year in the ladies championship held at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe. Fourth place paid $2,677.
3rd Place – Christina Bui, a waitress from Dallas, TX finished in third place. She was served up $3,430 in prize money.
2nd Place – The runner up was Kathryn Meeks, from Anthem, AZ. Meeks has been a strong advocate of women in poker. She was one of the founding members of the Women’s Poker Hall of Fame. She is also active in the World Poker Association. Meeks has also previously cashed at events at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe and in Los Angeles. Meeks was paid $5,354 for second place.
1st Place – The winner of the 2009 Cleopatra Open was Courtney Wulfe. In addition to nearly nine-grand in prize money, Wulfe was presented with the custom-designed ladies gold pendant, the ultimate achievement for winning a ladies championship on the WSOP Circuit.
With 21 of 22 events now completed at Caesars Palace Las Vegas, the tournament has attracted more than 3,000 total entries and has awarded over $3 million in total prize money. The WSOP Circuit continues at Caesars through April 30th.