Event #51: $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold'em Championship

What a final day here in the Pavilion Room at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. After building a big stack on Day 2 and challenging for the lead for much of the day, then grabbing the advantage during the final table, Yen Dang has emerged from a field of 936 as this year's Ladies No-Limit Hold'em Champion!

Debbie Pechac, Candida Ross-Powers, and Dang began with the big stacks, and ultimately two of those three would play down to the tourney's final hand. Meanwhile a few players — including Angela Prada-Moed, Jan Howard, and Rosemary Lawrence — returned to relative short stacks.. And in the early going, Rae Rocco would find her stack depleted as well, all of which led to a lot of all-in shoves in the early going.

As it happened, Sweden's Ida Lundholm would be the first to fall in ninth not long after Jan Howard doubled through her to leave Lundholm on a short stack. Rosemary Lawrence would follow Howard to the rail shortly thereafter in eighth when her    failed to improve against Candida Ross-Powers's   .

Two more eliminations came shortly after Lawrence's. First Lesley Amos was ousted in seventh after flopping two pair with    but running into Yen Dang's Broadway straight. Then Rae Rocco hit the rail in sixth when her pocket tens failed to hold against the    of Debbie Pechac.

Pechac began today with the chip lead, and became the first player to 1 million chips shortly after knocking out Rocco. Pechac maintained her lead as she watched Yen Dang knock out Candida Ross-Powers in fifth when the latter's    failed hold against Dang's   .

Pechac's fortunes would soon change, however, after a hand versus Jan Howard in which the latter pulled into a virtual tie with Pechac for first. Then a huge hand developed between Pechac and Dang in which Dang was all in before the flop with    versus Pechac's   , and when the board brought two aces Dang suddenly had more than 1.5 million while Pechac had slipped below 200,000.

The bustouts slowed at that point, with the final four battling for some time before a short-stacked Angela Prada-Moed shoved with pocket nines, but unfortunately ran into Dang's    to go out in fourth. Three-handed play again saw the pace slow, with Jan Howard's stack gradually getting whittled down before she'd lose an all-in with    versus Dang's pocket nines to finish third.

Heads-up play between Pechac and Dang would then last about a dozen hands, with Dang enjoying the advantage throughout. Finally, after Dang flopped a pair versus Pechac's open-ended straight draw, the latter's chips went all in and Dang's hand held to give her the title.

Dang is giving interviews at the moment, describing her journey from being a law student to learning the game to achieving one of the most desired milestones in all of poker — to win a WSOP bracelet!

Thanks for following our coverage of Event 51: $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold'em Championship, and be sure to stick with PokerNews for coverage of every WSOP event down to the Main Event — starting in less than a week!

Debbie Pechac limped from the button and Yen Dang checked. The flop came    . Dang checked, Pechac bet 100,000, Dang check-raised to 300,000, and without much hesitation Pechac pushed all in for 805,000 total. Dang thought for a few moments, then let her hand go.

Yen Dang	1,750,000	-330,000
Debbie Pechac	1,050,000	330,000

Yen Dang begins heads-up play with the chip lead.

Yen Dang	1,770,000	270,000
Debbie Pechac	1,030,000	-20,000

After limping in from the small blind, Jan Howard saw Yen Dang reraise all in from the big blind and Howard called for 139,000 total.

Howard had    and Dang   , and after the board came      , Howard had doubled her short stack.

Yen Dang	1,500,000	-150,000
Jan Howard	322,000	168,000

We're seeing Yen Dang gradually whittling away at both of her opponent's stacks as she extends her lead. Dang now has about a one million-chip lead over both Jan Howard and Debbie Pechac who are currently battling for second position.

The latter pair changed positions on the leaderboard just now in a hand when Pechac opened for 62,000 from the small blind and Howard called from the big blind.

The flop came all babies —     — and when Pechac checked, Howard bet 40,000. Pechac then check-raised to 100,000, and Howard folded.

Debbie Pechac	665,000	100,000
Jan Howard	540,000	-100,000

Yen Dang limped in from the small blind, and Debbie Pechac checked her option. The flop came    , and when Dang checked, Pechac pushed out a bet of 25,000. Dang responded with an all-in push, and Pechac called right away.

Dang:   
Pechac:   

Dang had gotten sneaky with aces, but Pechac had made the "Brunson" work for her as she'd flopped trip tens. (Ten-deuce was the hand with which Doyle Brunson won the WSOP Main Event in both 1976 and 1977, in the first instance suited spades.)

The   on the turn made life a little less easy for Pechac, giving Dang a flush draw. But the river was the   and Pechac doubled up.

Yen Dang	1,470,000	-100,000
Debbie Pechac	428,000	216,000

Level 23 is underway. With the earlier bustouts, supporters of the eliminated players have left along with the players, meaning the crowd here to watch four-handed play has thinned somewhat. They've grown quiet, too, as we're again seeing a sequence of hands falling into one of two categories — raise-and-take (ending preflop), or limped and either checked down or claimed with a single post-flop bet.

The increase in blinds and antes this level may well be forcing someone to get aggressive soon, the most likely candidate being the short stack, Angela Prada-Moed.

Reaching the end of Level 22, the final four have left for another 20-minute break.