The $1,000 Ladies Championship resumed play on Sunday at the World Series of Poker with only seven players remaining in the hunt for the bracelet and the $184,094 first-place prize.
Shiina Okamoto, the Ladies Championship defending champion and runner-up in 2023, entered the final frame of play with both the chip lead and an opportunity to join hallowed company as one of only a handful of players to win the same event in consecutive years. With three straight final table appearances, Okamoto has solidified her reputation as force to be reckoned with on the felt.
"In the previous tournaments I didn’t think I’d make the final table, but now I want to defend my title," Okamoto told PokerOrg before the restart. "Now so many of the ladies know me, and I know what they are thinking about me. I can use that to exploit them. That’s what’s helped me get so far."
While her experience and chip advantage positioned her as the odds-on favorite to win the event, Okamoto still had to contend with Juliet Hegedus, Stephani Hagberg, Sonia Shashikhina, Heather Alcorn, Julie Huynh, and Sumire Uenomachi – each looking to play spoiler to her back-to-back wins.
Okamoto's path to history
In the early goings of the final table, Hagberg surged into the chip lead after taking a sizable chunk out of Hegedus' stack by making a superior two pair on the river.
Shortly after, the first elimination of the day came courtesy of Okamoto. With about eleven big blinds remaining, Uenomachi peeled 
in middle position and opted to move all-in. Okamoto found 
in the cutoff and called with her dominating ace-high holding. The 
runout failed to sufficiently improve Uenomachi's hand and her run came to an end in seventh place.
It took nearly an hour of play for the next elimination – and, once again, it was Okamoto doing the heavy lifting. After raising with 
from the cutoff, Okamoto called off Hegedus' shove with 
from the big blind. With her pair, Hegedus had a slight advantage percentage-wise, but it was essentially a flip for her tournament life. Unfortunately for Hegedus, the 
runout paired Okamoto and put an end to her run in sixth place.
Shashikhina exited next after committing the last of her short stack with 
from early position. This time, however, it was Huynh who notched the elimination as she peeled in the small blind and called. The 
flop left Shashikhina drawing thin and the 
turn confirmed her elimination in fifth place.
Huynh's newfound chips didn't remain in her possession for long, though, as just a few hands later she ran 
into Alcorn's . Huynh had the covering stack – just barely – but failed to improve across the runout and was left with fumes. On the very next hand, Huynh was forced all-in from the big blind and Alcorn finished the job by catching running cards to make a straight.
Hagberg takes a stand... at the wrong time
In the most pivotal hand of the final table, Hagberg and Okamoto collided in a pot with serious implications for the two of them and the onlooking Alcorn. In a blind versus blind confrontation, Hagberg peeled 
from the small blind and put in a raise. Okamoto defended her big blind with 
and the two players headed to the 
flop – providing both players with enough connection to keep them interested.
With her second pair, Hagberg opted to check the action to her opponent. Okamoto fired 800K into the 1.4M in the middle and Hagberg made the call to bring in the 
turn. While she improved to two pair, Hagberg checked in flow once more and Okamoto, having made her flush, fired 1.6M.
It was here that Hagberg decided to pile in more chips as she check-raised to 4M. After confirming her opponent's chip count, Okamoto moved all-in for the rest. Hagberg didn't like it, but she eventually called – only to see the bad news as Okamoto rolled over her hand. It wasn't over yet, though, as Hagberg had a shot to improve to a full house on the river. The board did pair, but not with the card she needed as the completed the runout and Hagberg was eliminated in third place.
With her third knockout at the final table, Okamoto took a commanding chip lead into heads-up play – her 25.1M to Alcorn's 2.2M.
Alcorn found an early double to keep things interesting, but Okamoto's chip advantage was too much to overcome. The final clash between the two saw Okamoto limp in from the button with 
and Alcorn moved all-in with . With the title on the line, the 
runout failed to improve Alcorn and delivered back-to-back Ladies Championship wins to Okamoto.
$1,000 Ladies Championship final table results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shiina Okamoto | $184,094 |
| 2 | Heather Alcorn | $122,654 |
| 3 | Stephani Hagberg | $87,695 |
| 4 | Julie Huynh | $63,517 |
| 5 | Sonia Shashikhina | $46,614 |
| 6 | Juliet Hegedus | $34,667 |
| 7 | Sumire Uenomachi | $26,131 |
