A year of competing in an online women's poker community earned Catherine Scoville a dream seat at the WSOP Main Event.
Scoville won her $10,000 seat through the Ladies Poker Collective, a ClubGG women's poker community. After topping the year-long leaderboard, she turned her dream into reality, making it to Day 2 of poker's biggest tournament before her run came to an end.
“About a year ago, I got more serious about tournament poker,” says Scoville. “That’s when I found the Ladies Poker Collective. Throughout the year, I played with a great group of women from all over the country. I’ve never met any of them – we all just play online.”
Twenty women each contributed $500 to a season-long Main Event pool. They then played monthly $50 tournaments throughout the year, earning points toward the overall leaderboard. The winner received the $10,000 Main Event seat.
"When it was over, my total buy-in for the year was $950," she tells us. "But I won some tournaments so my Main Event seat only ended up costing me $550."
Finding poker during the pandemic
Scoville's poker journey began on the couch – watching players such as Phil Hellmuth, Scotty Nguyen, and Daniel Negreanu on TV.
During the pandemic, Scoville began playing online with friends, where she also met her future husband, Steve.
"We were playing poker online," Scoville says. "I started playing tournaments with him very casually. I didn't study the game. I didn't do anything other than show up and play. He has given me a lot of advice and I’ve learned a lot from him.”
Day 1 of her Main Event journey was a dream. From a starting stack of 60,000, she ended the day with 149,500 chips.
“I hit three boats on Day 1," she says with a big smile. "Everyone at my table was like, OMG!"
By dinner break of Day 2, Scoville was still in, albeit with a smaller stack.
“We have two more levels left today, and I have about 38 big blinds," she said at the time. "I just have to be patient. That’s what I’m telling myself.”
She survived into the evening but fell short of Day 3. Her Main Event journey ended late on Day 2, but the experience exceeded every expectation.
“Playing in the Main Event is something I never expected to do in my life," she says. "I’ve watched it forever, and now I've got proof that I know what I'm doing. I made it to Day 2, and I almost got to Day 3.
"It’s more than I ever expected. It’s been such a great experience.”
