Yesterday's main event for the Nevada State Ladies Championship was the first live poker game that Mikella Pedretti had entered since COVID reached the U.S. This return turned into a triumph for Pedretti after a three-way chop in which she was the big stack. She won $11,999 for her first-place finish.
“I’ve been itching and scratching waiting to get out again,” Pedretti said to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “My vaccination came through, so I had this circled on my calendar. I’m just beyond the moon. I can’t even believe it.”
Her second dose arrived just in time for the event. With her blood coursing with antibodies for the SARS-CoV-2 virus's spike proteins, Pedretti was running hot. Not because of a vaccine side effect, but because the cards were falling her way.
Either the universe was rewarding her for flattening the curve or Bill Gates's vaccine microchips come with solver software, because Pedretti tore through the field without trouble, all the while knocking back white Russians.
Samantha Holmes and Kristen Deardorff took second ($10,414) and third ($8,874) respectively. The chip stacks were at 4.825 million, 3.205 million, and 1.825 million when the three ladies called time. They agreed to chop based on stack sizes.
LIPS proudly tweeted about Pedretti's win, saying "Congratulations to our final table of NV State Ladies Poker Championship - they got through 317 players!! Amazing!"
Nevada State Ladies Championship and LIPS
The Nevada State Ladies Championship is a part of the Ladies International Poker Series. LIPS describes its mission as, "[creating] venues for women to learn and excel in the game of poker through education, tournament play, and social event opportunities in conjunction with land-based and online licensed casinos."
The South Point Poker Room played host to the Nevada leg of the series.
The main event attracted 317 players to the SPPR. Each player ponied up the $275 buy-in, making for a prize pool of $87,175, less whatever the vig turned out to be. The two-day event had starting stacks of 25,000 and 30 minute blind levels, making for a nice deep structure.
The full roster at the final table was: Samantha Holmes, Elizabeth Liz Medina, Dee Dee Cole, Mikella Pedretti, Ruth Hall, Lauren Bunch, Kristen Deardorff, and Dee Conroy.
“It’s so nice to play with women, to come out to this event and see all the support of women in poker,” Pedretti said. “It’s just been great, and to come out of it on top was just fantastic.”
LIPS is planning its next event for June in Vegas.
Featured image source: Twitter
