Maria Lampropulos Becomes First Female PCA Main Event Champion

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With Vanessa Selbst effectively retired from professional poker, the poker world is looking for a new face of women’s poker. They may have now found it. On Sunday, Argentina’s Maria Lampropulos became the first woman in history to win the PCA Main Event. In doing so, she secured the second seven figure score of her poker career and is now in the Top 10 of the Women’s All-Time Money List.

Lampropulos Survives Field of 582 Entries to Win PCA Main Event

The PCA Main Event concluded on Sunday and for the first time in history, a woman has taken down the prestigious event. Maria Lampropulos topped a field of 582 entries to take down the event and earn $1.08 million.

Heading into the final day of play on Sunday, Spain’s Adrian Mateos started the final table as chip leader. Trailing him in second was Canada’s Shawn Buchanan and Lampropulos started third in chips. Koray Aldemir also made the final table starting the day in fourth place.

Lampropulos went to work early, taking out Christian Rudolph in 6th place. Her A-8 outran his pocket sixes. This put her in an early chip lead. Adrian Mateos came into the final table as chip leader but exited in fourth place. He fell during a massive hand where he shoved on Shawn Buchanan with top pair but Buchanan called with a flush draw and hit his flush.

Koray Aldemir would fall in 3rd place to Shawn Buchanan when his K-7 failed to outrun Buchanan’s A-8. Heading into heads-up play with Lampropulos, Buchanan held more than a 2:1 chip lead.

Then in a stunning turn of events, Lampropulos doubled-up twice in a three hand stretch to take more than a 3:1 lead. A few hands later, Lampropulos shoved with 10c-7c and Buchanan made the call with his Kh-5s. The flop fell 10s-9c-5d, hitting both players. The turn 2h missed both and the river 9h made Maria Lampropulos the first female PCA Main Event champion in history.

In addition to the large PokerStars PCA trophy, Lampropulos earned $1.08 million for her first place win.

Lampropulos Now 9th on Women’s All-Time Money List

Lampropulos’ victory on Sunday gives he $2.79 million in live career earnings, putting her third on Argentina’s All-Time Money List and 9th on the Women’s All-Time Money List.

A large chunk of Lampropulos’ lifetime earnings have come in two tournaments. Last April, she won the partypoker MILLIONS Nottingham Main Event for $1.25 million.

Prior to her two $1 million scores, Lampropulos was best known for chopping the 2016 Eureka Poker Tour Rozvadov Main Event with her boyfriend Ivan Luca. She also took down a WSOP International Circuit Event in 2016, winning a $600 NL Six-Max at the Punta del Este stop.

Lampropulos is now a serious contender to be the face of women’s poker thanks to her two $1 million scores. If she is able to continue her winning ways, she will quickly rocket up the Women’s All-Time Money List.

She is presently 9th, just leapfrogging players such as Loni Harwood, Maria Ho and Hall of Famers Jennifer Harman and Barbara Enright. Another $1 million of earnings will vault her into the top 5.

The only female players with more than $4 million in lifetime earnings are Annie Duke ($4.27 million), Kathy Liebert ($6.17 million) and Vanessa Selbst ($11.85 million).

Photo Credit: PokerStars