Vanessa Rousso Wins WPT Ladies Night Invitational

_{Photo by Joe Giron}

The World Poker Tour Foundation Ladies Night Invitational played out tonight at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles, California and Vanessa Rousso won the tournament. In addition to receiving a $25,000 seat in the WPT World Championship for Season XII, 25 percent of the $25,000 prize pool was donated in her name to the National Council for Research on Women (NCRW) charity.

The five ladies she defeated this evening included outgoing WPT Anchor Kimberly Lansing, LIPS Qualifier Sunny Chen, Lily Kiletto, Liz Lieu, and Jessica Dawley. All six ladies started with 250,000 at the start of play tonight so it took a little while for things to get warmed up and the eliminations to start.

Rousso quickly took control of the final table, opening the action on a third of the hands during early play. While she built her chip stack a number of other players managed to double up when they were all in. Kiletto and Dawley each doubled up twice, and Lansing doubled up once before Chen busted out in sixth place.

On her final hand Chen held [Ad9d] against the [Kh9h] of Rousso and the pocket eights of Lieu. The board fell [Qd9c8d4c7c]. Chen was out in sixth place and 10 percent of the $25,000 prize pool was donated to the WE ADVANCE charity in her name.

Six hands later Lansing was the next woman to fall in fifth place. She held pocket tens and Rousso called her down with [Ad3s]. The board was dealt [AhKh4c5hQc] and Lansing was out in fifth, she will have 10 percent of the $25,0000 prize pool donated to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) in her name. Lansing is leaving her duties as WPT Anchor this season so tonight’s final table served as her farewell from the tour.

A few hands after that Kiletto doubled up for a third time and crippled Lieu in the process. A few hands later it was Lieu who was all in preflop against both Rousso and Dawley on a board reading [9s8d5h6sQc]. Lieu held [Ac8c] but she was behind the [QhJc] of Rousso. Lieu was out in fourth place and 15 percent of the $25,000 prize pool will be donated in her name to the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation.

Action kept moving at a brisk clip when Kiletto was the next player to get all of her chips into the middle on the 65th hand of play. She was all in with [Qs10c] and Rousso was waiting once again, this time with pocket nines. The board was delivered [9s7s4c10s2d]. Kiletto was eliminated in third place and 20 percent of the $25,000 prize pool will be donated to the Breast Cancer Awareness Association in her name.

The heads-up final began with Rousso holding the lead with 881,000 against the 619,000 of Dawley. Heads-up play lasted 32 hands and for a short time Dawley took the chip lead in the final battle, but this was Rousso’s table from the start, and she finished off the dominant victory around 9 p.m. when cards were dealt for Hand 98.

Rousso raised to 80,000 and Dawley reraised to 220,000. Rousso reraised all in and Dawley called all in. Dawley held [Kc6s] and she was way behind the [AhKs] of Rousso. The board was dealt [8c7d4d8sAs] and Rousso won the tournament. Dawley was eliminated in second place and she had 20 percent of the prize pool worth $25,000 donated to the  Domestic Violence Project of the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County in her name. In addition to the charity donation made in her name, Rousso also grabbed a $25,000 seat in the WPT World Championship at the end of Season XII. Rousso made a deep run at that tournament back in Season IV when she finished in seventh place, bubbling the final table. She now has another shot at the WPT Championship thanks to her victory tonight.

Final Table Results

1st:  Vanessa Rousso   –  25% of prize pool (+ $25,500 seat into WPT World Championship)

2nd:  Jessica Dawley  –  20% of prize pool

3rd:  Lily Kiletto  –  20% of prize pool

4th:  Liz Lieu  –  15% of prize pool

5th:  Kimberly Lansing  –  10% of prize pool

6th:  Sunny Chen  –  10% of prize pool

Thanks to the Bicycle Casino for being such gracious hosts this week, and thanks to Joe Giron Photography for providing the images you’ve seen today. We will see you in a week-and-a-half for the next main stop on the World Poker Tour, the Borgata Poker Open in Atlantic City from September 15-20.