World Poker Tour Ladies Championship down to final table

The World Pokier Tour Ladies Championship kicked off yesterday over the Bellagio with a over 150 female poker players putting up $1,500 to play.

Leading the pack into the final table will be Vanessa Selbst. With $182,200 in chips, Selbst has a considerable lead over the pack, with her nearest competitor being Nancy Todd Tyner with $107,400 in chips.

Selbst built up her lead steadily through two days of play in the championship. She was the chip leader after Day 1 as the playing field made its way down to the top 10 players by the end of the day.

Some of the poker pro casualties in Day 1 included Kathy Liebert, Jennifer Tilly, Evelyn Ng, JJ Liu, Shirley Williams, Anjela Brunson, Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, Lily Mizrachi, Sabyl Cohen and Maureen Feduniak.

In Day 2, Karina Jett, Erica Schoenberg, Jennifer Carson and Emeline Boich hit the bricks to leave the following ladies at the final table:

Seat 1: Nancy Todd Tyner - $107,400
Seat 2: Janice Kim - $32,900
Seat 3: Cindy Kerslake - $16,400
Seat 4: Vanessa Selbst - $182,200
Seat 5: Donna Varlotto - $68,600
Seat 6: Van Nguyen - $42,300

The final table will take place April 25, the day before the WPT World Championship final table, and be taped for future television broadcast.

The WPT World Championship will start Saturday at the Bellagio. Selbst confirmed she plans to buy into that event as well. Men “The Master” Nguyen is also hoping to duplicate his wife’s success in the Ladies Championship with a win of his own in the World.