THE ladies are taking implicit the Hippodrome aboriginal this period erstwhile PokerStars bring their Women’s Winter Festival to the capital.
The inaugural four-day lawsuit – held astatine the iconic venue from November 21-24 – is aiming to make a comforting ambiance for pistillate beginners and besides supply a level for those experienced players too.
The poker giants person made it a cardinal ambition of theirs to rise the fig of pistillate participants astatine events, with conscionable 3% of those presently progressive being women.
They’ve ran palmy bootcamps for novices, including 1 successful Cyprus past twelvemonth with respective of the players retained successful the crippled and attending the Festival aboriginal successful the month.
And the numbers are lone growing. This year’s NAPT women’s lawsuit successful Las Vegas brought successful 182 players - up from conscionable 94 the twelvemonth before.
The database of incentives astatine the Women’s Winter Festival, some personally and financially - with a stunning £100,000 warrant successful the antheral event, are endless with everyone and anyone catered for. From freeroll events – wherever you don’t wage to buy-in – with immense prizes to precocious roller events, there’s thing for everyone.
Kerryjane Craigie is the Director of Poker astatine the Hippodrome and was announced successful the summertime arsenic a caller PokerStars Ambassador for Women successful Poker.
Kerryjane has tally Ladies’ clubs for astir a decennary present and has made it a people of hers to beforehand diverseness crossed poker and has pushed hard to interruption down imaginable barriers for caller and existing pistillate players.
On hosting the Women’s Winter Festival, she said: “The enactment from PokerStars for women successful poker which I’m present to advocator has been immense and they person a existent existent effort and ambition to marque a difference.
“The lone docket is to celebrate, elevate and get much women playing the crippled – that’s it! And that doesn’t mean conscionable pushing them to the PokerStars marque either.
“I’ve been an advocator done the Hippodrome for a fig of years and it’s large to person idiosyncratic throwing a spot of value down what I’m doing.
“The bootcamp past twelvemonth was innovative and present the Women’s Winter Festival this period is conscionable unheard of with £100,000 warrant and each astir the women.
“We’ve got players coming from Canada, Brazil, USA and European qualifiers – and of people the UK!
“Every quality is catered for excessively which is vitally important.
“It’s besides astir the percentages – we person to rise the 3% figure, the comfortability and getting much women progressive and retained successful the crippled which is ne'er a atrocious thing.
“We’re aiming for Europe’s largest women’s event, which is 273 players. So we’re aiming for implicit 300 entries, with galore coming done our satellites and qualifiers connected PokerStars that person been moving a portion now.
“There’s 10 opportunities each time to get progressive done a qualifier, which again is caller for PokerStars to enactment that overmuch unit down thing similar this.
“I anticipation it’ll beryllium thing we tin bash again, again and again and instrumentality it connected the roadworthy too!”
Fellow ambassador Jen Shahade has had immense engagement successful driving the accrued numbers of females taking part.
She was the look and hard enactment down overmuch of the Cyprus bootcamp and she’s thrilled that truthful galore person been retained successful the game.
Now, she’s hoping those visiting the Hippodrome volition instrumentality plentifulness from the experience.
She added: “We’ve got respective of our erstwhile bootcamp attendees coming on to the Winter Festival, with immoderate adjacent present successful Vegas.
“There’s a batch of retention from the participants who’ve truly bought into the societal and intelligence aspects of the game. That speaks volumes.
“It’s decidedly getting busier with women. They’re continuing to flock to the crippled and get much excited. There’s a batch of excitement arsenic this continues to grow.
“People privation antithetic things from poker. Some privation to spot if they tin beryllium semi-professional portion others conscionable privation to conscionable much caller people.
“It’s a large mode to physique a community, question to antithetic cities and to marque friends. Some women gravitate to that aspect, portion others volition larn fiscal lessons and get that competitory edge.
“It’s catering to each types.
“Some radical privation a spot of everything which is great. That’s the quality of poker; it has a chameleon quality. You tin marque it what you want.
“At the Winter Festival, it would beryllium large and a occurrence to get large numbers attending. But I’m besides keen connected the vibes and what radical deliberation erstwhile they’re coming distant from it.
“I anticipation they deliberation it’s fulfilling and they possibly prime up caller things astir poker on the way. You can’t power whether you triumph oregon lose, you tin lone bash your best. But you tin power if you’re getting the champion retired your experience.”
Top tips for females looking to commencement out
Marle Spragg is simply a PokerStars ambassador and contented creator, boasting implicit 11,000 Instagram followers.
She's played the crippled since she was a youngster, influenced by her dad's engagement arsenic a afloat clip player.
Her hubby Ben is besides a immense sanction successful the game.
She's shared her 3 apical tips for immoderate aspiring women players looking to get progressive successful the crippled of poker.
Marle said: “I started playing arsenic a kid, my dada played the crippled afloat time. I ever played recreationally until I moved to Vegas aft assemblage wherever I past discontinue my occupation to play afloat time.
“Being a pistillate coming into the abstraction erstwhile I did came with its ain challenges, conscionable due to the fact that you were successful the minority. But it’s hard for EVERYBODY the archetypal fewer times.
“However erstwhile I played yesterday, I had 5 women astatine my array unsocial with different tables having 1 oregon 2 astatine least, truthful there’s decidedly much and much coming into it.”
- Start retired playing with idiosyncratic you spot -“It hasn’t ever been easy! The archetypal clip you play is ever uncomfortable – truthful I’d urge starting retired playing with idiosyncratic you cognize and spot to usher you arsenic it makes it a full batch easier.”
- Play online archetypal – “There’s micro stakes and women’s events online, conscionable to get the consciousness for basal things similar pursuing the enactment and stake sizes. There’s 1 dollar tournaments you tin play to assistance get the consciousness and assistance you get implicit that archetypal hump. It’s a large mode to easiness into it. I retrieve not knowing erstwhile the enactment was connected maine and misreading the chips, truthful that online assistance is simply a large mode to get comfortable.
- Pick environments you consciousness comfy successful – “Those decidedly exist, spot me! You conscionable person to find them. But surely going with those radical you tin spot volition assistance with that. The unit and players present couldn’t beryllium immoderate much welcoming, you conscionable request to acquisition it for yourself.”