UK Poker Pro Eleanor Gudger wins PartyPoker’s WPT500 for £140k

It’s hard to deny that female poker pros simply don’t garner the respect of the poker community like their male counterparts do. Eleanor Gudger is helping to change that with her win at the PartyPoker WPT500 that wrapped up over the weekend at Dusk Till Dawn in Nottingham. After taking down a field of more than 2,000 competitors, Gudger is the proud new owner of the 1st place championship title and £140,000 in prize money.

Adding to the fanfare of Gudger’s amazing triumph is her comparable lack of experience on the professional circuit. But perhaps ‘lack of experience’ is the wrong phrase, whereas ‘lack of time spent’ may be more appropriate. It was only 18 months ago that Eleanor Gudger decided to shift her career focus and become a professional poker player.
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She had already snagged several cashes in the US and UK between 2010 and 2012, amounting to more than $35,000 (GBP £22,000). In June 2013, she headed back to Las Vegas where she finished 6th in the World Series of Poker’s Ladies Championship for $27,045 (GBP £17,272). She continued to rack up smaller cashes on the live poker tournament circuit, but spent a good deal of time playing online poker as well.

Gudger’s initial success was so inspiring that even her father, John Gudger, was motivated to hit the tables. Apparently poker skills run in the family for the Gudgers. In December of that same year, her father collected his first live tournament cash by winning the WPT National UK London event in Milton Keynes for £12,750. With Eleanor’s indubitable talents shining brightly in both live and online poker venues, it didn’t take long for Gudger to get a sponsorship offer. She has been a member of Team PKR Pro since March of 2014, less than one year into her professional poker career.

The WPT500 drew a record crowd to the UK poker room as six Day-1 flights attracted a total of 2,132 to the tables to participate in the £500 buy-in, £1 million GTD Main Event. Gudger finished Day 2 in 34th with 925k chips, but had progressed to second-highest by the time the final table of 8 was formed, topped only by her would-be heads-up competitor, Matthew “silentnoonan” Noonan. By the time that inevitable one-on-one battle ensued, Gudger had built her stack to 44.2mm, more than twice that of Noonan’s 18.35mm.

It was to be an intriguing finish as these two brought highly diversified styles to the table; Gudger being a calculating poker player who relies on the odds, while Noonan is more reliant on his intuition. As is generally the case, probability won out for Gudger. On the final hand, Noonan shipped his stack on A-9, getting a quick call from Gudger, who tabled A-Q. Matthew rose from his seat, clearly distressed, but Gudger seemed frozen to her chair, eyes unwavering from the center of the table as the flop came down K-K-A. Noonan’s hopes were further dashed by the 5 turn that hushed the rail, but the silence ceased as a 4 river sealed Gudger’s victory, bringing an uproarious cry from her fans.

Gudger was overwhelmed by the limelight, having finally achieved her very first live tournament victory. The win was worth £140,000, more than doubling her previous career total of $142,202 (GBP £90,802). “I’m just over the moon,” Eleanor said once the initial shock wore off. “It’s such a huge field, over two thousand players, it’s just incredible.”

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