Don't call us the NSA, but we are watching you.
We're tracking the women of PokerStars, waiting patiently to see who will become the Woman of the Series during the 2013 World Championship of Online Poker.
The action started on Sunday, September 8, with three events. And the numbers for those tournaments showed that this WCOOP was off to an amazing start! Event 1 was a $109 NLHE with a $500K guarantee, and that kickoff tournament drew 11,799 players for a whopping $1,179,900 prize pool. Event 2 was a $215 NLHE 6-Max with a $1 million guarantee, but the field of 6,622 players created an actual prize pool of $1,324,400. If these dollar amounts are any indication, this WCOOP is set to make online poker history ... again.
We want to recognize the women - the PokerStars Women - who do well in this series. It's the largest and most prestigious online poker tournament series in the world, and we are ready to give some shout-outs to the women who star in it.
Let's get back to Event 1 and its final table:
Notice lepa lepa28 from Russia? She soared to the final table with one of the larger stacks but faced some tough hands at the table. She ultimately moved all-in with [Ks][6h] on a [4s][Qs][Js] flop, but herosnappinG called with [7s][8s] for the flopped flush. She Lepa lepa28 couldn't find another spade for the higher flush, and she exited in third place with a substantial payout of $82,593.
On Day 2 of WCOOP, Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree played Event 5, the $320 NLHE 6-Max Shootout. She made it through the first three rounds to take a seat at the final table. She then exited in fifth place when her A-Q fell to her opponent's K-J, though she took home $15,552 for the finish.
In Event 6, Pandochka515 of Russia made her final table in the $215 NLHE Turbo Rebuy event, ultimately finishing in eighth place out of 2,090 runners for a payout of $22,417.50.
Altogether, the WCOOP Leader Board reveals eight women in the top 100 through the first several events. Considering that women are only five percent of the fields, their eight percent representation on the Leader Board is outstanding!
Note: We cannot reveal the gender of the female players unless they openly play a women-only event at some point on PokerStars. However, you are more than welcome to comment on our Facebook or Twitter pages to let us know.
Keep in mind that there's more than just WCOOP fame awaiting the Woman of the Series. There is a 2014 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $3,500 prize package for the winner!
There's still plenty of time to get in the running, as WCOOP continues through September 29. Check the main WCOOP page for satellites available for each upcoming event.
Best of luck! We want to see you on the WCOOP Leader Board now and at the PCA in January!
Jennifer Newell is a PokerStars freelance contributor.