Transgender Poker Player Aubrey Williams Comes Second in WSOP Ladies Event

• Aubrey Williams won $129,692 after finishing second in the WSOP Ladies Event, her biggest live cash to date
• Williams said she entered because she is a woman, while her deep run sparked fierce online debate and support from fellow poker professionals
• The article explains why WSOP rules and Nevada law allowed Williams to compete, including the history of men entering the Ladies Event

Aubrey Williams, a transgender woman, finished second in the World Series of Poker Ladies Event on Sunday night, winning $129,692 after a two-hour heads-up battle against Syke Chen.

Video: Aubrey Williams competes at the World Series of Poker Ladies Championship final table. (Source: World Series of Poker/YouTube.)

Speaking to PokerNews earlier, Williams stressed she was not playing to make any kind of political statement – she says she entered because “I’m a woman, so I play in the women’s event … I’m just playing a tournament.”

Many disagreed, venting sometimes-hateful comments online. Tellingly, Williams, 31, from Pennsylvania, says she does not do social media, noting that the internet is “not a real place.”

“No one [in the room] has a problem with her being here, and if you use her for rage bait to help your pathetic online platform, I will come at you with the fire of 10,000 suns,” wrote fellow player Caitlin Comeskey on X.

Accomplished Player

This was not Williams’ first rodeo. She is an accomplished poker player with numerous online tournaments to her name and almost $500,000 in live tournament winnings, according to the Hendon Mob Database. In January, she won the Borgata Winter Poker Open $1,000 Hybrid Championship in Atlantic City for $52,540.

While there, she gave an interview with Poker.org, discussing her love for the game and the challenges of coming out and transitioning.

In fact, state gaming laws generally prohibit casinos from denying access based on sex, which is why men have periodically entered the Ladies Event over the years, most notably Shaun Deeb in 2010. The following year, 15 men gatecrashed the tournament, and one reached the final table.

Ladies’ Discount

In 2014, the WSOP sought to discourage male entrants by introducing a “Ladies Night” discount. Women paid the standard $1,000 buy-in, while men were charged $10,000.

Williams paid the $1,000 entry fee because her driver’s license identifies her as female.

“The whole point of ladies events is to provide a rare opportunity to play poker through a feminine lens, which seemingly a lot of women value (especially amateur players),” WSOP bracelet winner Liv Boeree wrote on X.

“And the few times I played it, it def provided a social vibe normal tournaments could never. So, someone like Aubrey, who pretty clearly has very feminine energy, complements that vibe well.”