The Women's Winter Festival, supported by PokerStars, kicked off Thursday at the Hippodrome Casino in London with action in the £1,100 High Roller and Day 1A of the £400 Main Event. In the High Roller, 27 entrants ponied up the buy-in to generate a prize pool of £25,920, with five players paid and £10,020 for the eventual winner.
When the final hand was dealt, Charlie Waters stood atop the podium and laid claim to the top prize and the inaugural Women's Winter Festival High Roller title.
Ivonne Montealegre held the chip lead to start the final table, coming in with 113BBs. Behind her, Jennifer Steele and Waters held the second and third spots on the chip counts, with 83BBs and 80BBs respectively. Maria Lampropulos (68BBs), Soraya Estrada (61BBs), and Jen Shahade (52BBs) were all in the middle of the pack. Caitlyn Arnwine, Vanessa Kade, and Georgina James started proceedings as the three short stacks.
Short stacks exit as money bubble looms
With four eliminations still to go until the money bubble burst, each of the players at the final table were hoping to outlast their opponents to make the minimum cash of £2,300. After starting as one of the short stacks, Kade put her tournament life on the line with a bluff. Unfortunately for Kade, her opponent in the hand, Shahade, rivered a pair good enough to call down with and her run ended outside the money in a ninth-place finish.
Kade: 
Shahade: 
Board: 
Vanessa Kade ran a big bluff, but couldn't get it through. James bowed out next after committing the remainder of her short stack with 
and failing to improve on the 
runout.
Despite starting with a middling stack, Shahade couldn't avoid a brutal cooler to end her run. Facing an open from Steele, Shahade came in for a three-bet with 
. Steele held a pocket pair of her own, 
, and made the call to see the 
flop. With her overpair, Shahade continued to bet and Steele responded with a check-raise. Shahade made the call, drawing to just two outs, and the 
on the turn didn't change much. Steele moved all-in with her set and, after thinking it through, Shahade called it off. In need of a miracle two-outer, Shahade's run came to an end on the 
river.
Arnwine bubbles, Lampropulos out in fifth
After navigating her way to the direct money bubble on a short stack, Arnwine fell just short of the money. When the action folded to her on the button, Arnwine moved all-in with and Estrada looked down at 
in the big blind. With the money bubble on the line, Estrada took her time before eventually making the call to put Arnwine at risk.
The 
runout left Estrada's pair best and sent Arnwine to the exit on the wrong side of the money bubble.
Caitlyn Arnwine fell just short of the money in the Women's Winter Festival High Roller. Shortly afterwards, Estrada notched another elimination from the big blind after defending with against Lampropulos' open with 
. Both players connected with the 
flop, but Estrada had her opponent's top pair in bad shape with bottom two pair. Lampropulos' continuation bet led to a check-raise from Estrada and an all-in over the top in response. With all the chips in the middle, Estrada's big blind special had her poised to score another knockout and the 
turn and river confirmed Lampropulos' exit in fifth-place.
Montealegre's exit leads to lengthy three-handed battle
Despite coming into the final table as the chip leader, Montealegre's momentum stalled out, leading to her exit in fourth place. In a blind versus blind confrontation, Montealegre moved all-in over the top of a raise from Estrada in the small blind, who snap-called the shove.
Montealegre: 
Estrada: 
Board: 
With only three players remaining and big pay jumps at play, the pace of play slowed as the three-handed battle unfolded over several hours. Eventually, Estrada found herself on the short stack and moved all in from the small blind with . Steele looked down at 
in the big blind and made the call to put her opponent at risk. After notching several eliminations of her own, Estrada needed to hit to stay alive, but the 
runout connected only with Steele.
Steele and Waters began the heads-up portion of play with similar stack sizes. Waters held a slim lead, but Steele wasn't far off. After chipping away at her opponent's stack, Waters managed to pull away with the lead, creating further separation between the two. With the blinds on the rise, Steele was running out of time to start a comeback.
The final hand of play saw two strong heads-up holdings collide. Steele, with a little less than 20 big blinds, moved all-in from the small blind with and Waters made the call with . With the title on the line, the runout came down 
to keep Waters' hand best.
Women's Winter Festival £1,100 High Roller final table results
| Place | Player | Prize (GBP) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charlie Waters | £10,200 |
| 2 | Jennifer Steele | £6,400 |
| 3 | Soraya Estrada | £4,200 |
| 4 | Ivonne Montealegre | £3,000 |
| 5 | Maria Lampropulos | £2,300 |
Images Courtesy of Danny Maxwell/Rational Intellectual Holdings Limited/PokerStars
