The 2025 Nevada State Ladies Championship at the Women In Poker Spring Festival drew a sizable field of 451 entries at $360 a piece, blowing away the $35,000 guarantee to create a final prize pool of $137,555.
While 63 women made the money in this event, which was part of the Ladies International Poker Series at South Point Hotel Casino & Spa in Las Vegas, only one would walk away with the title. In the end it was Laura Westfall who hoisted the trophy thanks to a heads-up deal struck with 2024 LIPS Player of the Year Ruth Hall.
Westfall earned $20,770 as the champion. This was the largest recorded tournament score yet for the Sheridan, Oregon resident. Her previous top payday came when she won a $600 buy-in event last December for $19,858 during the Venetian DeepStack Extravaganza IV festival.
Hall, who won the LIPS Nevada State Ladies Poker Championship back in 2022, also earned $20,770 thanks to the tournament-ending deal. She now has more than $350,000 in career cashes to her name after adding this latest score.
Bracelet winner Kathy Liebert made the final table, finishing sixth for $3,301. The Women in Poker Hall of Fame member is now just a few thousand shy of $7.2 million in career cashes, which places her third on the women’s all-time money list behind only Kristen Foxen ($11.6 million) and Vanessa Selbst ($10.9 million).
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Earnings |
| 1 | Laura Westfall | $20,770 |
| 2 | Ruth Hall | $20,770 |
| 3 | Lorena Sanchez | $9,491 |
| 4 | Mary Jo Olsavsky | $5,571 |
| 5 | Gina Webster | $3,824 |
| 6 | Kathy Liebert | $3,301 |
| 7 | Danielle Chaput | $2,902 |
| 8 | Lori Wheeler | $2,545 |
| 9 | Lisa Towns | $2,270 |
More Big Winners From The 2025 LIPS Women In Poker Spring Festival
There were six total events held at the latest LIPS Women In Poker Spring Festival, which ran from April 23-27. The series kicked off with a $220 mini main event, which saw Chris Read best a field of 249 entries to earn $9,168.
That same day, Kathy Chang outlasted a field of 90 entries in the $220 Omaha eight-or-better event, scooping the final pot to earn $4,254.
Nicole Altis and Caryn Corsi both earned $5,983 at the end of the $200 teams event.
The $180 ‘Pajama Jam’ attracted 121 entries, with Jacqueline Pennington coming out on top. Pennington earned $3,187 as the champion after doing a deal with Liebert, who walked away with $3,186 as the runner-up.
The final event on the agenda was a bounty survivor event that saw the top ten finishers all walk away with $900 from the main prize pool in addition to the bounties they earned along the way.
Photo credit: SouthPoint Poker Room X account.
