The 2012 World Series of Poker was dubbed the Year of the Woman, but perhaps that title belongs to the 2013 summer series. Less than a week after 31-year-old waitress Dana Castaneda won event no. 54, Loni Harwood also joined the exclusive club of women to win an open bracelet event.
Harwood, a 23-year-old professional poker player from Staten Island, New York, won $609,017 for defeating a field of 2,541 in event no. 60, a $1,500 no-limit hold’em tournament. What made the feat even more impressive was that it was Harwood’s third final table and sixth cash of the summer.
Harwood finished sixth in the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better event for $39,803 and last week finished fourth in a $1,500 no-limit hold’em event for $210,456. All told, her summer winnings total nearly $875,000.
“I’m pretty overwhelmed,” Harwood admitted. “It honestly hasn’t hit me yet. It’s pretty awesome. It’s the definitely the highlight of my poker career. Everyone is in search of a bracelet. I can’t even believe I won a bracelet today. It’s pretty unbelievable. When I won a gold ring when I first started, I thought it was the biggest thing in the world. This is like 100 times better.”
Here is a look at the final table results.
| Place | Player Name | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Loni Harwood | $609,017 | 1200 |
| 2 | Yongshuo Zheng | $378,607 | 1000 |
| 3 | Mika Paasonen | $267,978 | 800 |
| 4 | Yngve Steen | $193,265 | 600 |
| 5 | Asi Moshe | $141,124 | 500 |
| 6 | Daniel Cascado | $104,282 | 400 |
| 7 | Cy Williams | $78,006 | 300 |
| 8 | Bijon Notash | $59,036 | 200 |
| 9 | Hiren Patel | $45,212 | 100 |
For complete coverage of the summer poker festival. check out our WSOP landing page.
Photo Credit: Joe Giron/WSOP
