Tirza Sanders Wins World Poker Tour World Championship Ladies Title

Tirza Sanders first cashed in a live poker tournament event in 2011, finishing 15th in a low-stakes affair at that year’s Aussie Millions festival down under. The Arizona resident has managed 14 more in-the-money finishes since then, with her latest being by far her biggest.

On Sunday, Dec. 15 Sanders took down the 2024 World Poker Tour World Championship $1,100 no-limit hold’em ladies championship, earning her first live title and the top prize of $90,432. Sanders is now approaching $130,000 in total tournament cashes thanks to this big win at Wynn Las Vegas.

This was the third annual running of this event. This year the tournament sported a $250,000 guarantee. With 485 entries, the final prize pool swelled to $479,450. The top 60 finishers made the money, with big names like Alexandra Loveless (48th), 2022 champion of this tournament Lina Niu (28th), bracelet winner Allyn Shulman (12th), and Mid-States Poker Tour champion Kyna England (11th) all making deep runs.

The final day began with all of the 60 players who cashed remaining, with Jenny Ding out in front. By the time the final table was set, Sinead Davenport had overtaken the top spot while Sanders had climbed to sit in fourth chip position.

Sanders’ first knockout saw her win a three-way all-in with pocket jacks against the pocket eights of Sara Ralston and K-10 of Mikiyo Aoki. Sanders’ hand held to see her eliminate Aoki in seventh place ($15,522) and take a chunk out of Ralston’s stack. After Krisha Augerot bowed out (6th – $20,770), Sanders won another all-in with K-J besting the Q-8 suited of Ding to narrow the field to four. Ding earned $27,318 for her fifth-place finish.

The knockouts just kept coming for Sanders. She next flopped with nut flush with A10, leaving Ralston and her A3 drawing dead. The turn and river were mere formalities and Ralston was eliminated in fourth place ($35,833).

Sanders then won a preflop race (pocket fives vs. J-8 suited) to eliminate Sinead Davenport in third place, giving her 9,150,000 to the 5,000,000 of Jana Delacerra when heads-up play began. The final showdown for the title lasted a couple of hours, with the final hand pitting Sanders’ KQ against the A9 of Delacerra. The board came down K867J and Sanders’ flopped pair of kings earned her the victory. Delacerra walked away with $58,987 as the runner-up.

Here is a look at the payouts awarded at the final table:

Photo credit: WPT.

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