Leo Margets took down Event #83: $1,500 The Closer on Nov 21, to capture her first bracelet and $376,850 in top prize. The Spanish poker pro became the first woman to win an open event at the 2021 series after defeating Bosnia’s Alex Kulev heads-up.
The Closer attracted a total of 1,903 players, including numerous big names such as WSOP bracelet winner Michael Wang, partypoker ambassador Joao Simao, 2013 Main Event winner Ryan Riess, and ACR Team Pro Chris Moorman who also reached the final table.
Margets’ Poker Career
Margets is among the most successful poker pros in her home country of Spain. Her live tournament record includes multiple cashes in major festivals around the world, such as the WSOP, the European Poker Tour (EPT), Winamax Poker Tour, PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), partypoker MILLIONS, and the World Poker Tour (WPT).
She’s had numerous great runs at the WSOP in particular – she finished 27th in the 2009 WSOP Main Event for $352,832, her previous biggest score, and then finished second in a $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em, Double stack event at the 2018 WSOP for $123,297.
She was able to cash in this year’s Main Event for $26,700, and now she is officially a bracelet holder. What makes her victory even more special is that it once again proves that women can win in major tournaments and become successful just like men, something that she hopes will attract more female players into the game.
Margets currently serves as an ambassador for France-based online poker site Winamax.
Final Table Results
The final table was made up of nine players, with Benjamin Underwood becoming the first casualty. The Canadian poker pro finished 9th for $35,131. The next player to exit was Moorman who took home $44,740 for his 8th-place finish. With seven players remaining, Kulev scored the majority of the knockouts. He first eliminated Russia’s Aleksandr Shevliakov in 7th place for $57,525.
Two of the players in the final table were women – Margets and American poker pro Cherish Andrews who finished 6th for $74,680.
After Cherish Andrews’ exit, Kulev pulled off a double knockout, sending Arturo Segura and Marc Lange out of the game on the same hand. They finished 5th and 4th respectively, taking home $97,865 and $129,460 in winnings. Kulev went on to eliminate Stephen Song in 3rd place for $172,855.
Kulev appeared likely to walk away with the title as he held a 5.5-1 chip lead over Margets when heads-up play began, but the Barcelona native managed to put an end to his momentum.
Margets started with just seven million chips compared to her opponent’s 40 million, but she was able to even out the chip counts after doubling up twice. The Spanish pro went all in after miscalculating her stack, a huge mistake according to her, but she luckily got away with it and ended up winning the biggest pot of the tournament, leaving Kulev short. Margets finished him off in the next hand with king-jack versus ten-four.
Kulev walked away with $232,920 for his runner-up finish, the largest score of his career.
Motivation More Women To Play Poker
Two female players won a bracelet during this year’s WSOP. The first was Lara Eisenberg who emerged victorious in Event #22: Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship.
In her post-win interview, Margets acknowledged that it’s more difficult for a woman to win a bracelet at the WSOP because they are usually outnumbered by men, as female participation in the series remains significantly low. The Winamax Team Pro hopes that her win would inspire more women to develop an interest in the game. She encouraged her fellow female players to pursue their dreams because poker is a game for all.
