Pam Belote, the Queen of Oklahoma poker, has kicked off 2025 on a historic note. She recently topped a competitive field of 115 entries in the $250 Ladies Event at the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Choctaw, claiming a $5,920 first-place prize and her eighth WSOP Circuit Ring.
With her eighth ring victory, Pam Belote surpassed her compatriot Le Sengphet (7-time ring winner), etching her name as the most decorated woman in the history of the World Series of Poker Circuit. One thing worth mentioning here is that all her rings have come in a span of less than six years, which is an incredible feat showcasing her strategic brilliance on the felts.
8 Rings In Less Than 6 Years: Pam Belote’s Journey To Poker Greatness
First Two Rings in 2019 and Third Ring in 2022: Pam Belote won her first ring in January 2019 when she won the WSOPC Choctaw $130 Ladies Event for $ 4,244. In March that year, she claimed her second ring with a win in the WSOPC Tulsa $250 Ladies Event for $ 6,179. After that, she had to wait for her third ring until 2022. In August 2022, she won the WSOPC Tulsa $250 Ladies Event to claim $5,691 and her third ring.
Three WSOP Rings in 2023: The year 2023 was a break-out year for Pam Belote as she won not one, not two, but an impressive three rings. She claimed her first ring of the year in July for her victory for $6,054 in the Ladies Event at WSOPC Dallas/Oklahoma and followed that up with victories in the $515 + 85 NLH event at WSOPC Council Bluffs and in the $238 + 62 NLH event at WSOPC Dallas/Oklahoma.
Belote claimed her seventh ring in 2024 by winning the $300 Ladies event at WSOPC Southern Indiana for $ 5,781. With the recent win at the WSOPC Choctaw, she has become the most decorated female in WSOPC history. The last of her four rings have come in fourth consecutive years and for a fourth year in a row, she wins a seat to the coveted WSOPC tournament of champions. Belote is looking forward to this tournament of champions and hopes to surpass her previous best $2,600 from her 81st place last year.
2025 WSOPC Choctaw Ladies Event Quick Recap
Coming back to the recent WSOPC Choctaw Ladies Event, the $250 buy-in drew a total of 115 players and created a prize pool worth $23,000, which was finally shared by top 18 players. When the dust settled, Belote remained the last woman standing in the field, claiming her eighth ring and surpassing seven-time ring winner Le Sengphet to etch her name in the history books as the most decorated female player in the WSOPC history.
Pam Belote overcame a competitive final table featuring several top players including WSOPC Durant ladies Event winner Kourtney Davis. The final table kicked off with Bonnie Weitzel holding a massive chip lead.
Weitzel went on to extend her lead by busting Jamie Kempf (10th) early. She held ace-king and bested Kempf’s nines. The next to fall was WSOPC champ in Kourtney Davis (9th) whose pocket threes failed to get there against Sheila Goff’s queens. The eventual champion Pam Belote scored her first elimination by knocking out Taylor Hodkin. The latter ran her pocket sixes into Belote’s aces to exit in 8th place. The next player to fall was Indian-origin player Vidhi Seem, who shoved with pocket nines against Weitzel’s jacks and got no help from the board to exit in 7th place.
Eliminations continued with Natalie Bereznyak and Gloria Davila falling in 6th and 5th places, respectively. Davila (5th for $1,292) shoved with a stronger king-nine but got unlucky losing against Belote’s jack-nine.
Belote kept her dominance by busting Sung “Debbie” Lee, who shoved with ace-three against Belote’s aces and found no help to exit in 4th place. After the elimination of Sheila Goff in 3rd place at the hand of Weitzel, it came down to the heads-up where Belote prevailed to win the title. Weitzel (runner-up for $3,808) got in her last chips with king-eight against Belote’s ace-seven. A king did come on the flop but the flush on the river for Belote won her the coveted eighth ring to break the WSOP Circuit ring record.
2025 WSOPC Choctaw Ladies Event Final Table Payouts (USD)
1. Pam Belote -$5,920
2. Bonnie Weitzel – $3,808
3. Sheila Goff – $2,548
4. Sung “Debbie” Lee – $1,776
5. Gloria Davila – $1,292
6. Natalie Bereznyak – $983
7. Vidhi Seem – $783
8. Taylor Hodkin – $656
9. Kourtney Davis – $578
10. Jamie Kempf -$538
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Source: WSOP, Poker.Org & The HendonMob
Image Credit: Poker.Org & WSOP