Kristen Bicknell added yet another live title to her collection on Sunday, winning the Poker Masters $25,000 NLHE event. (Drew Amata/Poker Central)

Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas, Kristen Bicknell made history by becoming the first woman to win a Poker Masters title after defeating a final table that included current Purple Jacket points leader Chance Kornuth and defending Purple Jacket champion Ali Imsirovic.

“It feels incredible to win this event. I final tabled the World Poker Tour event last week and I did not feel happy with my final table play, so that run was kind of bittersweet. I wasn’t planning on playing this tournament but I felt the itch and in Las Vegas and I’m very happy with how it played out,” Bicknell said.

A cooler just three minutes into the day sent one player to the rail. Ben Heath moved all-in from UTG for 125,000 with KcKd. Action folded to Ralph Wong in the small blind and he called with Ad6c before Andras Nemeth moved all-in for 525,000 from the big blind AhAs forcing Wong to fold. The board ran out 9h7d6sJcJh to bust Heath in sixth place.

Less than 10 minutes, action folded to Wong on the button and he moved all in for 590,000 with As9s. Nemeth folded his small blind but Kornuth called from the big blind with AdJc. The 8s5c4h flop kept Kornuth ahead and the Ah turn kept Wong drawing to a nine but the 7s failed to connect and he was out in fifth.

Kornuth moved all-in from UTG with 5c5s and Nemeth called from the big blind with Ac3h. Nemeth failed to connect on the 8h4d4h4cTh board and was eliminated in fourth place.

Kornuth continued to be the aggressor and it resulted in finding yet another victim. Bicknell folded the button and Kornuth moved all in for 1,050,000 withh Jc3c and Ali Imsirovic called all-in with Ks8d. The Qd5d4s flop was a safe one for Imsirovic, but the Js turn gave Kornuth the advantage before the Jd river finished Imsirovic off in third.

Heads-up play began with Bicknell holding 3,470,000 of the 6,375,000 chips in play. Over the next two hours, Bicknell and Kornuth each took turns with the lead before Bicknell captured it for the final time and finished Kornuth off. Bicknell moved all-in with 8h8s and Kornuth called all-in with 9d9h. The 7c5h4h flop gave Bicknell a gutshot straight draw. The Ac turn was a brick but the 6c river completed her straight and gave her first Poker Masters title.

This marked the third time in six Poker Masters events this year that Kornuth finished as the runner-up. He previously came second to Isaac Baron in Event #1 and Ryan Laplante in Event #2 and now leads the Purple Jacket championship standings by more than double any other player.

Final Table Payouts

  1. Kristen Bicknell – $408,000
  2. Chance Kornuth – $267,500
  3. Ali Imsirovic – $178,500
  4. Andras Nemeth – $127,000
  5. Ralph Wong – $102,000
  6. Ben Heath – $76,500
  7. David Stamm – $63,750
  8. Elio Fox – $51,000

Purple Jacket Standings

  1. Chance Kornuth – 630
  2. Kristen Bicknell – 300
  3. Isaac Baron – 300
  4. Ryan Laplante – 300
  5. Julien Martini – 300
  6. Jared Bleznick – 300
  7. Jonathan Depa – 300
  8. Sam Soverel – 270
  9. Jorryt van Hoof – 270
  10. Alex Foxen – 270