Yen Dang wins Ladies Championship

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Yen Dang defeated the field of 936 to win the Ladies World Championship held at the 2012 WSOP. In her second WSOP Ladies world championship (she failed to cash in 2005), Dang turned her $1,000 into $170,587 and her first WSOP bracelet. The Denver native has been playing poker since 2005, but only over the past year has she turned to the game professionally.

"I had a mission to play this tournament and just win and it's just incredible that you set your mind at something and you accomplished it," said Dang to the WSOP after her victory. "I didn't expect it, but I worked really hard to try and get here, so it's just amazing that I'm here."

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WSOP.comYen Dang, 29, won her first WSOP bracelet in Event 51 of the 2012 WSOP.

Dang was born in Vietnam, grew up in California and then moved to Denver as a teenager. While in law school, she discovered poker and opted to change her life's direction at that moment."

"I thought it would be challenging and something that I felt I could be good at," she said of her job transition. "So I just kept pursuing it and playing it to try and get better. I just kind of learned through watching other people play and playing myself. So I just decided to take the plunge and do it."

Dang entered the final table third in chips behind Debbie Pechac and Candida Ross-Powers. Her run to the bracelet started with her elimination of Lesley Amos in seventh. She lost some momentum for a few orbits, but regained it as she knocked out Ross-Powers in fifth. With four remaining, Dang battled from third to first and she dominated from there.

After Angela Prada-Moed went out in fourth and Jan Howard hit the rail in third, Dang faced off against Debbie Pechac for the bracelet. Pechac nearly recovered from a 2:1 chip deficit, but she failed to hit her open-ended straight draw on the final hand and was out in second. Pechac earned $105,586 for her three-day effort.

Now a bracelet winner, Dang looks forward to her next challenge at the felt. She knows that when the opportunity arrives, she'll be excited, ready and enjoying every moment.

"I just have a mindset that no matter what you do, you're going to get discouraged or bored eventually, even if you like it," she said. "But in poker, it changes, every hand changes. The way you play, it evolves so much, it keeps you interested. It never gets boring. Therefore it's something I can't say about most other occupations. Poker never gets boring."

Other notable finishers included Leo Margets (22nd), Erica Schoenberg (28th) and J.J. Liu (45th).

Below are the complete results of Event 51 at the 2012 World Series of Poker:

Event 51: No-limit hold 'em
Buy-in: $1,000
Entries: 936
Prize pool: $842,400
Players in the money: 117

1. Yen Dang ($170,587)
2. Debbie Pechac ($105,586)
3. Jan Howard ($66,061)
4. Angela Prada-Moed ($47,949)
5. Candida Ross-Powers ($35,398)
6. Rae Rocco ($26,536)
7. Lesley Amos ($20,184)
8. Rosemary Lawrence ($15,559)
9. Ida Lundholm ($12,156)
10. Lisa Santy ($9,620)
11. Amber Chatwin ($9,620)
12. Laurie Tournier ($9,620)
13. Peg Ledman ($7,716)
14. Mona Harb ($7,716)
15. Gaelle Baumann ($7,716)
16. Myra Thompson ($6,267)
17. Erika Weinstein ($6,267)
18. Monica Hinojosa ($6,267)
19. Lara Boutros ($5,155)
20. Jamie Kerstetter ($5,155)
21. Chantelle Do ($5,155)
22. Leo Margets ($5,155)
23. Stacey Lynn Nutini ($5,155)
24. Kathy Chang ($5,155)
25. Emilie Lehmann ($5,155)
26. Natalia Metlach ($5,155)
27. Oksana Jancevic ($5,155)
28. Erica Schoenberg ($4,305)
29. Marcia Paulson ($4,305)
30. Judy Smith ($4,305)
31. Debra Oneill ($4,305)
32. Ayesha Carmody ($4,305)
33. Della Jones ($4,305)
34. Jana Delacerra ($4,305)
35. Michelle Smith ($4,305)
36. Catherine Colelli ($4,305)
37. Shannon Armstrong ($3,639)
38. Jody Luth ($3,639)
39. Kirsten Schreiber ($3,639)
40. Sara Landro ($3,639)
41. Rosa Klaneski ($3,639)
42. Sofia Lovgren ($3,639)
43. Sombat Miller ($3,639)
44. Sandra Brown ($3,639)
45. J.J. Liu ($3,639)
46. Ariel Soffer ($3,108)
47. Suzanne Thompson Matzura ($3,108)
48. Claire Chiang ($3,108)
49. Biyun Xiu ($3,108)
50. Lisa Serban ($3,108)
51. Carolyn Grad ($3,108)
52. Einav Shalom ($3,108)
53. Jessica Dawley ($3,108)
54. Heike Messerschmidt ($3,108)
55. Kimberly Francisco ($2,687)
56. Nikki Griffith ($2,687)
57. Barbara Rega ($2,687)
58. Chii Sun ($2,687)
59. Min Dong ($2,687)
60. Sharon Hron ($2,687)
61. April Fisher ($2,687)
62. Kathleen Mahaney ($2,687)
63. Liina Vark ($2,687)
64. Lisa Mcnabb ($2,359)
65. Pauline Stregger ($2,359)
66. Inesa Paberzs ($2,359)
67. Maria Sorensen ($2,359)
68. Deborah Hewitt ($2,359)
69. Brandon Uhl ($2,359)
70. Yukina Masaki ($2,359)
71. Frances Ey ($2,359)
72. Leslie Nielsen ($2,359)
73. Lisa Parsons ($2,098)
74. Marsha Wolak ($2,098)
75. Jacquelyn Williams ($2,098)
76. Mandy Baker ($2,098)
77. Khamsy Nuanmanee ($2,098)
78. Kimberly Morgan ($2,098)
79. Heather Mann ($2,098)
80. Ranae Warren ($2,098)
81. Donna Houle ($2,098)
82. Sakura Sugawara ($1,887)
83. Hai Nguyen ($1,887)
84. Doralee Clark Rae ($1,887)
85. Vicki Mongillo ($1,887)
86. Sarah Grant ($1,887)
87. Sandra Wong ($1,887)
88. Felicia Johnico ($1,887)
89. Randi Levenbaum ($1,887)
90. Apple Torres ($1,887)
91. Anna Marcie ($1,735)
92. Nozato Emi ($1,735)
93. Annie LePage ($1,735)
94. Marie Martin ($1,735)
95. Janet Andersen ($1,735)
96. Kimberly Gaither ($1,735)
97. Jamie Humphreys ($1,735)
98. Dorothy Hector ($1,735)
99. Michelle Bennett ($1,735)
100. Jennifer Ryan-Koenig ($1,601)
101. Joan Goyette ($1,601)
102. Kay Strong ($1,601)
103. Charlotte Eaton ($1,601)
104. Wendy Cordiner ($1,601)
105. Amanda Wheeler ($1,601)
106. Jane Strell ($1,601)
107. Meredith Campbell ($1,601)
108. Angela Scriba ($1,601)
109. Bernice Svoboda ($1,601)
110. Lyndsey Hartley ($1,601)
111. Joan Sparks ($1,601)
112. Katrina Lim ($1,601)
113. Tara Watts ($1,601)
114. Karina Hansen ($1,601)
115. Janice Obrien ($1,601)
116. Catherine Alford-Flowers ($1,601)
117. Patricia Barsantichou ($1,601)

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Andrew Feldman

ESPN.com

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Andrew Feldman is ESPN.com's Poker Editor. He is the host of the Poker Edge Podcast and co-host of ESPN Inside Deal. Andrew has covered the poker industry for ESPN since 2004.