2026 Women's Poker Week: Aria Ladies Mystery Bounty a Huge Success
During the 2026 Women's Poker Week, the Ladies Mystery Bounty event at Aria attracted 333 players, with a total prize pool of nearly $150,000. Lynn Kucharo and Chen-Wen Lee made a deal to split the champion's prize, each receiving $27,275. Cindy Spier became the bounty queen with $23,500. Many well-known female players made the money, making the event exciting.
2026 Women's Poker Week in Las Vegas is in full swing, and Aria has demonstrated excellent organizational skills as the host of the Ladies Mystery Bounty event. The tournament had an $800 buy-in with a [guaranteed prize pool] of $150,000, ultimately attracting 333 female participants for a total prize pool of $149,850. The top 42 players shared the prize money.
The event was filled with competition and excitement from the start. The champion was originally scheduled to receive $32,075, but during heads-up play, Lynn Kucharo and Chen-Wen Lee agreed to an even chop, each taking home $27,275. Kucharo received the Aria trophy, while Lee claimed the Women's Poker Association (WPA) trophy.
Several familiar faces made it into the money, adding star power to the event. They included sports and poker journalist Florence Mazet, Marguerite Spagnuolo who won at the Wynn last year, poker star Kyna England, commentator Tiffany Michelle, Ukrainian player Angela Vagylenko (whose live tournament earnings exceed $200,000 according to The Hendon Mob), Thi Nguyen with nearly $2 million in tournament winnings (who also brought her dog Kalbi, becoming a crowd favorite), photographer and poker player Hayley Hochstetler, and Ukrainian player Anastasia Knapp (who achieved good results at the 2025 WSOP Women's Event).
The Mystery Bounty segment was particularly exciting. Cindy Spier from Massachusetts became the biggest winner of the night, drawing the $15,000 grand prize along with additional bounties of $5,000, $2,000, $1,000, and $500, totaling an impressive $23,500—undoubtedly one of the biggest winners of the event. Other high-bounty winners included Babette Chao ($10,500), Samantha Merz ($10,000), Wenxin Huang ($9,000), Chen-Wen Lee ($7,500), and others.
The [final table] featured intense competition. The first elimination was the popular Jamie Kerstetter, who has over $1 million in live tournament earnings and is both a top player and well-known commentator. Next, Jacqueline Collins finished in eighth place. Seventh place went to Babette Chao, who had already collected significant bounties. Sixth place was Wenxin Huang, continuing her strong performance from the previous day's Wynn Ladies event. Fifth place was Taiwan's Hua-Wei Lin. Fourth place went to Vivienne Gentry, who had already reached two final tables that week and was on a hot streak. Third place Seina Asagiri showed incredible resilience, miraculously doubling up with just a single chip remaining, before ultimately losing with A-J against Chen-Wen Lee's pocket deuces.
During heads-up, Lynn Kucharo and Chen-Wen Lee agreed to split the prize money. For Kucharo, this victory was especially meaningful—she hadn't originally planned to play, but a friend convinced her to register. She said: "This is my first final table, first trophy, first time winning a bounty." Having only started playing poker after retiring four years ago, she finally achieved her breakthrough. Lee also expressed emotion: "I've been participating in Women's Poker Week for several years and never got good results. This time I finally broke through." She also drew $7,500 in the bounty segment and could not contain her excitement.
This event was not just a poker tournament but a testament to the unity and perseverance of the women's poker community. The stories of both champions inspire more women to engage in this intellectual sport.