WSOP Controversy as Male pro wins Ladies Championship Satellite

There’s always one male player who can’t resist the temptation and this year Albert Ng entered and won a satellite to the WSOP Ladies Championship.

Published 06/21/2025
3 min read
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Ng1
Albert Ng

Ng, a.k.a. “albiexchewy”, entered the $33 buy-in online satellite on June 6th and, after firing two bullets, defeated 49 others to bag the $1000 seat to this year’s Event #70: $1,000 Ladies Championship.

As soon as news broke, X/Twitter erupted in expected fashion…

  • “What a punk. Hope he gets knocked out in Level 1.”
  • “He’s not a woman. Should get DQ’d and prize given to next on results ladder.”
  • “His mom must be proud.”
  • “If you’re a dude who plans to play a ladies event you should have to allow every other woman at every table you land at to periodically kick you in the nuts as hard as they can.”

Male players entering what are essentially female-focused events is not a new thing and organisers usually take some steps to put men off spoiling things for the women.

Apparently unable to legally ban males from the Ladies Championship, the WSOP balances things somewhat by charging a 10x premium on the $1000 buy-in.

That means that Ng, should he choose to play, will have to add $9k to his buy-in if he wants to take up the seat he won.

This rule was enacted in 2013 after several years of men abusing the generally weaker fields to disrupt what should be a showcase and/or promotional event for women in poker.

In 2010, Shaun Deeb wore a dress and was one of nine men to play the Ladies Championship. At the time, WSOP Communications Director Seth Palansky revealed a potential ban was on the cards: “People aren’t respecting our tournaments. We have the ability to handle things any way we see fit as tournament operators.”

Back in 2016, Miami pro Tony Roberto ponied up the $10k to play alongside the ladies, claiming his participation was “a mixture of prop bets, losing a bet and my stake horse having a sick and twisted sense of humor.”

He explained at the time: “The table I was at was nice. Every new player gave me a face, so I said politely, ‘Get all the jokes and dirty looks out now so we don’t have to do it all day, and it worked wonders.”

More recently, at the 2023 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown in Florida, Dave Hughes not only entered the Ladies Event but scooped the $5,555 top prize.

Back to the here and now, and Ng would only tell reporters that he “fires at everything”, and wouldn’t confirm or deny he knew that he was playing for a seat in the Ladies Championship.

Event #70: $1,000 Ladies Championship runs from Thursday, June 26th and VIP Grinders will bring you all the best of the action.

Professional Poker Journalist
An avid poker player, he dreams of one day playing the WSOP Main Event and has promised himself he will fold aces and kings if he gets them on the first hand to avoid front-page headlines.
Filed Under: WSOP 2025 WSOP Gossip Poker Gossip Live Poker News Poker News

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