Renowned Chess Champion and Streamer Alexandra Botez Wins Poker Champs for $250,000

Alexandra Botez has long been a poker ambassador who has helped form a bridge between chess players and poker. Now, she can truly call herself a poker champion.

Botez won Poker Champs, a special heads-up tournament organized by Doug Polk, securing the top prize of $250,000. The whole tournament was played on ClubWPT Gold.

Polk, also a ClubWPT Gold Ambassador, paired eight selected streaming stars and paired them with world-class poker coaches to prepare them for battle. All of the matches, as well as the training sessions, were live-streamed, with the goal of introducing poker to a much wider audience, similar to how major online casinos in the US draw in mainstream gaming fans.

The total prize pool was an eye-watering $500,000, with prizes reserved for the top four players. Botez secured cash with a victory in the first round, beating Eric “erobb221” Robbins Jr., to win $50,000 and clinch her place in the semi-finals.

In the semi-final, she triumphed over Dennis “PaymoneyWubby” Richardson. Botez, who is also a ClubWPT Gold ambassador, won her place in the finals thanks to a huge all-in decision with King of Hearts-Three of Spades on a King of Diamonds-Ten of Spades-Four of Hearts-Ten of Hearts-Two of Diamonds board against Richardson’s Queen of Hearts-Queen of Diamonds. With the win, Botez also locked up $125,000 and was set to face Thomas “sodapoppin” Morris in a best-of-three finale.

Botez ended up sweeping Morris, winning the $250,000 top prize without losing a single match. Her first match ended in extremely quick fashion. With Botez holding a slim lead early, with 75 big blind effective stacks (blinds 600/1,200), she opened to 2,400 with Jack of Clubs-Eight of Hearts. Morris min-clicked to 3,600 with King of Spades-Five of Spades, and Botez called.

The flop came Two of Spades-Ten of Diamonds-Nine of Clubs, giving Botez an open-ended straight draw while Morris just had king-high. Morris overbet the flop, putting 7,800 into the 7,200-chip pot. Botez tanked but ended up making the call.

The turn was the Seven of Clubs, giving Botez the nuts and leaving Morris drawing dead. He fired 17,100 and Botez clicked to 34,200. Morris bluffed with complete air and Botez snapped it off to win game 1. Botez seemed almost remorseful to have won in that fashion as they prepared for the second game.

The next match was much more even, with the two trading massive chip leads several times. At the end, it was Botez with a big bluff-catch that secured the win.

With the blinds at 1,200/2,400, Morris opened to 4,800 with King of Diamonds-Four of Spades. Botez three-bet to 19,200 with Ten of Diamonds-Ten of Hearts and Morris called.

The flop came Two of Spades-Ace of Diamonds-Ace of Spades, and Botez fired for 19,200. Morris, who was noticeably tilted, went all in with king-high and Botez called. Morris couldn’t find a king and Botez was the champion.

For Botez, who has $150,000 in live career tournament earnings, it was her largest poker win by some distance. Her previous high score, her last recorded cash, came in the 2024 WSOP Super Main Event when she was still a GGPoker Ambassador. She finished in 187th place for $67,300.

In the third-place game, Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp defeated Botez’s semifinal opponent, Dennis “PaymoneyWubby” Richardson, to earn an additional $25,000 for a total prize of $75,000.

Poker Champs Tournament Results