Maria Ho is the star that shined brightest at the latest Celebrity Poker Tour event held inside the PokerGO Studio. The poker pro bested a 59-entry field in the CPT Championship at the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino Las Vegas to earn $50,000 and her second CPT title of the year. Ho had previously taken down the CPT Game Night I back in March. She now holds the distinction of being the tour’s first-ever two-time champion.
The 41-year-old Women In Poker Hall of Fame member has more than $4.7 million in career tournament earnings, putting her well ahead of most of the field when it comes to poker experience and accomplishments. She was squaring off against an assortment of celebrities, ranging from TV stars to professional athletes to online influencers. Among the final category was Sofie Dossi, a YouTube star and contortionist who made headlines for her grand entrance in an earlier CPT event that saw her arrive at her seat folded up inside a small box. Dossi went on to finish third this time around, earning $10,000 for her efforts.
Dossi got all-in with A
J
leading the K
3 of Ho, who has shoved from the small blind. Dossi called off and flopped the nuts after K
Q10 rolled off the deck. Dossi was more than a 96 percent favorite to win the hand at that point according to Card Player’s poker odds calculator, but incredibly did not. The turn brought the Q and the river the Q to give Ho a running full house and the pot.
Ho held a gigantic 37:1 heads-up chip lead over Brian Quinn of the long-running Impractical Jokers television series. It didn’t long for her to convert that advantage into the title.
Quinn managed a double up, but was soon all-in again with 4-2 trailing A-K suited for Ho. She flopped kings and nines and held from there to close out the victory. Quinn walked away with $20,000 as the runner-up.
Check out the full replay of the event below:
Other notables who participated in this event included gaming star Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins, former NBA players Mario Chalmers and Mike Bibby, CPT champion Princess Love, chess streamer and burgeoning poker player Alexandra Botez, former MLB star Jose Canseco, and former NFL running back Adrian Peterson. The longtime Minnesota Viking made it down to the final half dozen players before being sent packing with $3,500 for a sixth-place showing.
The Final Results from the CPT Championship
Watch the full recap on the Celebrity Poker Tour YouTube! pic.twitter.com/kuhNCZn5Ux
— Celebrity Poker Tour (@celebpokertour) November 21, 2024