Women's Poker Association Player of the Year - Finding Events & Maximizing Points for 2026 Race (Women's Poker Calendar)
Playing in women’s poker events is about more than just cards—it’s about community, confidence, and creating your own story at the table. The Women’s Poker Association (WPA) Player of the Year (POY) race adds an extra layer of excitement by rewarding women who consistently show up and perform in ladies-only tournaments in North America, and Women’s Poker Calendar is your official partner hub for finding those events all year long—globally and locally.
What is the WPA Player of the Year Program?
The WPA Player of the Year program is an annual leaderboard that tracks results from qualifying women-only tournaments in North America and crowns one overall champion each year, complete with a feature on the WPA site and a custom ring. WPA is not a tour; it is a global, volunteer-driven organization focused on elevating women in poker, and the POY race is one of its key ways of recognizing women who are putting in volume and posting strong results.
Important note for international players: There is no international POY title, but women from anywhere in the world are eligible as long as they play qualifying events in North America. Any woman who is old enough to legally play in a casino or poker room can earn WPA POY points—there is no special registration required to be part of the race. Each calendar year has its own POY cycle that runs through December 31, with final standings based on all qualifying events played in that year.
How do WPA POY points work?
The WPA POY system uses a formula that factors in three main elements: tournament buy-in, field size, and finishing position. WPA uses official payout data from operators and recognized result sources to assign points and maintain the leaderboard. The detailed formula is described here.
Only in-the-money finishes earn POY points, so cashing is the first step to making any event count toward your total. Higher buy-ins and larger fields generate more points, which means big ladies' championships and well-attended festival events can have an outsized impact on your standing in the race.
Which events count?
Women’s Poker Calendar lists women’s events globally, but only North American events that meet these specific criteria count toward WPA POY:
Be a ladies-only tournament held in North America
Have a buy-in of at least $100
Have a minimum of 40 entries
Be a standard tournament, not a survivor nor satellite
There is no limit on how many qualifying events you can play or how many entries you can have in a given event, so if re-entries are allowed, you can fire as many times as your bankroll and plan allow. If there is a tie in total points at the end of the year, WPA uses the number of first-place finishes in POY-qualified events as the first tiebreaker and the total number of POY-qualified cashes as the second.
Following the yearly race
Since 2025, the WPA has shared Player of the Year standings every month on Facebook, so you can follow the race in real time and see exactly where you stand. These updates include both current POY rankings and a list of qualified events through the most recent cutoff date, making it easier to plan your upcoming schedule.
This regular reporting makes the race more transparent and engaging, but occasional discrepancies can still happen when results are entered from multiple sources. If you notice a missing result or possible error in your posted standings, WPA encourages players to reach out with details or payout information so any issues can be reviewed and corrected.
How Women’s Poker Calendar powers your WPA POY chase
Women’s Poker Calendar is a proud partner of the Women’s Poker Association, making it the #1 place to find WPA POY-qualifying events in North America (while also showing the full global picture of women’s poker). Women’s Poker Calendar lists North American women’s events upfront, so you can target those with $100+ buy-ins from the start. The same curated list of potential POY-qualifying events appears both on Women’s Poker Calendar AND on the WPA website under “Where to Play”.
Know a public North American ladies’ event that should be listed? Send the details to Women’s Poker Calendar so we can add it to both our site and WPA’s listings—helping more women (local and international) find qualifying events and growing the POY ecosystem together.
Tips for International players
While Women’s Poker Calendar covers women’s events worldwide, focus on North American listings to build your POY total. Three standout festival opportunities make travel worthwhile:
Women in Poker Spring Festival hosted by LIPS (April 20-26, 2026) – packed with events for maximum point accumulation.
Ladies Week in Las Vegas (2026 TBC) – multiple qualifying women’s tournaments in one iconic destination during the WSOP and bookends the WSOP Ladies Championship
Women in Poker Winter Festival during the WPT Championship in Las Vegas (December 2026) – the perfect year-end POY push with stacked women’s events.
These festivals are designed for volume: play multiple qualifying events in one trip to stack POY points. When you start with Women’s Poker Calendar, you’re already seeing WPA-recognized opportunities—cross-check any North American event listing here with WPA’s “Where to Play” page to confirm POY eligibility, then build your schedule around the best opportunities.
Planning your year with WPA POY in mind
If you want to chase the WPA Player of the Year, start with Women’s Poker Calendar and treat your North American women’s event schedule like a real strategy:
Target the big three for international players: LIPS Spring Festival (April), Ladies Week Vegas, and WPT Winter Festival (December) to stack multiple POY-qualifying events per trip.
Prioritizing North American events that clearly meet the buy-in and field-size thresholds whenever possible, especially larger championships.
Using Women’s Poker Calendar + WPA’s “Where to Play” and monthly standings to target the highest-value POY opportunities.
Keeping simple notes on your own results so you always know what you’ve played, how you’ve finished, and what kind of deep run could move you up the leaderboard.
Over the course of a year, those individual cashes and trips add up: a mix of solid mid-stakes results, a few big fields, and intentional scheduling via Women’s Poker Calendar can turn your usual women’s poker routine into a serious run at WPA Player of the Year.
WPA Player of the Year Winners to Date
WPA Announcement 2025 POY, Ruth Hall
The WPA maintains an official record of Player of the Year winners on its website, and that list continues to grow as more women embrace ladies’ events and chase the title. Recent WPA Player of the Year honorees by date.
2025 - Ruth Hall
2024 - Pamela Belote
2023 - Christina Read
2022 - Bridgette Adkins
2020/ 2021 - Bridgette Adkins
2019 - Ruth “Ruthless” Hall
For the most complete and current list of WPA Player of the Year winners, monthly standings, and qualified North American event lists, players can always refer to the WPA Player of the Year page and its linked updates, then head to Women’s Poker Calendar to find your next POY-qualifying event!
This article was written by the Women’s Poker Calendar team with support from AI content tools and human editors.