Bodog Beat

Bodog Main Event qualifier Svetlana Gromenkova took down the 2008 WSOP Ladies Event this evening. (Bodog Beat Image)

The $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold'em World Championship has come to a close here at the 2008 WSOP and the winner has a familiar, if not always happy, face. Svetlana Gromenkova emerged from three days of poker against a huge field of poker-playing females to win her first gold bracelet and the $244,702 first-place prize.

If the name and the uber-serious demeanor seem familiar it's probably because she has cashed three times at the WSOP and run deep in several major tournaments, including a final table appearance at the 2007 US Poker Championship where she finished seventh. A strong force at the poker tables, the NYU grad has been playing online poker for more than three years now and is translating that success very well into the live arena.

However, for us Gromenkova is familiar for a completely different reason. About a month ago, she qualified through Bodog Poker for a $12, 000 VIP Prize Package to play in the 2008 WSOP Main Event. We wrote up a quick profile on her when she qualified back in May and are really excited to see her doing well in the preliminary events and capturing her first WSOP bracelet

When she did finally grasp that victory after the arduous final table she was asked by PokerNews if she wanted the world to know anything about her. All she had to say was , “I just want people to know I’m a good player, and I guess they know it now.”

That could be the understatement of the year. We're sure this is this isn't the last we'll see of her, especially since she'll be playing the Main Event as part of Team Bodog.

Join Gromenkova in Vegas for the 2008 WSOP by getting started with Bodog Poker's WSOP online satellites, which start for as little as $1.50.