Poker has been a male-dominated game for many years, but in recent times, women have made a significant impact and have proven that they have what it takes to compete and win. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the most acclaimed female poker players and some of the key moments in their careers.
Vanessa Selbst
Vanessa Selbst is a former professional poker player from the United States and is considered one of the best female players of all time. She has won three World Series of Poker bracelets and has over $11.8 million in career earnings. She won her first bracelet in 2008 in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event. She followed this up with a win in the $2,500 10-Game Six Handed event in 2012. Vanessa won her third and final bracelet in 2014 in the $25,000 Mixed-Max No-Limit Hold’em event.
Selbst was best known for her aggressive playing style and ability to read her opponents. One of her most memorable moments happened in 2014 when she was the first female to ever participate in the $100k buy-in PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Super High Roller event. And not only that. She managed to rank third in the tournament.
Annie Duke
Annie Duke is another former professional poker player from the United States. She is considered one of the pioneers of women’s poker, which is how she got the nickname “The Duchess of Poker.”
Now let’s see what makes Annie Duke one of the most famous female poker players. Duke has won several high-stakes tournaments and has over $4 million in earnings. She’s known for her strategic playing style and the ability to adapt to different situations at the table. One of her key moments happened in 2004 when she won the World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions, becoming the first woman to win the event. She won the tournament playing a $3,000 Omaha High-Low, defeating some of the best players in the world, including Phil Hellmuth.
Duke had a bright poker career until 2012 when she decided to retire and focus on other ventures.
Liv Boeree
Liv Boeree is a retired professional poker player from the United Kingdom. She won several high-stakes tournaments, has over $3.8 million in career earnings, and is considered one of the best female players of her generation. Boeree is known for her aggressive play style and ability to make bold moves at the table.
Boeree’s first major tournament win happened in 2008 when she triumphed at the 2008 Ladbrokes European Ladies Championships with a $30,000 prize pot. She followed this up with an even bigger win in 2010, when she won the European Poker Tour main event in Sanremo, becoming the third woman ever to win an EPT title and taking home $1,673,433. And that’s not the only title the “Iron Maiden” has. In fact, she is the only female player in history to win both an EPT event and a WSOP bracelet.
Vanessa Rousso
Vanessa Rousso is a former professional poker player from the United States who is widely regarded as one of the best female players of her generation. During her career, Rousso won several high-stakes tournaments and accumulated over $3 million in earnings.
One of her most notable achievements happened in 2009 when she had four in-the-money finishes at the World Series of Poker. This memorable moment solidified Rousso’s place as one of the top women poker players in the world and continues to inspire new generations of poker players.
Jennifer Harman
Jennifer Harman is a renowned American professional poker player. She is one of the few female players to have won two World Series of Poker bracelets, a testament to her skills and success at the game. In 2000, Harman won her first WSOP bracelet at the No Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball event, where she beat some of the top professional players, including Steve Zolotow and Lyle Berman, despite having never played the game before and only receiving a five-minute tutorial session from Howard Lederer.
In 2002, Harman won her second WSOP bracelet at the $5,000 Limit Texas Hold’em event, where she faced other professional players, including Humberto Brenes, Allen Cunningham, and Mimi Tran. With this victory, she became the first woman to win two bracelets at the World Series of Poker open events.
Kathy Liebert
Kathy Liebert is a former professional poker player who began her career in Colorado as a prop player. She quickly rose to prominence in the poker world, competing in tournaments and winning the first Party Poker Million event in 2002, the first limit poker tournament with a $1 million prize pool. Liebert’s strong performance on the World Poker Tour, including a third-place finish at the 2005 Borgata Poker Open, made her the WPT’s highest-ranked woman until J. J. Liu’s runner-up finish in 2007.
In 2004, Liebert gained a gold bracelet at the WSOP in a $1,500 limit Texas hold ’em Shootout event, becoming one of three women (Cyndy Violette and Annie Duke being the others) to win an open event that year. She also appeared in and triumphed in the series “Poker Royale: Battle of the Sexes.” With several final tables of the WPT and her gold bracelet win at the WSOP, Liebert established herself as one of the top female pro poker players in the world.
Annette Obrestad
Annette Obrestad is a former professional poker player from Norway who gained international recognition for her impressive poker skills. She started playing poker at the age of 15 and quickly built her reputation with the online nickname “Annette_15.” Obrestad is known for building her online bankroll through freerolls without making a deposit.
However, it was her performance at the 2007 inaugural World Series of Poker Europe Main Event in London that solidified her place as a poker sensation. With a buy-in of ￡10,000, the WSOPE Main Event attracted 362 participants, and Obrestad managed to outlast all of them, becoming the youngest player to ever win a WSOP bracelet at the age of 18.
She played the final hand of the tournament one day before her 19th birthday, and her victory made headlines all over the world, attracting attention from both the poker media and mainstream media.
Victoria Coren Mitchell
Victoria Coren Mitchell is another prominent figure among the women in poker, known for her achievements both as a player and a presenter. She set a record by becoming the first player to win both a televised professional tournament (EPT London 2006) and a celebrity tournament broadcast on television in 2005 (Celebrity Poker Club 2005).
Coren Mitchell continued to make her mark in the industry, becoming the first player to win two European Poker Tour Main Events (EPT London 2006 and EPT Sanremo 2014). As a regular player at the Victoria Casino in London’s Edgware Road, Coren Mitchell has built a reputation as a skilled Texas hold’em player.
Maria Ho
Maria Ho is a professional poker player who started playing the game in college and was immediately drawn in due to the game’s psychological elements. She quickly progressed from playing games for fun to playing high-stakes cash games at various Indian casinos.
Ho has had several successful appearances at the World Series of Poker, including ranking 38th in 2007 and 77th in 2014, earning her the title of Last Woman Standing four times over at both the WSOP and WSOPE Main Events. She was also the Most-Cashing Female at the 2012 and 2014 WSOP series. In March 2019, she made it to the final table at the LA Poker Classic $25,000 High Roller tournament and won first place, reaching her second-highest live tournament score of $276,690. The following month, Ho made the six-handed TV final table of the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Main Event, placing third for $344,960.
Xuan Liu
Xuan Liu is a professional poker player with over $2 million in career winnings, putting her on the list of the top 20 female professional poker players. She is also the only woman to reach the final table at the PCA Main Event. Liu started focusing on live tournaments in early 2011 and had a successful year, including a third-place finish at the European Poker Tournament San Remo, which resulted in a win of over half a million dollars and her first cash main event with the EPT.
Between 2011 and 2018, Liu had over $100,000 in winnings in four different years and played in over 40 cash games, winning four titles. She was sponsored by 888poker until 2015, after which she started to make fewer appearances. Despite this, Liu’s impressive winnings and successful performance at major tournaments solidify her position as one of the top female poker players in the world.
Fun Facts
- You probably know Jennifer Tilly as an American-Canadian actress, but many people don’t know that she is also known as a professional poker player. Tilly won a World Series of Poker bracelet in 2005, beating 600 other players in the Ladies’ No-Limit Texas hold’em event.
- In addition to being on the list of the best female poker players in the world, Vanessa Rousso is also a renowned attorney and has used her legal background to advocate for various social and political causes.
- Victoria Coren Mitchell is a professional poker player but also a writer and TV presenter. She hosted the BBC television quiz show Only Connect and writes weekly columns for The Daily Telegraph.
FAQ
What percentage of poker pros are women?
According to recent estimates, women in poker make up less than 5% of the professional poker player population. However, this percentage is slowly increasing as more and more women are getting interested in the game.
How many women have won the World Series of Poker Main Event?
No woman has won the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, which is the most prestigious poker tournament in the world. The closest a woman has come to winning the Main Event was in 1995 when Barbara Enright became the first woman to reach the final table, finishing in fifth place.
Who is the best female poker player in the world?
It’s difficult to say who the best female poker player in the world is. However, some of the most successful and well-known female poker players include Vanessa Selbst, Kathy Liebert, Annette Obrestad, Vanessa Rousso, and Liv Boeree, among others.
Has a woman ever won the World Series of Poker?
Yes, a woman has won the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Barbara Enright became the first woman to make the WSOP Main Event final table in 1995, and she went on to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2007. Since then, several other women have made it to the Main Event, including Vanessa Selbst, who won her first WSOP bracelet in 2008 and two more in 2012 and 2014.
March 3, 2023
