Top 10 Female Poker Players

The mystique and glamor associated with poker are something that anybody can enjoy. Although a primarily male-dominated sport, poker has seen many female players who have not only shown their skills as formidable players but have dominated the sport entirely.

Being a game of skill and strategy with a little bit of luck sprinkled in, the sport has given all genders an even playing field. Going as far back as the late 1800s, players like Lotte Deno and Poker Alice have given any and all opponents a run for their money. 

Be it the Victorian era streets of London or the modern day World Series of Poker, here are 10 of the best female poker players of all time. 

10. Barbara Enright

[Source: Wikipedia.org]

Barbara Enright has been quite influential in the world of poker. Although known mainly for her work in Woman Poker Player magazine, you wouldn’t want to cross her in a tournament. She is also an ambassador for the Poker League of Nations, which is the world's largest organization supporting women’s poker. 

Enright started playing poker at the early age of 4 against her older brother and soon developed a talent for the sport. She has an impressive history in the sport with three WSOP bracelets and has an estimated total earning of 1.6 Million dollars.

She is also credited as the first and only woman to reach the US$10,000 no limit hold'em Main Event finals table. She was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame back in 2007. 

9. Victoria Coren Mitchell

[Source: time.com]

Victoria Coren Mitchell is a woman of many talents hailing from England. She is known for being a TV Presenter and Author but she also has a long and illustrious history with poker. She also appeared in various Poker TV shows like Late Night Poker and its spinoff  Celebrity Poker Club. 

She has also been a commentator for various poker tournaments like The Poker Nations Cup, World Poker Tour, and Ultimate Poker Challenge, just to name a few. 

Coren Mitchell has been a regular player since 2005 and is credited with many firsts. She was the first female player to win two European Poker Tour events and also the first female to win a televised professional tournament. Over the years, Victoria has amassed an estimated $2.5 Million in prize money with her exceptional skills and calculated play style. 

8. Jennifer Harman

[Source: wsop.com]

A woman with a tendency to take huge risks but also support and advocate for numerous charities is hard to find. However, that’s just who Jennifer Harman is. The two-time WSOP bracelet holder sure has a heart of gold and a keen eye for the sport of poker. 

Harman has talent and lots of it. Although she had never played No Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball before, a five-minute crash course from Howard Lederer is all she needed to win her first bracelet. 

Known for her affinity to risk huge sums of money, Harman has also been a part of"The Corporation", a group of high-stakes players. All of it paid off, though, as Harman is believed to have won over $2.7 Million in prize money with her skill and determination.

7. Annette Obrestad

[Source: Wikipedia.org]

Annette Obrestad is an incredibly successful Youtuber and Poker player. She started off her poker journey at the age of 15 and has been immensely successful, becoming the youngest person ever to win a WSOP bracelet. Her youtube channel has a modest subscriber count, and she drops makeup tutorials and reviews almost daily.

Annette started off by playing poker online and winning freeroll poker tournaments. She would frequent websites like Pokerstars and  Full Tilt Poker and win hundreds of thousands of dollars on these websites. 

Her WSOP tour would see her win over £1 Million on the £10,000 No Limit Hold'Em Event and that too right before her 19th birthday. 

Her total prize earnings from live tournaments throughout her career is estimated to be between $3.6 Million to $3.9 Million.

6. Liv Boeree

[Source: Wikipedia.org]

Better known as "Iron Maiden", Liv Boeree is one of the youngest female poker players. If the nickname didn’t seal the deal, maybe consider the fact that she was coached by legends like Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, and Dave Ulliott. Her astounding performance at EPT Sanremo in 2010 gave her the breakthrough she needed to focus on Poker full time. 

Her introduction to competitive poker would come through the TV show Ultimatepoker.com Showdown where she was a participant. After her part, Boeree would continue to hone her skill for an additional three years. 

She would come back to professional poker in 2008 and start making a name for herself with various wins, including a WSOP bracelet and a European Poker Tour main event title to her name. 

Her total prize winnings are estimated to be around $3.8 Million which reflects not only her talent but also her analytical mindset. 

5. Annie Duke

[Source: reuters.com]

The Duchess of Poker had to make an appearance on this list. Annie Duke is one of the most respected names in the sport with a career that spans over a decade. Duke would gain an insight into the sport from her parents, who enjoyed it as well. However, she would quickly start gaining notoriety straight out of school. 

The late 90s were the experimental stage for Annie, and she would soon take up her hobby professionally. Her breakthrough would come in the 1994 World Series of Poker, where she and her brother both got high rankings. 

Being a consistent face in WSOP her Gold Bracelet would also come along in 2004. She is also the only woman to win an NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. 

Although she gave up her professional career in 2010, she had already amassed a clean $4.2 Million in prize money by that point.

4. Maria Ho

[Source: twitter.com]

With a career spanning 15 years, Maria is a force to be reckoned with. She is a Women in Poker Hall of Fame inductee and is considered one of the best in the sport. She has also gained a following through TV, appearing in shows like American Idol and Deal or No Deal. 

Although she is now known for her role as a commentator on The Final Table and WSOP, she has had quite an illustrious career. 

Born in a traditional Taiwanese family, she developed an interest in card games from an early age. She would first gain prominence in the  2007 WSOP, where she took the 38th rank and got $237,865 as prize money. 

She would go on to replicate her success in the 2011 WSOP Europe main event and the 2014 WSOP. She was also the most cashing female in the 2012 WSOP. 

Although she has won more than $5 Million throughout her career, she has been engaged in philanthropic work ever since.  

3. Kristen Bicknell

[Source: Wikipedia.org]

Coming to the top 3, we have the third richest female to ever play poker, Kristen Foxen. Bicknell is a Canadian professional poker player who has taken over the game very recently. With her massive wins from 2018 to 2020, she has landed into stardom with her exceptional skills and disciplined play style. 

Starting off at the age of 18, she would play for massive pots online, which earned her the moniker “Ultimate Grinder.” However, her first big win would come in WSOP 2013 where she would play in the $1,000 Ladies No Limit Hold’em Championship. 

She claimed $173,922 and her first gold bracelet right there and would go on to win an additional two throughout her career. She would also go to places like Australia and Uruguay to show off her prowess in the sport and cement her legacy as one of the best. 

Even the pandemic wasn’t enough to stop her as she continued playing online in the Super High Roller Bowl series and would win hundreds of thousands there too. With her clear dominance over tournaments, we can safely assume she has won a lot of money throughout her career. How much exactly? Think a clean $5 Million last we checked. 

2. Kathy Liebert

[Source: wsop.com]

Kathy Liebert started off her life as many of us do in the corporate world. However, she soon found out that it wasn’t for her. She started off as a prop player in Colorado but soon learned the ins and outs of the game well enough to start dominating opponents in tournaments. Known for her aggressive and relentless playstyle, Liebert takes our number two spot. 

Her first tournament win was an Omaha Hi-Lo event in Vegas where she came second. This would give her the confidence to participate in more expensive tournaments. 

Her big break would be massive as she won the 2002 Party Poker Million event and took home a prize pool of $1 Million. She was the first woman to do so, and there was no going back. 

Liebert went all in and started participating in more and more tournaments and created quite the buzz. Nicknamed “PokerKat” she has appeared at the WPT finals table five times and has a WSOP gold bracelet in the $1,500 limit Texas Hold’em shootout event. 

With big-name events like that, it comes as no surprise that her total tournament earnings are estimated to be around $6.65 Million.

1.  Vanessa Selbst

[Source: Wikipedia.org]

With many firsts to her name, Vanessa Selbst takes our number one spot. Starting off as a law clerk, she quickly realized that her true passion lay in Poker. She has also been a vocal advocate for gender equality and LGBTQ rights throughout her career and continues to do so even today. Widely regarded as the best female poker player to ever exist, Selbst takes our number one spot.

Her first tournament would be the 2007 WSOP side event, where she came seventh and won $107,000. She would go on to replicate her success the next year in a $5,000 Heads-Up Championship. 

Owing to her aggressive yet unpredictable play style, she has won 3 WSOP bracelets and multiple other high-profile tournaments. Her performance in the 2010 Partouche Poker Tour and the 2013 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure High Roller tournament are talked about to this day. 

Her legacy as one of the greatest would be cemented in the 2015 $100,000 Super High Roller Celebrity Shootout where she won $1 Million. 

With total tournament winnings of over $10 Million, her career will be remembered for years to come.  

Those were just a few of the female players that have left a big impact on the history of Poker. With a long history, the sport has seen many incredibly talented female poker players who have left their marks and captured people’s admiration. Their unmatched skill and dedication to the sport have helped them break gender stereotypes and gain prominence in the sport just the same. 

With Poker gaining more relevance and admiration, more and more players try their hands every day. However, these ladies and many more like them have left an admirable legacy that helps others strive for higher goals and achievements. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s play a couple of hands and leave your own legacy, today.