Female Poker Players
| WSOP Titles | WPT Titles | EPT Titles | Poker Earnings | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
 Vanessa Selbst |
2 | 0 | 0 | $8,018,466 |
| 2 |  |
Kathy Liebert |
0 | 0 | 0 | $5,929,521 |
| 3 |  |
Annie Duke |
1 | 0 | 0 | $4,270,549 |
| 4 |  |
 Annette Obrestad |
1 | 0 | 0 | $3,910,678 |
| 5 |  |
Vanessa Rousso |
0 | 0 | 1 | $3,513,841 |
| 6 |  |
Jennifer Harman |
2 | 0 | 0 | $2,697,533 |
| 7 |  |
 Joanne Liu |
0 | 0 | 0 | $2,678,069 |
| 8 |  |
 Liv Boeree |
0 | 0 | 1 | $2,281,097 |
| 9 |  |
 Sandra Naujoks |
0 | 0 | 1 | $1,789,239 |
| 10 |  |
Victoria Coren |
0 | 0 | 1 | $1,745,178 |
| 11 |  |
Clonie Gowen |
0 | 1 | 0 | $1,639,064 |
| 12 |  |
Erica Schoenberg |
0 | 0 | 0 | $848,458 |
The days of Poker being a Gentleman’s Game are History
The game of poker has changed over the years. In the old days it was classed as a gentleman’s game and you would be hard pushed to find a female in the often grotty and seedy bars and clubs that poker was played.
These days poker is a very different game, being revolutionised into a mainstream sport by the Television coverage during the late 1990’s and early years of the 2000’s. Poker is now played up and down almost every country in the world at casinos, poker clubs and of course on the kitchen table in home games played amongst friends.
The prizes and money to be made out of poker has also increased dramatically attracting all sorts of new blood into the game. What was once an gentleman’s game played by ageing men has now become a sport for all ages and sexes.
Enter the Female Poker Player
All these changes have attracted many women to enter the sport. Some of which have gone on to become classed amongst the best in the sport. Many take advantage of the stereotype many male players have of female players being weak players who don’t know how to play. Nothing could be farther from the truth with some of the most aggressive players in the game being women.
To date, no women has won the biggest event in poker, which is the Main Event of the World Series of Poker. This is mainly a numbers thing, with the main event attracting a field of thousands of players of which the majority is still male. However one day we could see a female champion, and it would be a great thing for the sport if it were to happen, perhaps even generating another growth spurt in the sport similar to the poker boom that happened after 2003 when Chris Moneymaker, an amateur player, won millions by winning the WSOP Main Event.
The closest we have come to seeing a female take down the WSOP Main event is Barbara Enright who made it to the final table in 1995 and eventually finished 5th. This is still the biggest achievement by a female in the WSOP and in 2007 Enright was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame to recognise that.
A New Type of Poker Celebrity
Poker is still a predominantly male focused audience, but rather than this be a disadvantage this has opened up a new opportunity for female poker players.
These sassy women are finding that they have a very important weapon at the poker tables, their looks. These can be used to dupe the men into falling into the trap of stereotyping the player as a “weak women”, or to reveal information about their hand, or just to take it easy on the “woman” at the table. All of which can then be pounced on by the female player and used to their advantage.
On top of this a new type of celebrity is appearing in the poker world, with poker fans interested in hearing and seeing more from beautiful female poker players. This has lead to a rise in the prominence of the celebrity female poker player, with TV appearances, and sponsorship and endorsement deals with online poker operators.