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Women are becoming more and more prominent in poker every year, so we decided it was time to identify the 20 most up-and-coming female players in the world today. After much debate, we settled on the following leading ladies.
With recent news that women are set to make up a third of all real money poker players in Europe by 2011, it’s clear that women have realised that they can hold their own at the poker table. All the macho bravado and stereotypes of shady card games in a smoky backroom is being eroded, and the ladies have sussed it out: it’s a game of skill, a battle of wits, requiring little in the way of physical prowess. To put it simply: there’s very little stopping the girls from beating the boys at their own game.
The ladies in this list are all younger than 40. They are without exception extremely awkward opponents to face at the poker table: several of them have live career earnings that run into seven figures. In fact, as some have proved, they’re capable of winning that much in a single tournament.
We’ll have to wait a little longer to have the first ever female World Series Main Event champion in Vegas, but if we’re going to get one, chances are it’ll be one of the brilliant minds on this list. This list is largely based on our opinion – if you disagree with the order, or think we missed somebody important, write in and tell us where we went wrong. We’ve listed their live tournament earnings so far – but some of them will have raked in considerably more playing online. Guys, watch your step if you find yourself at the tables with one of this elite twenty femme fatales.
20. Cecilia Nordenstam
After cashing in six WPT events over two years back in 2005 and 2006, we were worried that the beautiful Cecilia Nordenstam had gone rather quiet in the poker world. But she popped up with a fourth-place finish at the PartyPoker.com Women’s World Open this year so hopefully we’ll see more of her at tournaments in the near future.
Live winnings so far: $73,085
19. Maria Mayrinck
Apparently Maria is the Latin American female with the most cashes in WSOP history (five). Known online as ‘Maridu’, this former filmmaker discovered the game while making a documentary on poker in her native Brazil. She’s now part of Team PokerStars Pro, and that’s a hell of a team to have behind you. Don’t be surprised if you hear more from Maridu soon.
Live winnings so far: $36,774
18. Kim Wooka
The sweet-smiling Kim Wooka is a sponsored player for Everest Poker, and plays online as ‘icebeer’. With Everest’s backing, she could make some waves at a tournament soon. She’s already cashed a couple of times at the WSOP, finished tenth at the 2008 APPT Macau and came second at this year’s Women’s World Open. She also railbirded pal John Juanda for the duration of his 22-hour final table when he won the 2008 WSOPE Main Event, which shows the girl has staying power.
Live winnings so far: $61,645
17. Jen Mason
Much like Roland de Wolfe, Jen is a poker journalist who is now making a name for herself as a player. She’s responsible for many of the brilliantly entertaining live updates that you can read when following poker tournaments online. She’s already won a couple of British tournaments, but needs to add to her two modest cashes on foreign shores before the wider poker community really sits up and takes notice. But maybe she’s too busy working to play in them – we can empathise there, Jen.
Live winnings so far: $134,562
16. Carmel Petresco
Getting into live tournament poker must be a heck of a lot more convenient if you happen to live in Las Vegas anyway. Since picking up the game, Carmel has enjoyed over a dozen cashes in tournament poker, including at the WSOP Main Event last year as well as ninth place in the 2007 WSOP $5,000 Heads Up World Championship event.
Live winnings so far: $142,859
15. Liv Boeree
One of four Brits on the list, Metallica-loving Liv discovered the game on a poker-themed reality TV show, where she was coached by 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth. Since then, she’s been bitten by the bug and – backed by Absolute Poker – the former Gambling cover girl has cashed in around fifteen tournaments around the world, including winning the 2008 European Ladies’ Championship. See? We told you.
Live winnings so far: $171,684
14. Erica Schoenberg
A member of Team Full Tilt and fiancée of top French player David Benyamine, Erica has proved she’s more than just a pretty face with some big cashes in recent years. This included third place in the 2007 WSOP $1,500 No Limit Hold'em and two other windfalls in excess of one hundred thousand dollars. She’s had a modest 2009 so far but don’t write her off just yet.
Live winnings so far: $710,161
13. Maria Ho
Maria was the last woman standing at the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event, out of a field of 6,358 players, coming 38th for nearly quarter of a million dollars. Since then, she had a quiet 2008 but has three cashes so far this year, and almost made a final table at the WSOP in the Limit Hold ‘em World Championship, finishing 11th.
Live winnings so far: $348,934
12. Kara Scott
It’s not doing Kara a disservice to say she’s still better known for presenting poker on television than for playing it herself, but if she wasn’t so busy with the day job, who knows how much she might have won by now? She won over four hundred thousand dollars when she came second at the Irish Open this year to well and truly announce herself as a worthy player to the global poker community. She was also the second best woman in last year’s WSOP Main Event.
Live winnings so far: $557,902
11. Xuyen Pham
Born in Vietnam, Xuyen ‘Badgirl’ Pham grew up here in England. Her home town is Luton, where she discovered poker in games of Caribbean stud. She first made a name for herself as the winner of the Gaming Club World Poker Championship in Dublin during 2004 and she’s shown since that it wasn’t purely fluke. She is married to fellow poker pro Steve Vladar.
Live winnings so far: $520,002
10. Vicky Coren
Vicky Coren is a regular at the tables of London’s infamous ‘Vic’ casino, and also writes a popular poker column for The Observer. She put herself well and truly on the poker map when she won the London leg of the European Poker Tour (EPT) in 2007 for a cool £500,000. She’s another who enjoys the perks of being in Team PokerStars Pro and has written on poker strategy for this magazine in recent times too.
Live winnings so far: $1,244,400
9. Evelyn Ng
Ontario native Evelyn Ng has now achieved enough in poker to no longer be best known as Daniel Negreanu’s ex. She’s built herself a reputation as a really solid player, despite never cashing for an eye-popping sum. Winning little and often is more credible than one gigantic score in the eyes of most poker pros and experts. One caveat though: she’s had a quiet 2009 so far.
Live winnings so far: $340,697
8. Anna Wroblewski
Anna is a young, Vietnamese-born American player from Vegas who has really made a name for herself over the past three years with some big cashes at the WSOP and elsewhere. Still only in her early twenties, we can expect big things from her in the years to come.
Live winnings so far: $1,006,926
7. Liz Lieu
The second of three former Gambling cover girls on this list, the likeable Liz Lieu is a regular fixture at all the big tournaments around the world. Also born in Vietnam (something of a breeding ground for female poker talent, it seems), Lieu now resides in Los Angeles. She is a sponsored player and ambassador for ChiliPoker. “I want to be remembered as a top-tier player. And I deserve that,” she says.
Live winnings so far: $721,507
6. Clonie Gowen
Hailing from Sachse, Texas, Clonie Gowen has amassed some impressive winnings over the years, but has been somewhat distracted in recent times after a fairly public falling out with her former sponsor. She won the Bellagio Cup IV in Vegas during 2008 for an impressive $437,775 payday – and if she can keep focused on her game she could repeat the trick.
Live winnings so far: $1,639,064
5. Isabelle Mercier
Another law graduate, Isabelle was born in Quebec where she learned to play poker as a child. WPT’s Mike Sexton gave her the nickname ‘No Mercy’ after she won a Ladies’ Night tournament back in 2004. She also came fifth in the $5,000 No Limit Hold ‘em event at the 2007 WSOP for $175,404. She’s proven herself online too, including a recent third-placed cash in the PokerStars Sunday Million.
Live winnings so far: $811,735
4. Vanessa Selbst
You can’t argue with Vanessa Selbst’s record – she’s already made five WSOP final tables at the age of 25. Born in Brooklyn, New York, she graduated from Yale University before moving onto Yale Law School (there’s a theme emerging here). She’s already found success as a poker coach too, with numerous students improving their games immeasurably following her tuition. She looks set for big things.
Live winnings so far: $796,115
3. Sandra Naujoks
When Sandra won almost a quarter of a million dollars at a tournament in Baden, Germany back in 2008, the poker community scratched their heads and wondered who she was. Was it luck or was this a genuine talent emerging? Fast forward six months to April this year and they had their answer as Sandra ‘did a Vicky Coren’ and won her home country’s EPT in Dortmund for an enormous cheque in excess of one million dollars. She looks like she could be one hell of a player.
Live winnings so far: $1,494,646
2. Annette Obrestad
With a reputation as a fearsome online player, ‘Annette_15’, as she was known online, was a virtual unknown in the live arena when she sat down to play at the inaugural World Series of Poker Europe back in 2007. A few days later when she’d taken down the £1 million first prize she was suddenly a phenomenon and an inspiration to those of us play most our poker online. She immediately backed this up with second place at the EPT Dublin and has continued to cash regularly since. Next year she’ll be old enough to play the WSOP in Vegas too – and have a drink while she’s at it.
Live winnings so far: $2,736,455
1. Vanessa Rousso
Yet another law graduate, Vanessa is a seriously bright young woman. She uses game theory, a brance of applied mathematics, to help her decision making at the tables and plays online at PokerStars under the handle ‘Lady Maverick’. Vanessa is the third and final former Gambling cover girl in the list. Her biggest cash to date came when she won the European High Roller Championship at this year’s EPT Grand Final for three quarters of a million dollars. It’s surely only a matter of time until she wins something even bigger. If we had to pick a girl in this list to win a bracelet at the upcoming WSOPE, it would definitely be Vanessa.
Live winnings so far: $2,363,384 |
