Like many aspects of society, poker was once purely a premise of male dominance, with little to be heard about the achievements of their female counterparts. However, as all things do, we have experienced a gradual change in the famous game both in the land-based gambling scene and at leading iGaming sites like icecasino-ca.com. Over the last couple of years, female players have gradually risen to the top, earning significant payouts and curving their way into the game’s history.
To celebrate the milestones that our sisters, wives, mothers, and daughters are crushing in the game, we’ll discuss the world’s best female poker players. While we have yet to see a woman win the World Series of Poker Main Event, many observers agree that it is only a matter of time before we break that ceiling. In addition, it’s worth pointing out that some women on this list are more dominant in cash games, whereas others perform better in tournament games. So, let’s get down to business!
Vanessa Selbst
Whenever the subject of female poker players comes up, Vanessa Selbst’s name will always pop up in the conversation, with stories of pure greatness talked about her. Born on July 9th, 1984, she is credited as being the first woman ever to attain pole position in the Global Poker Index. To put into context just how impressive that fete is, the Global Poker Index ranks over 450,000 live poker players worldwide!
Born in the Empire State, Selbst discovered her love for the Poker game as a teenager, and her gradual rise to stardom culminated in 2006. In the said year, she made the final table of the No Limit Hold ’em competition, finishing a respectable 7th position and bagging $101,285. What followed was an impressive poker career that has seen her bag up to an estimated figure of $11.9 million in live poker tournament earnings. Many consider Selbst to be the greatest ever female poker player, and it’s easy to see why.
Liv Boeree
The legend that is Liv Boeree is famed to be a British Science Communicator, a television presenter, and a professional poker player all in one. She rose to prominence when she competed in the Ultimate Poker Showdown, a 2005 reality tv show where she was coached by poker idols Annie Duke and Dave Ulliott. Her maiden win saw her bag the Ladbrokes European Ladies Championships tournament, walking away with $30,000 in prize money.
Boree’s career snowballed, hitting the pinnacle in the European Poker Tour main event of April 2010 when she bagged her most significant win yet, €1.25 million in prize money. This payout also made her one of the biggest winners of the tournament to date. The other considerable success from her stellar career is when she finished 2nd place in the 2017 World Series of Poker tournament in Las Vegas.
Annie Duke
Anne LaBarr Duke is the only woman to have won the NBC National Heads-Up Championship. Although she has recently steered clear of live tournaments, Annie is a legend in women’s poker, with some of her successes seeing her win a World Series of Poker gold bracelet. Despite being retired from active Poker, Duke still ranks in the top four of women’s WSOP tournaments. Her total winnings from WSOP are said to be in the region of $1.1 million.
Kathie Liebert
With a Poker career stretching over two decades, Kathie Liebert inked herself into Women’s Poker history for eternity. Starting as a prop player in Colorado, Liebert later rose to prominence and won the Party Poker Million live event in 2002, going home with the 1 million tournament prize. What followed is a distinguished career that has seen her earnings hit an estimated $6.5 million from live tournaments.
Sensational Live Career Payouts
Many of the best female poker players have built up quite an impressive bankroll to last them a lifetime, and deservedly so. Most of the women we have listed have dedicated years of their lives to this trade, which has paid off big time. So, back to our above mentions, here is a highlight of their live poker tournament earnings to date.
| Poker Player | Estimated Earnings |
| Vanessa Selbst | $11.90 million |
| Kathy Liebert | $6.65 million |
| Annie Duke | $4.27 million |
| Liv Boeree | $3.86 million |
Besides these four, other leading female poker players that we must mention to round up the top 10 trailblazers like:
- Annette Obrestad
- Mariah Ho
- Kristen Bicknell
- Vanessa Rousso
- Joanne Liu
- Loni Harwood.
If you are a woman who enjoys playing poker and would like to make your mark on the scoreboards one day, there’s no shortage of people you can look up to!
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