Vanessa Selbst is widely considered the best female poker player of all time – the only woman ever to hold the number one ranking on the Global Poker Index, with three WSOP bracelets and nearly $12 million in live tournament earnings.
I have studied the careers of every player on this list, and what consistently separates the great ones is the same quality I see in the best male players: a relentless drive to improve combined with the ability to make correct poker strategy decisions under intense pressure.
Ranking the best female poker players requires looking across different eras and different formats. Some players dominated tournaments, others made their name in high-stakes cash games, and a few excelled in both.
On this list, I considered career earnings, major titles, longevity, and overall impact on the game – and the players who rank highest achieved results that were exceptional against any competition, regardless of gender.
#1 – Kristen Foxen
- Age: 39
- Nationality: USA
- Specialty: Live poker tournaments
- Live Tournament Winnings: $14.9 million
Born in 1986 in Canada, Kristen Foxen is a four-time WSOP champion and two-time EPT final tablist, making her one of the most successful female poker players still playing the game.
Kristen has been playing the game since 2006, and she won her first WSOP bracelet in 2013, taking down the $1,000 Ladies Event at the Series.
Ever since, her name has instilled fear in her opponents, as her aggressive playing style and absolute composure at the table have made her a force to be reckoned with.
Kristen is married to Alex Foxen, widely considered one of the best tournament poker players in the world, and the two have clearly pushed each other to compete at the highest level of the game.
A regular in WSOP and PokerGO events, Foxen may not be the most decorated female poker player, but she is likely the toughest female player still actively playing, regularly taking on new challenges and continually evolving with the latest GTO strategies.
#2 – Vanessa Selbst
- Age: 41
- Nationality: USA
- Specialty: Live poker tournaments
- Live Tournament Winnings: $11.9 million
A Yale University Doctor of Law, Vanessa Selbst is the most decorated and successful woman in all of poker, with $11.9 million in tournament poker winnings, three WSOP bracelets, and countless other accolades to her name.
The only woman to ever hold the number one spot on the Global Poker Index, Selbst was one of the most dominant poker players between 2008 and 2018. With absolutely no fear and an uncanny ability to read her opponent, Selbst is a master of finding spots to bluff, building a massive stack, and pulverizing her opponents with an onslaught of painful decisions at every turn.
Despite her incredible success in the game, Vanessa decided to quit poker for a while and devote herself to other areas of her life, which is why we have not ranked her #1 on this list.
Despite her extended time away from competitive poker, Selbst has returned to playing and will likely continue to be seen in major events from time to time.
Her dominant spot as the most successful woman in tournament poker will likely remain untouched for some years to come, and her undeniable talent will make her a tough opponent whenever she does come back to the game, regardless of the time spent away from the green felt.
What I found most impressive about Selbst when studying her play was her comfort making large bluffs in spots that even experienced players routinely avoid. She did not just know when to bluff – she sized bets in ways that made opponents’ calling hands feel wrong even when they were mathematically correct to call. That is a level of table mastery that is extremely rare.
#3 – Maria Ho
- Age: 40
- Nationality: Taiwan
- Specialty: Live poker tournaments
- Live Tournament Winnings: $5.3 million
Born in 1983 in Taipei, Taiwan, Maria Ho is a poker player and media personality with incredible success across the board.
During her career, which began in 2005, Maria has won over $5.2 million in tournament play and is one of the most entertaining personalities in poker.
Ho has been the “last woman standing” in the WSOP Main Event on four occasions but has not yet reached the final table.
While she has not captured any WSOP bracelets, she has won a WPT Main Event, along with many other poker tournaments on various tours worldwide.
A consistent presence at the highest level of poker for nearly two decades, Maria Ho is a staple name among poker fans.
Along with her success in poker, Maria has also appeared on several reality TV shows, including American Idol, The Amazing Race, and Deal or No Deal.
In 2023, she merged those two passions and appeared on the first season of GGPoker Game of Gold, where she defeated a star-studded field of poker pros and influencers and walked away with a $456,000 cash prize.
#4 – Victoria Coren Mitchell
- Age: 51
- Nationality: UK
- Specialty: Live poker tournaments
- Live Tournament Winnings: $2.5 million
While many of the world’s best poker players dedicate their entire lives to the game, Victoria Coren Mitchell is a poker champion who has had a versatile career in many different areas of life outside of poker.
A journalist, TV presenter, host, and writer, Victoria excels at many things and has done well at the poker tables despite not playing the game full-time.
In her poker career, Coren Mitchell won not one but two EPT Main Event titles, a feat that few players in the world can boast.
She has won a total of $2.5 million playing tournament poker, despite never playing events where she bought in for more than $10,000, and often playing much smaller events as well.
Her entertaining personality makes her a joy to watch, while her poker skills let her overcome any opposition in any poker game.
Had she been dedicated fully to poker, Victoria would likely have become the most successful female poker player of all time, but even by playing poker as a side hustle, she’s managed to put her name very close to the top of the list.
#5 – Kathy Liebert
- Age: 58
- Nationality: USA
- Specialty: Live poker tournaments
- Live Tournament Winnings: $7.2
Born in 1967 in Tennessee, Liebert is part of a slightly older generation of poker players who had been playing the game for several years when the Poker Boom arrived.
She has been playing poker since 1994, with no prolonged breaks, and is one of the most consistent female poker players in the world.
From playing $100 tournaments three decades ago to being a regular at the WSOP and WPT today, Liebert has etched her name in poker history.
In 2002, Kathy won a cool million dollars in a single event, the Party Poker Million, playing Limit Hold’em poker before No Limit tournaments were widely spread.
In 2004, she won her first WSOP bracelet as well and has continued to post significant results in poker tournaments since.
Her $6.9 million in poker tournament winnings put her close to the top of the all-time money list for female players, and her friendly personality makes her one of the more enjoyable poker players to share the table with.
#6 – Jennifer Harman
- Age: 59
- Nationality: USA
- Specialty: Mixed game cash games
- Live Tournament Winnings: $2.8 million
If you grew up in poker during the early 2000s, Jennifer Harman is probably the one female poker player name you will never forget.
A regular on the legendary High Stakes Poker show and one of the few ladies to play in the biggest poker games in Las Vegas, Jen Harman is a true poker legend.
Her legendary status was officially recognized in 2015 when she was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame —an accomplishment reserved for the most elite poker players.
While cash games have always been her specialty, Harman has also won two WSOP bracelets and won $2.8 million playing tournament poker without ever delving into the super high roller scene at all.
Her success has come across different poker games and formats, as she is one of the few female players who truly thrive in mixed-game formats.
Jennifer has been less present in the game in recent years, but her incredible success in poker is one that few female poker players have replicated since her prime.
The key to Harman’s success in high-stakes mixed games was something I consider a fundamental skill that most players underestimate: the ability to shift gears between game types without leaking information through timing or bet sizing changes.
Players who only play one game type typically have tells specific to when they are outside their comfort zone. Harman had no such tells. Across Hold’em, Stud, Omaha, and Razz, she played with the same controlled presence – and that consistency made her nearly impossible to read.
#7 – Leo Margets
- Age: 40
- Nationality: Spain
- Specialty: Live poker tournaments
- Live Tournament Winnings: $1.8 million
Born in Barcelona, Spain, Leo Margets is a Master of Communications Management, a WSOP bracelet winner, and one of the best active female poker players around.
Margets started playing poker in 2008 and has been traveling the circuit ever since, scoring wins totaling $1.8 million.
She was part of Team PokerStars for several years and helped grow the game among female audiences by demonstrating that women can compete on equal footing with men in poker.
Margets’ most significant success came in 2021 when she won The Closer event at the WSOP and took home $376,000 for a $1,500 investment, one that most players can only dream of.
She continues to play poker actively and has plenty of years ahead of her to prove to the world just how great a poker player she truly is.
#8 – Gaelle Baumann
- Age: 40
- Nationality: France
- Specialty: Live poker tournaments
- Live Tournament Winnings: $1.45 million
Another member of the younger generation of poker players, Gaelle Baumann, is a French player with an impressive poker resume.
She started playing poker in 2011, and by 2012, she was already a household name, thanks mostly to her performance at the 2012 WSOP.
That year, Baumann was the last woman standing in the Main Event and eventually placed 10th. Despite the heartbreak of not getting to the final table, Galle walked away with $590,000 in cash and the knowledge that she has what it takes to battle on the big stage.
She never left poker, playing tournaments and tours across different continents and landing a sponsorship with Winamax, one of the biggest online poker operators in France.
Baumann’s extreme poker talents have contributed to her success at the table, but her persistence and consistency have been key in posting results and maintaining her spot at the top of the female poker player leaderboards for all these years.
#9 – Ana Marquez
- Age: 37
- Nationality: Spain
- Specialty: Live poker tournaments
- Live Tournament Winnings: $2 million
Another young and successful poker player of European birth, Ana Marquez, was born in Spain and currently resides in Brighton, United Kingdom.
Marquez is a tournament professional who started playing the game in 2009 and has been a regular on major poker tours for 15 years.
In 2013, Marquez walked away the winner of a $2,500 Hollywood Poker Open event, taking home $320,000.
Following many successful events in the meantime, she placed third in the $10k partypoker Millions tournament in 2019, winning $445k on the day, just days after placing 10th in the WSOP Millionaire Maker event for $95k.
While Marquez does not have any WSOP bracelets or WPT titles just yet, her resume includes over $2 million in tournament cashes and numerous excellent results that place her in the top echelon of poker players, regardless of gender.
#10 – Ebony Kenney
- Age: 45
- Nationality: USA
- Specialty: Live poker tournaments
- Live Tournament Winnings: $2.4 million
A Texas Hold’em player on the rise, Ebony Kenney is a name that’s recently been appearing more and more in poker media titles, thanks mostly to her social presence.
A poker player since 2011, Ebony Kenney has had reasonable success in lower-stakes games over the years, but only recently began playing high-stakes games as well.
She has cashed for $2.4 million in tournaments over the years, but the vast majority of that came from a single $1.7 million cash that resulted from her 5th-place finish at the $200,000 Coin Rivet Invitational on the Triton Poker Tour.
Kenney has been a proponent of female inclusion in poker, and her strong social media presence has certainly helped many ladies gain the confidence to play and succeed.
While Ebony continues chasing her first major tournament poker title, her name in the poker industry is already one that cannot be ignored, even by the much more successful poker players.
If you want to keep exploring this topic, take a look at our list of the best poker players in the world.
Honorable Mentions: Female Players Who Almost Made the List
Limiting this list to ten names means leaving out some genuinely great female poker players. Three deserve specific mention.
- Liv Boeree has accumulated more than $6.7 million in live tournament earnings, making her one of the top four female tournament earners in poker history. A physics graduate and former PokerStars ambassador, Boeree is known for her analytical approach to the game and her ability to communicate poker strategy clearly to large audiences. Her 2024 WSOP final table appearance was another reminder that her skills remain elite-level. I have always admired the way she combines real strategic understanding with the communication skills to explain why decisions are correct, which is rarer than it sounds.
- Annie Duke won four WSOP bracelets and became one of the most prominent faces of poker during the 2000s Poker Boom. A cognitive psychology PhD student who applied mental frameworks to poker decision-making, Duke’s work on thinking under uncertainty and embracing probabilistic outcomes was genuinely ahead of its time. She stepped away from competitive poker, but her influence on how players think about decisions under pressure remains significant.
- Annette Obrestad famously won the inaugural WSOP Europe Main Event in 2007 at just 18 years old, finishing a 362-player field. She built her bankroll almost entirely through online poker and was considered one of the most naturally gifted online players of her generation. Her accomplishment at the WSOP Europe remains one of the most remarkable results in tournament history.
