Women Who Shook the World of Poker

Only around 5 percent or less of players in major live poker tournaments are women, a number that shows how uneven the game remains. Yet across decades, certain women forced the poker world to take notice, breaking records and expectations one final table at a time. Their climb was never typical or logical because live settings carried barriers of cost, culture, and access that often kept new players out. The rise of online poker sites, where thousands could compete across varied formats and tournaments, changed that balance and created spaces where persistence -not connections - decided who advanced. Here are their stories.

Barbara Enright: The Final Table Pioneer

Not knowing her play would later be described as an attempt to chase history, a successful one as it proved to be, Barbara Enright became the first woman to reach the World Series of Poker Main Event final table in 1995, finishing fifth in a feat no one has repeated. That single run altered the perception of women at the table, forcing the poker world to accept that skill, not gender, decided who belonged.

Since then, her résumé only grew stronger. She won multiple bracelets in open events, triumphs achieved against the best players of her era, and in 2007 became the first woman inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. For Enright, the climb was even steeper - she built her career while raising two children alone, working jobs as a cocktail waitress and hairstylist before poker became her livelihood.

Annie Duke: The Psychologist With Cards

Her education in cognitive psychology at the University of Pennsylvania defined the way she read opponents - every hand was a case study in motive and probability. By the early 2000s, she stood as the leading female money winner in WSOP history, collecting bracelets and outlasting fields where she was often the only woman present.

Being referred to by journalists as sharp enough to beat them at their own game, she turned that edge into a second act: Thinking in Bets, her widely read book on decision-making under uncertainty, was written while she raised four children and launched her work as a speaker and consultant. Duke turned poker’s discipline into lessons on how to make choices when the outcome is never guaranteed, and in doing so, broadened the game’s intellectual reach.

Vanessa Selbst: Fire and Brilliance

This lady’s reputation began with fire - fearless aggression that intimidated even seasoned pros, and the kind of intensity that once led her to walk away from a televised table mid-hand in protest. Few could match her record: three World Series bracelets in open fields, a Global Poker Index ranking that briefly placed her at number one, and close to $12 million in live tournament winnings.

Her poker career, which brought in close to $12 million, became the engine for investing millions in nonprofits, a decision that reflected both her Yale Law degree and her determination to turn winnings into lasting change. Selbst also funded organizations devoted to civil rights and police accountability, proving that her drive extended beyond chips and titles. She balanced this activism with a later move into hedge fund work, a bold step that proved even to her fiercest critics that her ability to manage risk was not confined to cards and chips.

Liv Boeree: From Guitar Riffs to Global Titles

Boeree first made noise not with cards but with music, playing guitar in a heavy metal band that earned her the nickname “Iron Maiden.” That ferocity carried into poker, where she became the only woman to claim both an EPT Main Event crown in 2010 and a World Series bracelet in 2017.

Her academic path was no less unusual: a degree in astrophysics preceded her rise in tournaments. Later she moved into science communication and philanthropy, applying the same precision that once defined her play to explain complex ideas and to support causes tied to science and humanitarian work. Her career showed that a scientist could command poker’s biggest stages and still carry those lessons into work meant to outlast the game itself.

Wendeen H. Eolis: The First to Cash In

In 1986, Eolis became the first woman to cash in the World Series of Poker Main Event, a milestone achieved when the field was even more hostile to outsiders. It was a finish that offered proof women could reach the payout lists in poker’s most unforgiving contest.

Her influence stretched beyond the tables. She served as a trusted adviser in New York politics and played roles in public service, including in the aftermath of 9/11. Though her name never carried the celebrity of later champions, this grand lady cleared a path for others and showed that trailblazing did not always require headlines.