By now, most of us have read about how Dan Bilzerian insulted every woman on the felt. We here at BPC have thicker skin than most, but to outright say that women can’t play poker is one of the most absurd quotes to come across the airwaves in quite some time.
@catehall I don’t even know who you’re playing, but I want to bet against you because you are a woman and women can’t play poker.
— Dan Bilzerian (@DanBilzerian) March 13, 2017
What makes this social outburst even more absurd is the fact that only a few short months ago, Bilzerian told CardPlayer.com that he’d lost a few million playing poker in 2016. Given this admission, the list of women players who’ve experienced better results would certainly run a mile long. Hell, even grandmothers across the world playing pennies, nickels, and dimes are in the green while Bilzerian is at home licking his wounds.
So without further adieu, here’s how we rate the top 10 most successful women in poker.
1. Vanessa Selbst
The Brooklyn, NY native is the highest earning female poker player of all time with over $11.6 million on total winnings, including 3 WSOP bracelets, and is a member of Team PokerStars Pro, playing under the name V. Selbst.
2. Jennifer Harman
Born in Reno, Nevada, Harman grew up learning the game from her father. Now, she’s one of the most respected female poker players to ever play the game. Rumors of her going broke are unsubstantiated as she’s been spending most of her time on the felt lately playing for charity.
3. Vanessa Rousso
The former Team PokerStars Pro and current GoDaddy spokesperson has around $4 million in live poker tournament winnings. She recently appeared on Big Brother 17 and is now a music producer and DJ in addition to playing poker professionally.
4. Kathy Liebert
The Nashville native started here career as a prop-player in Colorado and also has a degree in business and finance. She’s earned over $6 million in live tournament winnings, including a World Series of Poker bracelet from a $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout event.
5. Annie Duke
She’s a World Series of Poker bracelet winner, the winner of the 2004 Tournament of Champions and the only woman to win the NBC National Poker Heads Up Championship. Now, as a professional speaker and decision strategist, she merges her poker expertise with her cognitive psychology graduate work at Pennsylvania University.
6. Annette Obrestad
The Norwegian-born Obrestad is the youngest person ever to win a World Series of Poker bracelet at the age of 19 in 2007. She started her poker career at the age 15 playing under the name Annette_15 by playing freerolls and has now over $3.5 million in live tournament winnings.
7. JJ Liu
Born in Taipei, Tawain, Joanne “JJ” Liu discovered her love for poker while pursuing her master’s degree in computer engineering at Bradley University in Illinois. Since then, she’s earned over $2.5 million in live poker tournament winnings, including a 2nd place finish in a World Poker Tour Championship event.
8. Liv Boree
Olivia “Liv” Boree was the #1 ranked female poker player in 2015 on the Global Poker Index having totaled over $2.5 million in live tournament winnings. She’s also a well-known TV presenter, model, and musician, and in 2014 co-founded Raising for Effective Giving, which as of this date, has raised over $2 million for its supported charities.
9. Maria Ho
This Taiwanese beauty has over $2 million in poker tournament winnings and is the only player to be the WSOP Main Event’s Last Woman Standing three times over (2007, 2011, 2014). She’s also the first female in history hired to a poker TV broadcast team as the strategic commentator.
10. Victoria Coren Mitchell
She’s the first woman to win an event on the European Poker Tour, the first player to win both a televised professional tournament (EPT London 2006) and a televised celebrity tournament (Celebrity Poker Club 2005), and the first player to win two European Poker Tour Main Events (2006, 2014).
Did we miss anyone or disagree with the rankings? Let us know in the comments below.
