The history of poker is rooted years ago, when gambling was still considered as a recreation reserved only for men. Currently, the narrow-minded old perceptions, which assigned to the woman the role of a housewife are replaced by the modern figure of an emancipated lady, who works, plays cards and gambles along with the men.
Even though men continue to occupy more seats at the poker tables than women, this does not mean that the ladies are worse players, but even the opposite. As a proof of this theory, we would like to present the following list with the names of the 5 most prominent ladies, who have boosted their bankrolls with life-changing prizes only by playing poker. Of course, there are many more ladies in poker, who also demonstrate magnificent skills on the poker battlefield, but the list below presents the names of the 5 most massive female poker winners arranged in an ascending order.
Vanessa Rousso
Vanessa Rousso is an American poker player, who is one vivid example of a successful poker lady. At present, the poker player has collected the solid amount of $3,554,327 in career winnings. She has participated in a great number of final tables, but she also has first prizes from various poker tournaments. Being such a prosperous poker player, she was enlisted as a member of Team PokerStars from 2006 to 2015. Rousso’s biggest triumph was in 2009, when she managed to pocket $700,160 in the European High Roller Event in Monte Carlo. Rousso became extremely popular after her participation in the TV reality Big Brother, where she received great support from her fans.
Annette Obrestad
Annette Obrestad is a Norwegian poker player with a rich career. She started to play online poker when she was only 15 and now she appears in 4th place in the list of most successful ladies in poker. Despite her tender age, she seems to have a real talent for playing poker. In 2007 she managed to seal victory in World Series of Poker Europe, securing her first piece of gold and the significant amount of $2,013,733 – which is still her most substantial prize money. Besides the prestigious prize, she became the youngest person to ever win a WSOP-branded bracelet. Currently, Obrestad’s bank account seems to be noteworthy, as she boosts the massive amount of $3,936,871.
Annie Duke
The American poker pro Annie Duke takes the bronze medal in the list, having $4,270,54 in her bank account only from playing at the poker tables. She is among the women, who managed to add a WSOP piece of gold to her collection of trophies in 2004, conquering the first prize in the Tournament of Champions. This triumph boosted her bankroll with $2,000,000, which is still her biggest cash prize. Besides playing poker, Duke is also a successful author, (unsurprisingly) writing guides for poker players.
Kathy Liebert
Kathy Liebert deserves undoubtedly the silver crown in our list, as her poker career earnings are currently as high as $6,151,842. That is not a surprise, taking into account that Liebert plays poker for more than 20 years. She started her career in a very modest way as a prop player in Colorado, only to deploy her true potential at the table. In 2002 she managed to top the packed field of Party Poker Million, rocketing her bankroll with $1,000,000 in cash.
Vanessa Selbst
Vanessa Selbst is a real reincarnation of a poker master, who seems to be just unstoppable at the poker tables. She leaves no poker event, without scooping a money prize. Her current bankroll tops the impressive amount of $11,851,383. It is hard to enumerate all her first prizes, as she has plenty of them, but her most substantial cash is $1,823,430, which she raked in 2010 Partouche Poker Tour Main Event.
Selbst has not one, but three WSOP gold trophies. What is most striking in her poker career is that she is the only woman to have ever taken the 1st place in the Global Poker Index (a leaderboard, that ranks poker players around the world).
It might be concluded that women are just as good as men in poker, as what really matters at the poker table is the talent.
