2025 Was HUGE for Women in Poker

Despite being a minority on the live tournament circuit, women in poker performed phenomenally well in 2025, breaking several records and winning a combined four million-dollar prizes in some of the world’s most prestigious poker tournaments. Furthermore, more than 40 of the game’s most notable women achieved their biggest live tournament wins in 2025.

2025 women in poker

During the month of May, Xuan Liu became the first woman to win an event on the Triton Poker circuit with the WPT Global Slam $25K in Montenegro, where she took home the trident-shaped trophy and her biggest career prize of $860K. Her words after the victory: “This is the highlight of my career, and I don’t think I can top it in the future. But I believe other women will win more Triton trophies. In this event, for example, three women cashed, and two of us made it to the final table. I know many women who are playing low and mid-stakes games today, and I’m sure they’ll be playing high stakes games in the future. It will be very exciting to watch them play when that happens.”

The first female Triton Poker champion / Photo: Triton Poker

In June, Shiina Okamoto achieved something unprecedented by winning the WSOP Ladies Event two years in a row. In the 2025 edition, she triumphed over 1,368 entries and took home her biggest career prize of $184K. This is what she said after her victory: “I truly believed I was going to win. I didn’t feel pressured or forced. I simply focused on doing what I had to do well. There was still a lot of pressure, as everyone expected me to win twice in a row. I thought that if I stayed calm and did everything right, I would ultimately come out on top. So I was very conscious of not letting panic take over and maintaining my composure.”

Shiina Okamoto with her two WSOP bracelets / Photo: Spencer Sembrat

In July, another historic event took place: 30 years after Barbara Enright first accomplished the feat (the only time it had ever happened), a woman once again reached the final table of the WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas. The woman responsible for this feat was Spain’s Leo Margets, who finished in seventh place and won a seven-figure prize of $1.5 million, receiving a rousing ovation from all her opponents and the fans in attendance. It was the biggest cash prize ever won by a woman in the Main Event.

Also during the WSOP in Las Vegas, another woman notched a milestone in the prestigious $50K Poker Players Championship. Esther Taylor reached the three-handed stage, where she faced Michael Mizrachi and Bryn Kenney. She ultimately finished third, winning $595K, the best result ever for a woman in the tournament, which many consider the toughest in the world to win.

Esther during 3-handed play at the 2025 PPC / Photo: Alicia Skillman

Another woman who stood out in 2025 was Kristen Foxen, who reached 14 final tables and won 3 titles, earning $4.6 million. She finished third in a Triton Jeju event, where she earned her top prize of $1.1 million. With her 2025 results, she reached $13.4 million in career winnings and became the highest-earning woman in poker of all time, surpassing Vanessa Selbst, who had held the record for over a decade.

Kristen playing in Jeju / Photo: Triton Poker

The phenomenal 2025 year for women in poker closed in December with WSOP Paradise, where another woman shone in the $25K buy-in Super Main Event, which had 2,891 entries. Natasha Mercier made the final table, ultimately finishing sixth and taking home a massive $1.8 million prize. It was the third-largest prize ever won by a woman on the live poker circuit.

The finalists of the Super Main Event / Photo: Regina Cortina

The 10 best results for women in poker in 2025

These were the top 10 results for women in poker in 2025:

Natasha Mercier: Sixth, Super Main Event $25K WSOP Paradise – $1,800,000
Leo Margets: Seventh, WSOP Main Event $10K Las Vegas – $1,500,000
Sosia Jiang: Second, Event #5 NLH $60K Triton Jeju – $1,381,000
Kristen Foxen: Third, Event #10 NLH $125K Triton Jeju – $1,104,000
Xuan Liu: First, Event #1 WPT Global Slam $25K Triton Montenegro – $860,000
Monika Hrabec: Ninth, Event #5 Triton Invitational $250K WSOP Paradise – $771,000
Eboney Kenney: Second, Event #15 High Roller $15K Triton One Jeju – $614,500
Esther Taylor: Third, Event #66 WSOP $50K Poker Players Championship Las Vegas – $595,136
Safiya Umerova: Third, WPT Prime Championship $1K Las Vegas – $575,000
Meng Ling Lin: First, Single Day Super High Roller $25K Korea Poker Cup Series – $479,300

Meng Ling Lin with her trophy

Reflections from 2025’s Top Women in Poker

We reached out to some of 2025’s leading women in poker to ask about their achievements, and this is what they said:

Natasha Mercier: “It still feels unbelievable. It was by far the hardest tournament I’ve ever played (field-wise). I’ve worked hard, but I also know how much luck and timing it took to make it this far).”

Natasha during the final table / Photo: PokerNews

Leo Margets: “It was the experience of a lifetime, both on and off the poker table, because of how I lived it. I consider myself incredibly lucky to have experienced something we all dream of and prepare for. I also felt a lot of gratitude for having brought out the best in myself at that moment. I was aware it was a high-pressure situation, and I think I was able to be the Leo I always wanted to be, which made me very happy. The experience was so beautiful and emotional because I was able to share it with close friends and family on the rail. Sometimes I think about what the deep run would have been like without my friends there, and it would have been very different. Personally, I paradoxically experienced it as something very normal, since I was where I wanted to be. Now I’m aware of how tremendous it is to make the final table, but at the time I tried to give 100% every day, and I think I had an incredible mental game that made a big difference. I went there to have fun from Day 1, and luckily, my mood didn’t change as the days went by.”

Leo during the final table / Photo: Rachel Kay Winter

Esther Taylor: “Pretty surreal to be honest, and actually pretty hard to define in the moment, but looking back I really felt like a small fish in a big pond. I have accrued a lot mixed game poker experience over the years, but nothing could have prepared for being at the final table of the $50K 9-game tournament, competing vs. the best in the world. Truly indescribable, but also a pinnacle moment that you work throughout your career to try and reach!”

READ MORE: Interview with Esther Taylor

The women who achieved their best poker results in 2025

During 2025, a large number of notable women in poker achieved their top career result on the live tournament circuit, incliding:

Natasha Mercier: Sixth, Super Main Event $25K WSOP Paradise – $1,800,000
Leo Margets: Seventh, WSOP Main Event $10K Las Vegas – $1,500,000
Kristen Foxen: Third, Event #10 NLH $125K Triton Jeju – $1,104,000
Xuan Liu: First, Event #1 WPT Global Slam $25K Triton Montenegro – $860,000
Monika Hrabec: Ninth, Event #5 Triton Invitational $250K WSOP Paradise – $771,000
Esther Taylor: Third, Event #66 WSOP $50K Poker Players Championship Las Vegas – $595,136
Safiya Umerova: Third, WPT Prime Championship $1K Las Vegas – $575,000
Meng Ling Lin: First, Single Day Super High Roller $25K Korea Poker Cup Series – $479,300
Cherish Andrews: First, Event #69 High Roller $25K Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown – $408,265
Cecile Ticherfatine: Second, Wynn Millions Championship $3K – $310,901
Jennifer Shahade: Third, Main Event $5K NAPT Las Vegas – $291,800
Dusti Smith: Second, Event #17 NLH $2K WSOP Las Vegas – $290,588
Lili Tang: Second, Main Event Asian Poker Tour Jeju – $258,651
Shiina Okamoto: First, Event #70 Ladies $1K WSOP Las Vegas – $184,094
Tu Dao: Third, Main Event WSOP Circuit Toronto – $178,362
Yuxi Huang: First, Event #13 NLH 6-Max $2K WSOP Circuit Cyprus – $175,000
Dora Coyle: Second, Main Event $1.5K Champions Club Winter Poker Open – $161,000
Morgan McBrayer: Second, Event #1 NLH $400 The Beau Rivage Heater – $158,614
Hayley Hanna: Fourth, Main Event $1K Annual Arizona State Poker Championship – $157,900
Linda Ngo: Seventh, Event #1 Mystery Millions $1K WSOP Las Vegas – $154,140
Elena Litvinyuk: Fourth, WPT Cyprus $3K – $142,000
Hikaru Hishinuma: Fifth, Event #7 Super High Roller Asian Poker Tour Taipei – $138,313
Arlinda Johns: Sixth, Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship $5K – $138,000
Soraya Estrada: Fourth, Main Event $3K Merit Poker Carmen Series – $132,100
Hyndi Khomutetsky: Sixth, WPT Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open $3.5K – $127,000
Yang Yang: Third, Red Dragon Championship Jeju Poker Festival – $125,242
Pamela Balzano: Second, High Roller $5K Enjoy Poker Week – $125,000
Hannah Lee: First, Main Event $2K Sydney Millions – $116,892
Katie Lindsay: Eighth, Event #75 Mini Main Event $1K WSOP Las Vegas – $114,260
Jia Chi Li: Third, Moneymaker Tour Main Event $1.7K MGM Grand Las Vegas – $108,315
Ting Wei Lee: Third, WPT Prime Taiwan $1K – $106,886
Hua Wei Lin: Seventh, Main Event $15K The Lord Poker Tournament Jeju – $100,000
Irene Carey: Second, Main Event $800 Orleans Summer Open – $96,831
Xialin Li: Third, Main Event Dragon Poker Grand Opening, Hanoi – $86,060
Jennifer Molan: Third, Main Event $1.7K WSOP Circuit California – $85,666
Diana Hong: Seventh, NLH $1K WPT World Championship – $83,465
Lexy Gavin: 185th, Super Main Event $25K WSOP Paradise – $70,000
Nika Futterman: First, NLH $600 Wynn Signature Series – $65,993
Nan Min: 222nd, Super Main Event $25K WSOP Paradise – $60,000
Bonnie Weitzel: First, Seniors $400 WSOP Circuit Cherokee – $57,669
Miyoung Cho: Second, Super High Roller APPT Manila – $56,854
Charlie Waters: Second, Main Event GUKPT Luton – $51,544
Anastasija Zavorotnaja: 327th, WSOP Main Event $10K Las Vegas – $45,000