The 10 best female tournament players in poker Part 1
The title pretty much speaks for itself on this one, so I’ll get right into the nuts and bolts of the article. Here is a look at numbers 5-10 on my list of the best female tournament poker players in today’s game.
#10 - Maria Ho
Even though her BFF friendship with pokertainment queen Tiffany Michele and an appearance on the reality TV show the Amazing Race puts Maria in the category of pretty faces who also play poker, her results have shown that unlike the Tiffany Michele’s and Beth Shak’s of the world Maria CAN play poker.
Ho first came to the poker world’s attention at the 2007 WSOP Main Event where she finished in 38th place, and since that time she has eight cashes of over $30,000 including a runner-up finish in the $5k NLHE tournament at the 2011 WSOP where she pocketed her biggest payday to date, $540,020.
Career tournament earnings: $1,148,678
#9 - Victoria Coren
Coren is a UK poker personality who is very active not only as a player, but as writer and commentator for poker. A regular on the UK televised poker scene (Late Night Poker, Celebrity Poker Series, and the Party Poker Premiere League) Coren represents her sponsor, PokerStars, very well in the UK.
Coren’s big score in the poker world came in 2006 when she won the EPT London Main Event, known as the European Poker Championships back then, earning nearly $1,000,000.
Career tournament earnings: $1,476,668
#8 - Vanessa Rousso
Rousso is another poker player who tends to get lumped into the “pretty face” category, but the Team PokerStars pro has definitely earned her sponsorship with the site through her play as well as her looks. Rousso is one of the most active female tournament players, playing in most tournaments’ side events as well as the Main Events.
Rousso has seven wins on her poker resume including the €25,000 High-Roller title at the 2009 EPT Grand Final. Other career highlights for Rousso include a runner-up finish in the 2009 NBC Heads-Up Championship, and three Top 7 finishes in WPT Main Events.
Career tournament earnings: $3,471,294
#7 - Liv Boeree
Boeree is a relative newcomer to the world of poker, but after winning the 2010 EPT San Remo title, the Astrophysicist turned model, turned rocker chick, seems to have settled on poker. Boeree is a member of Team PokerStars, and handles hosting duties for the site’s televised poker programming in the UK.
In addition to her big win in San Remo, where she pocketed nearly $1.7 million, Liv has 12 five-figure cashes on her resume, and is now a staple on the European poker scene.
Career tournament earnings: $2,138,989
#6 - JJ Liu
Joanne “JJ” Liu is one of the most accomplished women in poker history, having been competing with the boys since the 1990’s. What keeps JJ out of the conversation when people discuss the best female players is her lack of a major title, but the poker world is keenly aware of her prowess on the felt.
JJ has found herself at two televised WPT final tables, finishing in 2nd and 4th place, as well as 7th place finish in a WPT Championship.
Career tournament earnings: $2,577,017
#5 - Sandra Naujoks
Known as “The Black Mamba” Naujoks is one of the most feared female players in Europe, and for good reason! The German poker pro has one two major European tournaments, the 2009 EPT Dortmund Main Event and the Casinos Austria Poker Tour (CAPT) Baden Open in 2008.
Career tournament earnings: $1,710,495
In Part 2 of this series I’ll rundown the final four players on this list, as well as offering up a couple names to watch in the future.
