It has long been the stereotype at the poker table—competition in dark glasses and under dim light calculating chances with a relaxed calm determination. But a new story has started unfolding recently, where, along with taking a seat at the table, women are rewriting the history of the game. Their growth isn’t about playing catch-up. It’s forging an entirely new path, one tournament at a time.

Breaking the mold of tradition

The game of poker has never been very open to outsiders. It’s a space that has been culturally coded as masculine for decades—competitive, aggressive, and largely insular. Women, though present, were always perceived as exceptions rather than equals. Yet those who persisted have steadily carved out a space where gender doesn’t determine capability.

When online poker games were created, they played a key role in accelerating this change. By eliminating physical presence and offering anonymity, they helped level the playing field, allowing more women to get started in the game, develop their skills, and gain confidence. Female participation has hovered around 5% for years in major tournaments. Online, however, it is a different story where anonymity evens the field; females make up as much as 35% of the participants. The numbers are promising, but the story is reshaped most at live events. Poker itself will change—and so will the people at final tables.

Defining moments and new records

Progress doesn’t always come quickly, coming through metamorphosis of perception more than through spectacle. Go back to 1995, and you’ll see Barbara Enright reach the final table at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. She finished fifth out of 277, not in some particularly situational irony but to win an open event bracelet. That was more than a win—it was a turning tide.

Fast forward to 2025, and the Spanish pro Leo Margets has reignited that trailblazing spirit. An outstanding run after a thirty-year gap to reach the WSOP Main Event final table, outlasting more than 9,700 players to bag $1.5 million – still the highest ever to a woman at the event – Margets’ performance was not just of historic import. It also quietly whispered that a woman winning the Main Event is no longer an outlandish idea.

Annette Obrestad also stands out—the teen who bagged a WSOP bracelet in Europe to become the youngest player ever. Or Liv Boeree, who in 2010 took down a major European Poker Tour title, offering further proof that this is not just some isolated ‘event’ but rather part of some bigger ‘movement.’

Recognition on the grandest stage

The World Series of Poker has always been considered the premier platform for poker, and in the past years, a platform to demonstrate the rise of the women’s game. Every bracelet victory recorded by queens of the game such as Kristen Foxen or Vanessa Selbst sends a direct challenge to existing perceptions. Especially Selbst, who boasts three open-event wins not to mention nearly $12 million in career earnings – more than any other female in the history of tournament poker.

All matter because they rewrite the script. It’s not just the usual poker narrative—it’s about diversity, strategy, and resilience. As a reminder that skill knows no gender, especially in a game where brute aggression is generally ineffective and patience, perception, and adaptability usually shine.

Beyond statistics and titles

But statistics are only part of the story. It is about visibility. Take Maria Ho, who consistently makes deep runs in tournaments, and holds down gigs as a commentator and ambassador, is re-defining what it means to be a professional poker player. She’s helping put forth the idea that women not only belong in the game but can influence it from so many angles—on the felt, in the booth calling the broadcast, and behind the scenes.

Promotional partnerships or even standalone projects like the Women’s Poker Association and ladies-only tournaments are of much help, offering entry points for newcomers, community for the dedicated, and mainly visibility for those who would have so much to contribute, but never show up in the first place. Naturally, there is much debate around the necessity of women-only events in a “theoretically equal” game. But in practice, they’ve provided space for growth, visibility, and encouragement.

To sum up

Poker’s not just about winners and losers, it’s about messages, and the message a victory at the highest levels is possible. Sure, women may still be underrepresented among winners, this however doesn’t change who the message speaks to – to every person ready to thoroughly engage in mastering poker.

Maybe that’s what makes this rise so compelling. Without flash or hype, it builds on grit, vision, and the quiet certainty that history isn’t something to watch from the sidelines but to be made, hand by hand.