Year of the Women

Over the course of last year more women poker players succeeded than ever before with numerous cashes in tournaments and a number of titles won across the world.

Normally at poker tournaments women only represent 6% of the field and almost all the time it is the men who take home the titles. However, last year saw a number of women players have excellent runs in some of the major poker tournaments.

The astounding success of women poker players began last year in March when Annie Duke won the trophy at the NBC Heads-Up championship working her way through a field of 64 players before defeating Erik Seidel 2 – 1 in the final match to become the first woman to ever win the event. Despite being pleased with winning she still commented that she is disappointed by the lack of women in tournament poker.
A month after Duke’s success Vanessa Selbst won the North American Poker Tour Mohegan Sun Main Event and Liv Boeree won the European Poker Tour (EPT) San Remo Main Event.

There was also a large amount of success for women in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas last year. Everyone was keenly watching the World Series of Poker Europe star Annette Obrestad, this time she didn’t manage to repeat her success, however, she did go home a good $40,000 richer than she was at the beginning of the tournament.
However, the victorious women were back again last September when Selbst won the title of the Partouche Poker Tour. She also managed to come in fourth place of the High Roller of the European Poker Tour London. Obrestad also did exceedingly well by winning the Heads’Up tournament.
Women did well in the Asia Pacific Poker Tour Cebu (APPT) as well where Korean Shin Young-Im won the Main Event. This was the fourth time she had reached a final table in two years and it was the third continent on which a woman won a major tournament in 2010. Along the way she also managed to beat her boyfriend Kim Gap Young who ended third.
Finally, Vanessa Rousso was successful at the World Poker Tour Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic; she managed to beat off numerous male competitors including John Racener and Andrew Robl and in the end finished in third place.

This year has been hugely important for women in the professional poker world. It will have inspired and provided confidence for many players around the world proving the stereotype wrong that women are lacking in skill and ability. Vanessa Selbst in particular should be noted as her results rival those of the top male players.