[SS] “Do you two”, began Stan the Stat, addressing Mildred the Mouse and Deb the Duchess, “think it’s sexist that there’s a Ladies event at the WSOP or that we talk about the ‘Last Woman Standing’ in the WSOP Main Event?”
[MM] “No, why would we think that?” Mildred suggested.
[DD] “The topics themselves aren’t sexist, but how you talk about them could be”, added Deb.
[MM] “I’d love to play in a poker tournament with just women. I don’t think I’d have any better chance to win, but it would be more fun.”
[DD] “Yeah, I’m glad they finally figured out a practical and legal way to get those loser men out of the Ladies event.”1
[MM] “Like ladies’ night at a bar. I’m really surprised they didn’t figure it out sooner.”
[DD] “They’ve had a Women’s World Chess Championship since 1927, and I don’t remember any uproar about sexism there.”
[SS] “What about ‘Last Woman Standing’?”
[MM] “Someone has to be.”
[DD] “Until a woman wins the Main Event, it’s a reasonable thing to discuss. Once it happens, and it will happen, it won’t be very interesting anymore.”
[RR] “I’d even go so far as to say that some company should sponsor a prize for Last Woman Standing”, Roderick the Rock contributed. “If they can have a Jack Links Beef Jerky Wild Card Hand…”
[SS] “There was a Wicked Chops Last Woman Standing Cup, but that only lasted from 2009 to 2011.”
[DD] “Now that is a sexist poker site.2 I can see why that didn’t last. How about Go Girl, which sells a device to allow women to pee standing up?” Deb joked.
[RR] “And why isn’t it Last Woman Sitting anyway?”
[SS] “It’s just a twist on an old idiom, unfortunately of unknown origin.”
[RR] “But nobody stands up when they’re playing poker.”
[DD] “A lot of players stand up when they’re all in.”
[RR] “I stand corrected.”
[DD] “Glad to fix your misunderstanding.”
[MM] “I can’t stand any more of this.”
[SS] “Then it’s time for me to stand up and deliver. Here’s every Last Woman Standing and runner-up:”
Last Woman Standing at the WSOP Main Event3
| Year | Last Woman | Place | % | 2nd to Last Woman | Place | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Wendeen Eolis | 25 | 17.7% | |||
| 1993 | Marsha Waggoner | 19 | 8.6% | Wendeen Eolis | 20 | 9.1% |
| 1994 | Barbara Samuelson | 10 | 3.7% | Annie Duke | 26 | 9.7% |
| 1995 | Barbara Enright | 5 | 1.8% | |||
| 1996 | Lucy Rokach | 26 | 8.8% | |||
| 1997 | Marsha Waggoner | 12 | 3.8% | |||
| 1998 | Susie Isaacs | 10 | 2.9% | Kathy Liebert | 17 | 4.9% |
| 2000 | Annie Duke | 10 | 2.0% | Kathy Liebert | 17 | 3.3% |
| 2003 | Annie Duke | 47 | 5.6% | |||
| 2004 | Rose Richie | 98 | 3.8% | Lucy Rokach | 159 | 6.2% |
| 2005 | Tiffany Williamson | 15 | 0.3% | Sarah Bilney | 63 | 1.1% |
| 2006 | Sabyl Cohen-Landrum | 56 | 0.6% | Annie Duke | 88 | 1.0% |
| 2007 | Maria Ho | 38 | 0.6% | Kelly Jo McGlothlin | 95 | 1.5% |
| 2008 | Tiffany Michelle | 17 | 0.2% | Lisa Parsons | 76 | 1.1% |
| 2009 | Leo Margets | 27 | 0.4% | Nichoel Peppe | 75 | 1.2% |
| 2010 | Breeze Zuckerman | 121 | 1.7% | Dorothy Von Sachsen | 273 | 3.7% |
| 2011 | Erika Moutinho | 29 | 0.4% | Amanda Musumeci | 62 | 0.9% |
| 2012 | Gaelle Baumann | 10 | 0.2% | Elisabeth Hille | 11 | 0.2% |
| 2013 | Jackie Glazier | 31 | 0.5% | Beverly Lange | 86 | 1.4% |
| 2014 | Maria Ho4 | 77 | 1.2% | Mikiyo Aoki | 83 | 1.2% |
| 2015 | Kelly Minkin4 | 29 | 0.5% | Diana Svensk | 83 | 1.3% |
| 2016 | Gaelle Baumann4 | 102 | 1.5% | Melanie Weisner | 127 | 1.9% |
| 2017 | Yuan-Yuan Li4 | 105 | 1.5% | Jessica Ngu | 108 | 1.5% |
| 2018 | Kelly Minkin4 | 50 | 0.6% | Natalie Teh | 120 | 1.5% |
[SS] “Some notes:
- No women played in the World Series of Poker Main Event until Barbara Freer broke the ice in 1978.
- In 1979, Betty Carey joined Freer, and in 1980 Colette Doherty made it a trio. That year’s field of 73 was 4.1% female, a level that wasn’t surpassed until 2013, when 298 of the 6,352 players (4.7%) were women.
- Wendeen Eolis became the first woman to cash, partly because they went from paying only 9 players out of 140 in 1985 to 36 of 141 in 1986; she only won her entry fee back. There followed a drought of six years before she and Waggoner cashed in 1993 (albeit for just $12,000).
- Enright and Isaacs both won the Ladies World Championship (in Seven-Card Stud) the year before they were the Last Woman Standing, and it was the second title for each (having also won in 1986 and 1996, respectively).
- No women cashed in 1999, 2001, or 2002, which is the last year that will ever be true.
- Annie Duke’s four appearances on this list are the most cashes for any woman in Main Event history, one more than Kathy Liebert (1998, 2000, and 2006), Jackie Glazier (2010, 2012, and 2013), and Kristy Gazes (2009, 2011, and 2013).
- Erika Moutinho outlasted her then-boyfriend Doc Sands by one spot. They got married in 2013.”
[SS] “Barbara Enright’s fifth place finish in 1995 was the highest ever and the only final table for a woman, but as a percentage of the field, Gaelle Baumann’s tenth place finish in 2012 was the best and matched Elisabeth Hille for the largest cash. That gives us three ways to look at the best female results in the Main Event:”
Top Female Main Event Finishes by Place
| Rank | Year | Player | Place | Field | % | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1995 | Barbara Enright | 5 | 273 | 1.83% | $114,180 |
| 2 | 2012 | Gaelle Baumann | 10 | 6,598 | 0.15% | $590,442 |
| 2000 | Annie Duke | 512 | 1.95% | $52,160 | ||
| 1998 | Susie Isaacs | 350 | 2.86% | $40,000 | ||
| 1994 | Barbara Samuelson | 268 | 3.73% | $26,880 | ||
| 6 | 2012 | Elisabeth Hille | 11 | 6,598 | 0.17% | $590,442 |
| 7 | 1997 | Marsha Waggoner | 12 | 312 | 3.50% | $33,920 |
| 8 | 2005 | Tiffany Williamson | 15 | 5,619 | 0.27% | $400,000 |
| 9 | 2008 | Tiffany Michelle | 17 | 6,844 | 0.25% | $334,534 |
| 2000 | Kathy Liebert | 512 | 3.32% | $39,120 | ||
| 1998 | 350 | 4.86% | $30,000 |
Top Female Main Event Finishes by Percent
| Rank | Year | Player | Place | Field | % | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2012 | Gaelle Baumann | 10 | 6,598 | 0.15% | $590,442 |
| 2 | 2012 | Elisabeth Hille | 11 | 6,598 | 0.17% | $590,442 |
| 3 | 2008 | Tiffany Michelle | 17 | 6,844 | 0.25% | $334,534 |
| 4 | 2005 | Tiffany Williamson | 15 | 5,619 | 0.27% | $400,000 |
| 5 | 2009 | Leo Margets | 27 | 6,494 | 0.42%4 | $352,832 |
| 6 | 2011 | Erika Moutinho | 29 | 6,865 | 0.42%4 | $242,636 |
| 7 | 2015 | Kelly Minkin | 29 | 6,420 | 0.45% | $211,821 |
| 8 | 2013 | Jackie Glazier | 31 | 6,352 | 0.49% | $229,281 |
| 9 | 2007 | Maria Ho | 38 | 6,358 | 0.60% | $237,865 |
| 10 | 2006 | Sabyl Cohen-Landrum | 56 | 8,773 | 0.64% | $123,699 |
Top Female Main Event Finishes by Prize
| Rank | Year | Player | Place | Field | % | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2012 | Gaelle Baumann | 10 | 6,598 | 0.15% | $590,442 |
| Elisabeth Hille | 11 | 0.17% | ||||
| 3 | 2005 | Tiffany Williamson | 15 | 5,619 | 0.27% | $400,000 |
| 4 | 2009 | Leo Margets | 27 | 6,494 | 0.42% | $352,832 |
| 5 | 2008 | Tiffany Michelle | 17 | 6,844 | 0.25% | $334,534 |
| 6 | 2011 | Erika Moutinho | 29 | 6,865 | 0.42% | $242,636 |
| 7 | 2007 | Maria Ho | 38 | 6,358 | 0.60% | $237,865 |
| 8 | 2013 | Jackie Glazier | 31 | 6,352 | 0.49% | $229,281 |
| 9 | 2015 | Kelly Minkin | 29 | 6,420 | 0.45% | $211,821 |
| 10 | 2005 | Sarah Bilney | 63 | 5,619 | 1.12% | $145,875 |
Footnotes:
- After all these years, the solution was amazingly simple: make the event a $10,000 buy-in with a 90% discount for women. The Ladies World Championship started as a $100 Seven-Card Stud event in 1977, with the buy-in increasing to $1,000 by 1992. In 2000, the event switched to half stud and half Limit Hold ‘Em. In 2005, the tournament finally became No Limit Hold ‘Em.
- Wicked Chops Poker’s current tagline is “A daily dose of all things poker + girls”, and the header says, “Poker News, Gossip + Hot Girls”.
- The Last Woman Standing title is traditionally only bestowed if the player has made the money. The percentage columns are the percent of the field remaining.
- Table updated on July 13, 2014, as Maria Ho duplicated her 2007 feat and became the third woman to earn the crown twice (after Marsha Waggoner and Annie Duke). Updated July 15, 2015: Kelly Minkin settled for a $211,821 score. Updated July 17, 2016: Gaelle Baumann took home the crown for a second time. Updated July 17, 2017: Yuan-Yuan Li edged Jessica Ngu by just three places. Updated July 15, 2018: Kelly Minkin won her second crown in four years.
- Margets edged Moutinho out for the fifth spot, 0.416% to 0.422%.
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