Women represent approximately 4% of the global poker player pool. Within that minority, a smaller group has built careers significant enough to rank among the best players in the game regardless of gender. The six players below are the highest-earning and most accomplished female poker players of all time, ranked by live tournament earnings.
1. Kristen Foxen – $19,235,650
Kristen Foxen is the highest-earning female poker player in live tournament history. A Canadian professional who began grinding online in 2006, she built her live reputation through sustained consistency across multiple formats and buy-in levels. She is a five-time WSOP bracelet winner and a four-time GPI Female Player of the Year (2017, 2018, 2019, 2023), a record that reflects dominance over an extended period rather than a single breakthrough result. She ranks among the top 120 all-time earners across all genders.
2. Vanessa Selbst – $11,946,107
Vanessa Selbst held the position of world number-one ranked player at the peak of her career across all genders, and remains the second-highest-earning female player in live tournament history. A three-time WSOP bracelet winner, her technically aggressive style set a benchmark for what female players could achieve at the highest level of the game. She retired from poker in 2018 to pursue a career in finance, walking away at the top of her game.
3. Kathy Liebert – $7,353,698
Kathy Liebert is one of the most decorated female tournament players of her generation, with career earnings that place her third on the all-time women's money list. A consistent presence on the major circuit for over two decades, she has accumulated more than 100 cashes at the WSOP alone. Her longevity in the game and the consistency of her results across different eras and formats make her one of the most underappreciated players on this list.
4. Liv Boeree – $6,699,290
Liv Boeree accumulated close to $4 million in live tournament earnings during her active career and held the position of world's top-ranked female player from 2014 to 2016. She has a degree in astrophysics from the University of Manchester and co-founded Raising for Effective Giving alongside Igor Kurganov. She retired from poker in 2018 to focus on science communication, hosting content for the Discovery Channel, National Geographic, and her own YouTube channel.
5. Maria Ho – $5,543,363
Maria Ho is one of the most prominent active female players in the game, with over $5.5 million in live tournament earnings and a career spanning two decades. A regular on the major circuit, she has maintained a high public profile as both a competitor and a broadcaster, commentating on major events including the WSOP Main Event final table. She was inducted into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame in 2018. Unlike most players on this list, Ho has remained consistently active in both playing and media work into the mid-2020s.
6. Sosia Jiang – $6,131,533
Sosia Jiang is an Australian professional with over $6 million in live tournament earnings, placing her among the top five female earners of all time. Less well-known outside the poker community than several players on this list, her results speak clearly: consistent deep runs across major international events and a place in the top 500 of the all-time money list regardless of gender. She represents the current generation of female professionals competing successfully at the highest level of the game.
The Case for Jennifer Tilly: When Public Profile Outweighs Earnings
Any list of the most famous women in poker runs into a specific problem: Jennifer Tilly. By earnings, she does not belong here – her $1 million-plus in live tournament winnings, while genuine, places her well outside the top 10 on the all-time women's money list. By public recognition, she may be the most famous female poker player alive.
The Academy Award-nominated actress brought poker to an audience that would never have sought it out, playing at the highest televised stakes with a deliberately playful persona that was easy to underestimate, which was precisely the point. Her seven first-place finishes and consistent results across years of play confirm what the persona was designed to obscure: she was genuinely good at this.
Tilly's contribution to the game is primarily cultural. She made poker visible to mainstream audiences and did so while actually winning. That combination is rarer than her earnings figures suggest.
Key Takeaways
- Kristen Foxen is the highest-earning female poker player in live tournament history, with over $19 million in recorded earnings and five WSOP bracelets.
- Vanessa Selbst held the world number-one ranking across all genders at the peak of her career and remains the second-highest female earner all time.
- Kathy Liebert's longevity and consistency across more than two decades place her among the most decorated female tournament players of any generation.
- Liv Boeree and Maria Ho represent two distinct paths to prominence: Boeree through a combination of results and intellectual profile, Ho through sustained competitive and media presence.
- Sosia Jiang is the current generation's clearest example of a female professional competing successfully at the top level of the international circuit.
- Jennifer Tilly's cultural contribution to poker – bringing mainstream visibility to the game – is distinct from, and not reducible to, her tournament earnings.
