Female Gamblers Who Have Made History

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Gambling was traditionally an activity that was carried out amongst males in smoke-filled saloon bars, and although it is still perceived to be a largely male realm, you may be shocked to hear that there are just as many women gambling as there are men. Over the course of history, women have been successful in overcoming these obstacles, laying the groundwork for what would become a flourishing gambling business. These days, a significant number of people enjoy gambling online. It indicates that you may gamble without leaving the convenience of your own house, and there are wonderful websites such as this one that can assist you in differentiating between genuine casinos and fake ones. We look at the women who have inspired us throughout history, from the pioneers to the famous to the poker champions and beyond.

Vanessa Selbst

Vanessa Selbst, who is widely considered to be one of the most renowned female gamblers to ever play at the highest-stakes tables, was an obvious choice to start off our list. The poker expert who got his start in Brooklyn has earned approximately $12 million in wins over the course of his career. She is a hedge fund manager by day, and she has managed to win three bracelets at the World Series of Poker despite having to balance her time between the tables and her job. In 2018, she decided to take a break from playing poker professionally, however, she has never publicly said whether or not she has permanently given up gaming. On the list of all-time female money earners, Vanessa won’t be dethroned from the top rank for quite some time yet.

Dona Maria

Another well-known gambler was Dona Maria Gertrudis Barcelo, who was born in Mexico at an unspecified period between the years 1800 and 1850. Although she was known as the greatest dealer in the West, the fiercely independent business woman never accepted financial assistance from a man. Instead, she earned a living by socializing with prominent Americans, including soldiers, politicians, and merchants.

Lottie Deno

In the year 1844, Carlotta J. Thompkins, who later became known as Lottie Deno, was born in the state of Kentucky. After defeating renowned poker player Doc Holiday, this amazing lady became known for her skills as a gambler, which led to the coining of the moniker “Poker Queen” for her. However, she earned this title only after she triumphed against Holiday. Lottie Deno, in contrast to the character of Poker Alice, had a very unassuming life up to the time of her death at the age of 89. She was able to live a life of luxury because of the money she raked in throughout her career as a professional poker player.

Kathy Liebert

PokerKat, whose real name is Kathy Liebert, was raised on Long Island, New York, despite the fact that she was born in Nashville, Tennessee. She started working as a stock analyst for Dun & Bradstreet in New York shortly after graduating from Marist College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Finance. She came to the realization very quickly that the life of a stock market trader was not for her, so she packed up her sizable nest egg, which she had acquired through playing the stock market, and went for the slopes of Colorado.

Soon after, she was able to support herself by working as a prop player at casinos around the state of Colorado. She was successful enough at this that she soon decided to try Las Vegas, and it was there that she established herself as a regular winner of smaller multi-table tournaments held in Sin City’s numerous poker rooms. She also established herself as a regular winner of larger tournaments held in other cities. In subsequent years, she made history by winning the first ever $1,000,000 in a poker tournament as a female player. She, Phil Hellmuth, Chris Ferguson, and Mel Judah were all sitting at the final table of a 2001 Party Poker Cruise event. More than $6.6 million has been won by Liebert in tournament play throughout her career.

Kristen Bicknell

Kristen Bicknell is a Canadian female gambler who rose to fame for her online poker playing when she was in her first year of college. She is said to have played a combined total of 7.6 million hands of poker between 2011 and 2013, which is how she earned the moniker “The Ultimate Grinder.” Bicknell has been successful in the World Series of Poker on three separate occasions, taking home his first bracelet in 2013 and his most recent in 2020. She also competed in a number of the most important poker events held all over the world, including the Femme Fatale tournament, which was a week-long competition open exclusively to women who played poker.

Claudine Williams

Claudine Williams, who was born in 1921, made history by being the first woman to be inducted into Nevada’s Gaming Hall of Fame. Williams made a significant contribution to the growth of the gambling industry in Las Vegas with the establishment of her Holiday Casino, which would later serve as the basis for the creation of Harrah’s Hotel and Casino. Williams was an oddity in the casino industry throughout the 1960s and 1970s, when relatively few women held management positions. When she was a youngster, she played just about every game of chance there was, and by the time she was 21 years old, she owned and managed her own gaming club in Texas. Claudine Williams has undeniably been an extremely important figure in the advancement of women in the gaming industry.