Poker Writer
Spanish poker pro Leo Margets has made history, becoming the first woman to make the final table of the World Series of Poker in the modern history of the tournament. The final table bubble burst early Monday morning, guaranteeing Margets and her eight opponents at least $1 million apiece. The eventual winner will take home ten times that amount.
The Barcelona-native Margets is an ambassador for the French site Winamax. She solidified her place at the final table through a long grueling Day 8, which saw the field trimmed down from 24 players to just nine.
Technically, Margets is the second woman to make a WSOP Main Event final table, following Barbara Enright in 1995. However, the Main Event has been a very different tournament since the poker boom of 2003. Enright needed to outlast 150 opponents to make her final table—Margets, nearly 10,000.
Margets’ final table appearance isn’t coming out of nowhere. She has already come close once before, with a 27th-place finish in the 2009 Main Event back in 2009. She has one WSOP bracelet to her name, coming from “The Closer” in 2021. As one of the most successful European women in the game over the past 15 years, she’s a fitting player to break the trend of all-male final tables.
She comes into the final table right in the middle of the pack with 53.4 million chips, roughly half of chip leader John Wasnock—a relative unknown until this moment.
Margets’ Path to Final Table
The 41-year-old Margets had already earned the distinction of “last woman standing” early on Day 6 after Esther Taylor was eliminated in 152nd place.
Margets entered Day 8 in the bottom half of the chips counts. However, she picked up pots steadily throughout the day and only once found herself in a difficult position. In that pivotal hand, she faced a fellow Iberian, Sergio Veloso of Portugal, with 16 players remaining.
History in the making at the @WSOP #Mainevent@LeoMargets with a huge pot. Down to 15 Players@Ali_Nejad and @NickSchulman #Nightshift on the call.
Watch it on @PokerGO pic.twitter.com/3pKzE5szIm
— Russell (@__Russellm) July 14, 2025
No one wins a large-field poker tournament without surviving a few coin flips. The setup for Margets and Veloso’s collision was a classic one, with Margets being dealt pocket Jacks, while Veloso received an Ace and a King.
Almost unavoidably, the stacks went in preflop. Margets had Veloso covered, but would have been left with just three big blinds if he won the flip.
An Ace came out on the flop, putting her in a dire situation. There were, however, two Clubs on the flop and Margets held a third. The turn was not a Jack, but it was another Club, giving her plenty of outs for the river.
Sure enough, the Deuce of Clubs on the river gave Margot runner-runner and eliminated Veloso. The Spanish rail erupted in cheers, along with most of the other spectators. At that point, Margets suddenly had the second-largest with 15 players remaining. Her place in the history books seemed all but certain.
From there, the only hiccup was when her pocket Aces ran into a rivered three-of-a-kind by Braxton Dunaway. Margets had slowplayed her pocket Aces, which may have prevented a bigger disaster. Dunaway had her covered, but Margets escaped from the hand with over 80% of her stack intact.
By the time the field was down to nine, Margets had slipped to fifth, but is nonetheless in healthy shape for the final table.
Near-Misses for Women in the Main Event
The poker world has been hoping to see a woman at the WSOP Main Event final table for many years. A lot of media attention is traditionally given to the last woman standing title. Some years, that run ends early, but there have been a few others who have come close to what Margets achieved last night.
That includes Kristen Foxen last year. Widely considered the best woman poker player in the world, she looked sure to snap the drought as one of the chip leaders with two tables remaining. Unfortunately, a huge all-in bluff went wrong with 13 players left, ending her run four seats shy of the final table.
Even more heartbreaking, however, was the 2012 Main Event. That year, there were two women among the final 11 players. It seemed all but certain that either Elisabeth Hille from Norway or Gaelle Baumann from France would be among what was then the “November Nine.” Yet Hille went out in 11th and Baumann in 10th.
Successful Women Seen as Crucial to Grow Poker
What does it mean for poker that there’s a woman at the final table? Opinions will likely vary.
Some will see it as an interesting bit of trivia and little more. However, those interested in growing the sport of poker often point to women as the largest untapped potential player base.
There have been longstanding and varied efforts made to attract more women to poker, but it remains male-dominated, especially in the live environment. Previous WSOP Main Event fields have typically seen women making up only 3% or 4% of players.
Margets’ final table appearance is likely to make the mainstream news, especially if she goes on to win. Just as Chris Moneymaker’s 2003 victory convinced the average American man that anyone could win on poker’s biggest stage, a Margets win could catalyze female viewers.
Unfortunately, the WSOP Main Event is no longer aired on ESPN, as it was in 2003. Even so, mainstream news audiences are likely to be intrigued by Margets’ story.
Even among women already playing poker, Margets’ success might encourage online players to show up to live events, or local players to make a trip to next year’s WSOP. Kristen Foxen, who came so close just last year, congratulated Margets on X:
Congratulations on making history Leo Margets and good luck on the final table!!!
Leo is a great ambassador for women in poker
