Leo Margets Vanquishes a Thirty-Year Dry Spell

Images courtesy of PokerGO.com

It’s been thirty long years in the making, but Leo Margets has done it!

Thanks to this fierce player who hails from Barcelona, Spain, a woman has made it to the final table of the WSOP’s Main Event once again. As Maria Ho, Jeff Platt, and others have noted, Margets is the first woman to do so in the modern poker era.

As Pamela Maldonado tweeted, many of us have been waiting for this day in anticipation, which Kristen Foxen came close to achieving just last year.

@LeoMargets just became the second woman ever to reach the @WSOP Main Event Final Table. The first? Barbara Enright in 1995. That’s 30 years! History. Made.

Not only has Margets shattered the modern poker era’s final table ceiling for the Main Event, as Poker Org recently shared on Twitter/X, “Leo Margets has now broken the record for the highest WSOP Main Event payday for a woman – currently guaranteed $750,000 with 10 players left in the 2025 Main Event.“

For everyone that gets knocked out or she knocks out, the record she currently holds gets higher and higher. Exciting stuff to anyone following at home or closer to the action in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Thanks to Margets, the poker world is buzzing with excitement as we head into the final stretch of the Main Event.

Who Is Leo Margets?

According to a fandom site for a show (Traitors) she was on, Margets is a 41-year-old former marathon runner and Winamax ambassador.

She graduated in Business Studies from Roehampton University of Surrey (London) with a master’s degree in Communication Business Management and has specialized in human behavior. She is an avid traveler, animal lover, and sports enthusiast.

This is not Margets’ first poker rodeo. According to her Hendon Mob, she has racked up over two million in live earnings. Prior to this Main Event, her highest cash to date (which she has now broken in amazing fashion) was $376,850. She had won her first WSOP bracelet in 2021, and is excitedly competing for her second bracelet in nothing less than the Main Event.

If Margets finishes fourth place or better, she will achieve lasting the longest out of any woman who has played before (as Barbara Enright finished 5th during her deep run and Kristen Foxen finished 13th in hers).

Margets was the last woman standing in the 2009 Main Event, finishing 27th.

If Margets Wins, Will This Spark Another Poker Boom?

In April, I wrote an article on “Could a Woman Winning the Main Event Usher in Another Poker Boom?”  

While the consensus was divided amongst people who commented on Twitter/X, as AJ Ruldolph more recently posted on Facebook,

… Representation matters!!

If you’re not a poker player, you may not understand the importance of [Margets] achievement without these stats. Women make up less than 5% of the field in live poker.

And if she wins it all, no woman has managed that feat. Men do not have an advantage in this game. It’s a mindsport. So when other women see that she can do it, It makes us easier for us to imagine ourselves up there. GO LEO!!”

2025 WSOP Main Event Final Table Chip Counts

When the play restarts on Tuesday, Margets will be starting in the middle of a pack. While she may not be coming back to the largest of stacks, things change quickly in tournament poker, and a couple of double-ups could easily put her in the driver’s seat!

Final Thoughts

While a boom in America may be a tough hurdle to cross in light of recent legislation potentially impacting poker (President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill) and the fact that online poker play isn’t nationally legalized, there is no doubt Margets’ deep run will inspire players across genders, but arguably particularly women.

She joins the ranks of other stellar women players like Kristen Foxen, Xuan Liu, Ashley Frank, and more who have been great role models and advocates for the game.

We wish her and the other players the best of luck. As always, no matter your gender, good luck on the felt and run good!