Leo Margets Breaks a 30-Year Drought: First Woman to Reach WSOP Main Event Final Table Since 1995

The Road to the Final Nine

Margets started Day 8 with 17.8 million in chips — 15th out of the 24 players remaining. Not short-stacked, but not exactly cruising. For the first few hours, she hovered, stealing blinds and playing a steady, contained game. She chipped up gradually, making it past a few eliminations and crossing into the top 12 with a stack of around 35 big blinds.

Photo Credit: Rachel Kay Winter

The pivotal hand came after the dinner break, and it was the kind of hand that writes itself. Holding pocket jacks J J , Margets opened to 2 million. Sergio Veloso, sitting in the small blind with A K , shoved for 32.7 million. The call wasn’t easy, but she made it.

The flop came A Q 9 with two clubs — grim viewing for Margets, who now needed running cards to survive. The turn brought the 3 , giving her a flush draw. And then came the river: 2 . She’d gone runner-runner to eliminate Veloso and vault her stack to over 70 million, briefly putting her second in chips.

Photo Credit: Regina Cortina

From there, it wasn’t smooth sailing. She took a hit when her pocket aces ran into what would become the eventual chip leader John Wasnock’s aggressive play. But Margets held on. She reraised selectively, protected her stack, and ultimately locked up her seat in the final nine when Joey Padron was eliminated in 10th.

Margets will take 53.4 million chips to the final table — good for 33 big blinds and a dead-center seat in the standings.

Photo Credit: Spenser Sembrat

A Landmark Moment for Poker

As Margets locked up her spot, the mood inside the Horseshoe Event Center shifted. A wave of applause rippled through the tournament room. Over in the Paris Ballroom, where many side events were still underway, players paused to cheer. Some stood up to clap. Others wiped away tears.

With that said, Leo Margets’ historic run didn’t just make headlines — it lit up the poker world across social media and forums.

On X, support poured in from some of the biggest names in the game. Maria Ho called it “30 years in the making,” celebrating Margets as the first woman to reach the Main Event final table in the modern era.

Kristen Foxen, who finished 13th in 2024, praised Margets as a “great ambassador for women in poker,” while Jamie Kerstetter and Abby Merk echoed the sentiment, with Merk adding:

The buzz wasn’t limited to the pros. Over on Reddit, the Day 8 mega-thread was full of play-by-play breakdowns and raw emotion. One user recapped her pivotal hand: “JJ (Leo) vs AK. Ace on the flop, but runner runner flush for Leo.” Another wrote: “Love seeing more diversity at the highest levels of poker… this is a historic run.“

A separate thread urged:

Across both platforms, the tone was clear—this wasn’t just about one player’s deep run. It felt like a collective moment, long overdue, and one that resonated with a wide swath of the community.

A Look at Leo Margets’ Career

Leo Margets isn’t a new face in poker circles. She’s been around the tournament scene for over a decade, and her breakout came at the 2009 WSOP Main Event, where she finished 27th and earned the Last Woman Standing title.

She picked up her first WSOP bracelet in 2021 by winning the $1,500 Closer for $376,850, beating Alex Kulev heads-up. That was her biggest live score — until now. Just by making the final table, she’s locked in a $1,000,000 payday, the highest ever for a woman in the Main Event.

Photo Credit: Alicia Skillman

Her background isn’t just poker—she’s also a former marathon runner, and she’s spoken openly about drawing on that endurance mindset during long tournament grinds. Margets plays with a mix of measured calm and strategic pressure. Her table presence is quiet but composed. Her decision-making is deliberate but far from conservative.

And now, after earning yet another Last Woman Standing accolade, she’s gone one step further: she’s become the first woman to reach the Main Event final table in the modern poker era.

Where Things Stand

Margets returned to the felt seated in Seat 1 with 53,400,000 in chips (33 big blinds). Here’s the final table lineup:

Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Leo Margets		53,400,000	33
2	Kenny Hallaert		80,500,000	50
3	Braxton Dunaway		91,900,000	57
4	John Wasnock		108,100,000	68
5	Michael Mizrachi		93,000,000	58
6	Daehyung Lee		34,900,000	22
7	Luka Bojovic		51,000,000	32
8	Adam Hendrix		48,000,000	30
9	Jarod Minghini		23,600,000	15

Note: The table is based on data from July 14th, 2025.

A Shot at the Crown

Leo Margets isn’t here for a deep run and a pat on the back. She’s playing for the title. A fourth-place finish or better would make her the highest-placed woman in Main Event history. A win would mean $10 million, a second bracelet, and a place in poker history books so permanent, they might need a new chapter.

Photo Credit: Regina Cortina

For now, the eyes of the poker world are on one player. And no matter how the final table plays out, Leo Margets has already changed the game.