11 years ago, Michelle Chin made history when she became the first woman to win a WSOP Circuit Main Event.
She owned a restaurant and had only just started playing poker: “Back then, I was just so naive. I didn't know it was actually really hard to win a tournament.”
It’s taken her 11 years to win another, and while this one isn’t history-making, it’s hugely significant.
When she won the $1,500 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball event on Monday night, Chin joined a select group of women to win an open event at the WSOP, alongside Barbara Enright, Jennifer Harman, Vanessa Selbst and Kristen Foxen.
'Poker isn't the greatest environment for women'
Yet as Chin points out shortly after her bracelet win, little has changed for women in poker since then.
In an emotional interview, Chin opened up about her experience as a woman in a game still dominated by men.
“I didn't realize how important it was when I won my Circuit Main Event,” she says. “I was a restaurant owner.
“Now that I’ve played more, I realize there are very few women that play. I don’t blame them for not playing. Poker isn’t the greatest environment for women.”
It might be sad to say this is still the case – sadder that this is what Chin wants to talk about after the biggest win of her poker career – but it won’t be a surprise for anyone that plays the game.
“It’s horrible, really horrible,” she says.
“You have guys who are really insensitive. They don’t mean it personally, but they say things at the table like, ‘You play like a pussy.’ Really? Why are you using that word to insult another guy?”
“But they don’t mean it,” she continues. “They’re just saying it, right? Or they’ll say, ‘You play like a little girl.’ I was a little girl. When you’re saying that close to me, do I just play bad?”
“It's very hard. When I’m sitting at the poker table I’m not trying to correct them because I’m trying to play poker and not let things affect my mood. And they don’t have bad intentions. It's just really awkward. It's just really uncomfortable.”
Chin goes on to say that one of her best friends from Japan recently quit the game because of it.
“She loves poker,” Chin adds.
Tournaments are tough to win
But if the often unintentional microaggressions are constant, they’re not the worst that women have to face.
“The language is just a small part,” Chin says. “There are bigger things – sexual harassment. And sometimes I feel like I should say something. And then I think, if I don't, maybe they think it's okay to talk like that. I'm just trying to play. Now I don’t play a lot, either.”
Chin says that the bracelet win isn’t going to change this, although she admits that triple draw might now challenge 2-7 no-limit as her favorite game.
She also tells us that she had no expectations at any point in the tournament.
“I just told myself I was going to try my hardest. Tournaments are very tough to win.”
That’s true for everyone who plays the game. It’s sad that in 2026, just playing is still harder for some than others.
Images courtesy of WSOP.
