Lena Evans is a two-time WSOP Circuit champion, entrepreneur, author, and founder of Poker League of Nations (PLON), the world's largest private women's poker community.
She is the author of the Amazon #1 New Release The Poker Powered Brain: Play the Game, Train Your Brain. Her forthcoming book, The Mindful Competitor, explores the intersection of poker, performance, leadership, and mindfulness.
This summer, the World Series of Poker Main Event reached an important milestone. A record 431 women took their seats in poker's World Championship — the highest female participation in the event's history.
The number deserved to be celebrated, yet it represented less than 5% of the field. While progress is worth celebrating, perhaps the more important question is not how many women played, but how did we get here?
Progress does not happen by accident
I still remember the first time I sat down in the WSOP Main Event.
Even after hundreds of tournaments, it is different when you are playing in the World Championship of Poker. You immediately realize you are part of something much larger than yourself.
I believe every serious poker player deserves the opportunity to experience that feeling at least once — not because everyone will cash, but because the experience itself changes you. It expands your belief in what is possible.
The answer lies in the countless people who have quietly spent years building pathways into the game.
Progress like this did not happen by accident. It happened because people throughout the poker community have spent years creating pathways that help women discover the game, develop their skills, build confidence, and ultimately believe they belong on poker's biggest stage.
Every woman who entered this year's Main Event has her own story. Most of those stories began long before Las Vegas. Sometimes they begin around the kitchen table.
In Southern California, Christine Donnelly likes to joke that she has spent years "converting the neighborhood moms from Bunco." One of those women eventually won the California Women's Championship.
This summer, Donnelly herself returned for her third Main Event after once again winning the San Diego Poker League of Nations championship.
Her story reminds us that tomorrow's tournament player often begins as today's curious beginner.
Opportunity is the next step
A $10,000 Main Event buy-in represents a significant investment for almost any player. As founder of Poker League of Nations (PLON), I established the PLON Founder's Fund because I have seen firsthand how one opportunity can change a player's trajectory.
PLON President Kim Lepa captures that idea perfectly:
"When we bankroll a woman into the Main Event through our online or live leagues, we are not just investing in one player — we are investing in everyone who watches her take that seat and realizes they can be there too. Confidence grows through opportunity."
Arkansas player Kim Francisco experienced exactly that.
After earning her Main Event seat through PLON's online league, she turned the opportunity into a $25,000 cash. "Winning the PLON online seat changed my summer," shares Francisco. "Cashing the Main Event was exciting, but what I will remember most is realizing I belonged on poker's biggest stage."
Opportunity may open the door, but community encourages players to walk through it.
Canada's Kim Kilroy earned her Main Event seat through another PLON online league. Although her tournament ended early, what stayed with her was something else.
"I found a real camaraderie among the women I met and made several new friends along the way," says Lilroy. "I am already looking forward to earning another shot at next year's Main Event.
That sense of belonging is being cultivated by organizations across the poker world.
Pocket Queens, founded by Victoria Livschitz, CEO of Octopi Poker, has created an environment centered on study, practice, and continuous improvement.
Community leader Nan Min explains the group’s mission simply:
“We are building a place where women can study together, practice together, and help one another gain the confidence to compete at every level of the game.”
Through monthly practice leagues, strategy discussions, and education about staking, Pocket Queens helps women develop both technical skills and the confidence to compete. This year, approximately 10 Pocket Queens members played the Main Event, while several others enjoyed deep runs throughout the World Series.
Poker Queens, founded by Chris Read, has likewise helped expand opportunities for women in poker.
What began in Georgia has grown into an international community of more than 5,000 members who celebrate one another’s successes, share educational opportunities, encourage mentorship, and promote women’s events around the world.
Mentorship transforms confidence into performance
PLON Ambassador Lara Eisenberg regularly hosts women's strategy sessions at Maryland Live! Casino, helping players study, improve, and prepare for tournament poker.
This summer she demonstrated exactly what those pathways can produce, becoming one of the last two women standing before finishing 156th for $65,000.
"I felt incredibly grateful to make another deep run after doing so last year," says Eisenberg. "I definitely felt more confident this year than I did last year."
Perhaps the most encouraging development, however, is what happens next.
Communities begin creating new communities
After attending a PLON meetup I hosted in Atlanta, Tammy Garrett returned home determined to build something for women in her own region.
The result was Peaches & Queens, which has grown from 12 founding members to a thriving league that awarded its own Main Event package this summer.
"My mission has always been to increase the number of women playing poker here in the South," says Garrett. "We started with 12 members, and today we are already at capacity."
Royal Rebels represents another important pathway.
Co-founder Debbie Benak Blair Balderas looked across the Main Event years ago and wondered why so few women were seated among the thousands of players.
Rather than simply accepting that reality, she helped build a community that has now sent women to the Main Event and numerous other WSOP events through leagues, satellites, and mentorship.
"Taking that seat changed me," says Balderas. "It reminded me that courage is not about never feeling intimidated — it is about showing up anyway."
The record 431 women in this year's Main Event was not simply a statistic. It represented thousands of hours spent organizing leagues, hosting meetups, mentoring players, teaching strategy, awarding packages, creating practice opportunities, and encouraging one woman after another to believe she belonged.
No single organization deserves the credit. Poker League of Nations, Royal Rebels, Pocket Queens, Poker Queens, Peaches & Queens, and many other communities are each building pathways in their own way.
Together, they are creating an ecosystem that is making poker stronger, more welcoming, and more representative of the world around us.
Somewhere today, another woman is wondering whether she belongs in the World Series of Poker Main Event.
Our answer should be simple.
Yes.
So let us continue building the pathway that helps her get there.
