'More work to be done': Maria Ho on the slow pace of change for women in poker

I said I had some personal life stuff going on. That life stuff I spoke about was I was pregnant. 

Congratulations! You've been announced as an official commentator and part of the WSOP team. How do you feel about all that?

it's very exciting to be a part of this new team that WSOP has assembled. And I'm really grateful to be working with not only such a prestigious brand, but with such great faces and figures of the game. 

Doing commentary and broadcasting is something I am able to do because the hours are a little less, and less hectic than playing a multi-day tournament.

Obviously, I miss competing and I'm sure I'm going to get back to in in the future.

Norman Chad and Maria Ho will both be in the WSOP commentary booth during this upcoming series.

I’m assuming you put a rider in your contract to keep Norman Chad at least 200 yards away from you? You do know he will be commentating also, right?

Fortunately, Norman does not give me as much shit as he gives other people. I feel like that makes him a little more tolerable. 

Lucky you.

I’m joking. Norman and I have like a very good relationship. Actually, everybody knows that a little part of Norman's persona is sometimes more shtick than anything else. 

Norman, in my opinion, is a very sweet man. I am looking forward to his sarcasm and humor in the booth.

I’ll take that at face value for now. What’s been your experience working with Jeff Platt? He’s taken on a very special role with the WSOP this year. 

He's just the consummate professional. It's always so nice to work with him because he comes so prepared. And it just makes the booth experience that much better when the play-by-play commentator is so well-versed and so prepared. I'm definitely looking forward to working with Jeff.

What do you love most about commentating at the series?

I feel like it's the greatest job in the world because I'm getting paid to watch people play poker and not just anybody. I'm watching the best players in the poker world. 

I like the fact that I can kind of be that bridge for maybe a recreational player.  I can help them decipher what an elite player is thinking and try to explain in a way that is more palatable for them.

What kind of impact do you think ESPN and the partnership with the WSOP will have on the overall experience this year?

First of all, it's about time that we are back on ESPN. We would not have had the Moneymaker effect if poker had not been on ESPN back then.

Now we can, once again, broadcast to a larger and more mainstream audience. I hope we can continue to grow the game. 

Shiina Okamoto has won back to back WSOP Ladies Championship titles in 2024 and 2025.

More and more women are making a huge impact on the game, such as Kristen Foxen, Cherish Andrews, and Shiina Okamoto, just to name a few. It has to be rewarding for you after so many years at the top of the game yourself?

It’s incredible. Some of the women have not only established themselves as fixtures in the game, but also on the high roller circuit.

That was not even something that you would see back when I first started. There weren’t that many women who were competing as professionals.

I agree. It’s been rewarding to see the growth over the last 20 years, at all levels of play.

And I think it's only going to continue to trend upwards as more and more women get into the game. But, if I'm being honest, it really hasn't come as quickly as I thought it would. 

You feel it should have grown much faster than it has?

Yes. I feel like it's definitely been at a snail's pace. I feel like it should have been exponentially faster, but it hasn't really worked out that way.

That's very unfortunate and something we're missing out on; women are such a big part of the demographic. 

How could that change can be expediated?

I think there's things that we can do as players and as a community. But I also want to encourage women who might be playing online to step out and play live as well.

I think that there's still a lot more work to be done in terms of just making the environment more friendly for women.

I want women to start feeling more comfortable taking part in the game. I hope that I will still be around to see that change.

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The 2026 WSOP starts on May 26 and runs through August 5, when the Main Event champion will be crowned.