Top Stories of 2024, #4: Kristen Foxen Shines on Poker’s Biggest Stage

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Dec 28, 2024 6 min read

Throughout the history of modern poker, women have shattered expectations, dominated tables, and built legacies. From Annette Obrestad conquering online games as a teenager to Vanessa Selbst reaching world number one in 2014, women have played pivotal roles in poker's evolution.

Names like Maria Ho, Liv Boeree, and Gaelle Baumann highlight the depth of female talent that has enriched the game.

In 2024, no name shone brighter than Kristen Foxen.

Kicking Things Off on the PokerGO Tour

While most people spend January recovering from holiday excesses, Foxen hit the ground running over the first fortnight of January 2023. Those two week saw her cash for over $300,000 and win a title in the PokerGO studio in Las Vegas, setting up shop over the course of the Last Chance and Kickoff festivals.

Her biggest result in January came in the PokerGO Tour Kickoff, defeating Daniel Negreanu heads-up to win $165,000.

"One player that always has a smile on their face is Kristen Foxen"

One man who knows Foxen's exploits in the PokerGO Studio well is PokerGO Director of Live Events & Content Tim Duckworth.

"There’s a wide array of personalities that frequent the PokerGO Studio for PGT events, and one player that always has a smile on their face is Kristen Foxen," Duckworth told PokerNews. "But you can’t let that smile fool you, as she’ll happily cut you up on the poker table if you stand in the way of her dragging chips.

"Just ask her husband Alex who has been on the losing end of many tussles against Kristen the PokerGO Studio."

Foxen has won one title, cashed 23 times, and earned $1,966,728 in PGT events, while it is the 2024 PGT season that has been her best.

"As we approach the end of the year, we're all looking at the GPI Player of the Year awards," said Duckworth. "Foxen has won four, and is a favorite to win her fifth within seven years if she can fend off Cherish Andrews’ late push. Five WSOP bracelets, four GPI Player of the Year awards, one PGT title, and many more of each to come.

"Just don’t let that smile make you think Foxen isn’t trying to win every one of your chips if you’re unfortunate to be seated at her table!"

More cashes in early 2024 followed for Foxen, heading to the Lucky Hearts Poker Open, finishing fourth in a $25k for $117,325, and three more cashes on the PokerGO Tour including a $204,750 score in the PokerGO Cup Event #7, finishing second to David Peters.

Time for the World Series of Poker

With a blazing start to the year, Kristen Foxen carried her momentum into poker's grandest stage: the World Series of Poker. Though her summer saw her cash ten times without a single final table, those numbers hardly tell the full story.

One of just seven women to enter Event #26: $25,000 High Roller, Foxen exemplified the growing strength of women in poker’s higher buy-in events. "The numbers are increasing every year," she told PokerNews, calling this the strongest female presence she’d seen in a $25k. "I’ve always wanted to play high rollers to make poker more welcoming for women. Just showing up as this little, not very intimidating girl can make a difference."

Foxen’s summer reached its crescendo with a thrilling deep run in the 2024 WSOP Main Event. Starting on Day 1d, she doubled her stack by the end of the day and entered Day 3 well within the top 500 as the money bubble loomed.

By the end of Day 5, Foxen had climbed the leaderboard, sitting 36th out of 160 remaining players. Midway through Day 6, she told PokerNews, 'Today it started to feel real.'

"I keep telling myself that it's just 10 hours of poker," she said. "And with 10 hours of poker with such a slow structure I know what to do on every hand. I'm just reminding myself of that."

"This is the stage in the tournament where you can't go wrong in being a little conservative in decisions when they come up. There is that element of high ICM in play that I don't think many people understand. So I feel like I can't go wrong and I know what to do."

Foxen would survive Day 6 and Day 7, finishing that day fifth in chips with three tables left.

“I’m just hoping that I can show other women not to be intimidated. To feel confident, like we belong here. Let’s beat them if we want to,” Foxen said at the time.

Many players and industry personnel were rooting for Foxen, including Poker Hall of Famer Barbara Enright, who told PokerNews it was time for a lady to win the WSOP Main Event.

"Not just make the final table!" she said, "For so many years, it was a man's game. If she wins, I think it will bring more women into the game. Poker's grown a lot. I think it would grow even more."

"It'll Make Me a Better Player" says Foxen

Sadly for Foxen, her Main Event run would end in 13th place, busting to Joe Serock to take home $600,000. Earlier this year, PokerNews caught up with Foxen at WPT Seminole and she reflected on the craziest week of her life.

"It was all very surreal," she said. "The Main Event is such a unique, grueling experience, and playing on stream for so many days, I was very tired. You're just running on adrenaline and after you bust it feels like a type of death almost."

Was Kristen Foxen's Bustout Hand GTO Wizard Approved?

The spotlight on Foxen extended beyond the female poker community to the industry as a whole. While the mental challenge was immense, Foxen expressed gratitude for her deep run.

"The most kind of pressure and spotlight I've ever felt in poker"

"It's just an experience that will build my mental muscle and character going forward. And, you know, I was playing for the win and made a bad read, went with my read, and there you go. That's kind of poker. That's what got me there in the first place."

"It was a very interesting experience. The most kind of pressure and spotlight I've ever felt in poker. So it was tough, but I think it will only make me a better player moving forward."

Online Success

Foxen may have come up short in her attempt to win the WSOP Main Event bracelet, but WSOP success would come just three months later. On the online felt, she won Event #17: $500 Pot-Limit Omaha Mystery Bounty 6-Max for $20,064 (plus $19,207 in bounties), making her a five-time WSOP champion.

Women in Poker Hall of Fame Induction

Five bracelets and more than $8.5 million in lifetime earnings are achievements that deserve to be commemorated, and they were in November 2024 with Foxen inducted into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame.

In her acceptance speech, Foxen said that she has always been fueled and loved the experience of being underestimated while playing at the poker table.

"In my career I decided I was pretty determined to try and show that women can compete," she said. "I just wanted to be successful as I could be and here I am almost 20 years later.

"I try to battle with the best and play the highest I can. Not only for my own ego or benefit, but also just to represent women in poker and try to encourage other women to do the same."

Picture courtesy of Hayley Hochstetler

Based in the United Kingdom, Will started working for PokerNews as a freelance live reporter in 2015 and joined the full-time staff in 2019. He now works as Managing Editor. He graduated from the University of Kent in 2017 with a B.A. in German. He also holds an NCTJ Diploma in Sports Journalism.

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