Traditionally masculine gambling had been rejecting women up until the 1960s, when females were officially allowed to gamble. But even after that most people continued to believe that gambling and women don’t mix – as it was confirmed in numerous movies, in which female gamblers were portrayed as addicts (Even Money, The Lady Gambles) and entrepreneurs (Molly’s Game, Atlantic City), but rarely professional players.
And though there’s some truth to that (after all, the target audience is indeed males between 20 and 40), there were – and are – more than enough outstanding examples when women achieved unimaginable results in gambling.
Male or female, you have over 4,800 brick-and-mortar and a lot more online casinos worldwide to unleash your potential, and with that incredibly diverse choice at hand, you might want to start off with inspiration from the stories of the best female gamblers the world has ever seen. And then you might be ready to make your first spin at your beloved Betinia Casino or wherever you play.
Shannon Elizabeth Fadal
The famous actress appeared in lots of comedy films (American Pie, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Scary Movie) and horrors (Thirteen Ghosts, Cursed, Jack Frost, Night of the Demons), but most of us know her for the role of Nada in American Pie (1999).
In 2006, Elizabeth claimed poker to be her second career. The movie star participated in quite a few tournaments from 2005 to 2010 – including the Main Event of the 2005 World Series of Poker, the World Series of Poker 2006, and the World Series of Poker 2007 – and even won a special tournament among celebrities, outplaying 83 participants and professional punters. The total poker winning of Elizabeth Fadal is believed to be over $235,000, and it might be just the beginning!
Anne LaBarr Duke
The winner of the 2004 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions and the National Heads-Up Poker Championship in 2010, Anne LaBarr Duke is a professional poker player, a holder of a golden bracelet of World Series of Poker from 2004, and an author of many books on decision making and poker (The Middle Zone, Decide To Play Great Poker), as well as the autobiography How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed, and Won Millions at the World Series of Poker (2005).
But the most interesting is that the poker star discovered her hidden talent at the age of 22, when she first tried to play Texas Hold’em in a Las Vegas casino, and was then pushed to hone her skills by her brother. The first year of training was followed by tournaments at the 1994 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, where she won $70,000 within the first month and finally decided to take poker seriously.
Alice Ivers Duffield Tubbs Huckert
And now fast-forward to the 19th century, the domain of Alice Ivers Duffield Tubbs Huckert, better known as Poker Alice, one of the poker pioneers among females.
Born in England to a family of Irish immigrants, Alice moved to Virginia, where she attended a boarding school to become a lady of manners. However, the refinement had lasted only up until she met Frank Duffield, her future husband with whom she would get interested in poker. As skillful as Ivers was, though, she was known for her extravagant spending on clothes. Every time she won in Silver City, she would spend the majority of the loot in New York, buying expensive clothes to follow the latest trends of the time.
But the accidental death of her first husband made Alice play poker seriously. Being in a tough financial position, she tried hard to make money by both gambling and working as a dealer. Over time her reputation grew, and she was good enough to make thousands of dollars overnight, an unimaginable sum of money to make that fast. During the whole career, the poker lady made over $250,000, an equivalent to a mind-boggling $3 million of today.
The Female Gambling Show Will Go On
The examples above are just a drop in the sea of the success achieved by women in gambling. And, of course, the show goes on: on April 21, 2020, Megan H., of Flower Mound, Texas, won over $300,000 on the Wheel of Fortune slot at a Las Vegas airport. And it’s not even the biggest jackpot triggered there!
