Top Women in Casino World

Billions of people have played casino games at least once. And many of them did it for fun, winning and losing equally. But very few do it on a professional level or become to be known for their skills. So, this article will introduce you to six women who have excelled in the gambling and casino world.

Vanessa Selbst

Born in 1884, Vanessa Selbst is among the most celebrated poker players. Selbst discovered poker as a teenager and started gambling online while studying at Yale University. She became famous in the 2006 World Series of Poker, where she finished 7^th and raked in a whopping $101,285. Since then, she’s won three World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets, a feat that no other woman has achieved.

Vanessa Selbst has raked over $10 million in total live tournament winnings. Unfortunately, she retired from professional gambling in 2018, citing the pressure of always being in the spotlight.

Dennis Coates

Dennis Coates has several impressive achievements to her name. She’s a billionaire businesswoman and the founder and majority shareholder of the infamous Bet365, an online gambling company with millions of customers.

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Coates was born in 1967. She attended the University of Sheffield in her late teenage years and started marking up bets in their family business while still a student. Working in betting shops gave her the experience to excel in gambling.

Afterward, her father let her run the betting shops, and she turned them into a big success. She later bought Bet365 in 2000 and, together with other venture capitalists, turned it into the juggernaut it is today.

Annie Duke

Some of the most impressive poker players in history learned the trade from family members, and that’s how Annie Duke’s story goes too. Born in 1965, Duke was introduced to the gambling world by her brother, Howard Lederer, in her early 20s. At the time of her introduction, Duke’s brother was already a professional poker player. His encouragement, financial support, and advice fueled Annie Duke’s success in the casino world.

Annie Duke has played in many high-profile tournaments, including the World Series of Poker. She has managed to cash over a million dollars from WSOP alone and $4 million+ from live games. So far, Duke has participated in 79 events and won 2 gold bracelets from the World Series of Poker.

Kathy Liebert

Kathy Liebert is one of the most famous American professional poker players. She was born in 1967 in Nashville, Tennessee, and lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. Her fans call her PokerKat. Liebert has won a World Series of Poker bracelet and is in the Women in Poker Hall of Fame.

Liebert’s career has made her considerably wealthy. She boasts over $6 million in total live tournament winnings. Liebert raked in her first sizable price in 2002’s Party Poker Million event, which had a 1-million-dollar prize.

Sarah Knight-Preddy

The late Sarah Knight-Preddy is a legend who deserves recognition. She was born in 1920 when gambling was male-dominated, and women weren’t usually allowed to participate. Preddy moved to Las Vegas in 1942 with her first husband, Luther Walker. She took her first job as a Keno writer at the Cotton Club, which introduced her to the gambling world. She later became a dealer in the same club.

In 1950, Sarah Knight-Preddy moved from Las Vegas to Hawthorne, Nevada. After settling in Hawthorne, she purchased a gambling establishment, a feat no African American woman in Nevada had achieved. That means she’s Nevada’s first black woman to own a gaming license.

Preddy passed away in 2014 at the ripe age of 94.

Lottie Deno

Lottie Deno, or Charlotte Tompkins Thurmond, was a famous gambler during the Civil War era. She was born in Kentucky in 1844. Her early adulthood featured a great deal of traveling, which made her a mysterious figure. That is why much of her earlier life remains unknown. But one thing is for sure: Deno was a great poker player.

Historians say Lottie Deno was a daughter of a wealthy Kentucky plantation and race track owner. But the Civil War made her family lose their fortune and forced them to move to Detroit, Michigan. It was in Detroit that Deno started gambling out of necessity. She used her winnings to support her mother and educate her sister.

While she was alive, Lottie Deno was known as a notorious gambler. She later became a landowner and ran a boarding house and a club. She died in 1934 and was buried next to her husband. She’s been immortalized in countless novels, including Lottie Deno- Mysterious Hell Cat of the West.

Join the Ranks Today

Many women have accomplished impressive feats in their lifetime. For instance, some have built successful businesses, and others are known for their exceptional gambling skills. If you love gambling, you can climb the ranks and become famous. Just hone your skills and research tips for becoming a successful gambler.