Poker tournament organizers are trying to encourage more women across the world to play poker but their efforts have not had a lot of success because there are not a lot of successful female poker players in the world – definitely not as many as male poker players.
Maria Ho – Accolades
Maria Ho is one of the few exceptions as she has achieved a number of accomplishments in her poker career. She has close to $3,000,000 in live tournament winnings, was the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event “Last Woman Standing” in 2014 and 2007 as well as the ‘Last Woman Standing’ at the WSOP Europe Main Event in 2017 and 2011.
Her accolades in poker continue with her largest live tournament payout at the 2011 WSOP $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em event where she finished as the runner-up and took home $540,020. She once again took the spotlight in 2019 when she emerged as the World Poker Tour Los Angeles Poker Classic High Roller (LAPC) champion.
Ho took down the $25,000 LAPC High Roller, beating Kristen Bicknell heads-up to win $276,690. The victory came right in time for her birthday, and she considers it one of the best presents she’s ever received. While this was not her biggest cashout, the victory was very sweet as she ended up beating Bicknell who won the GPI Female Player of the Year award in 2017 and 2018.
Ho is also a TV host and commentator, working with the Heartland Poker Tour, PokerGO and ESPN. She is a Women Poker Hall of Fame inductee, having scored 54 WSOP cashes, 4 WSOP final tables and 5 WPT final tables.
The top female poker pro recently opened up in an interview of how she continues to study the game of poker and offers a lot of valuable advice to young female poker players who want to make it big.
Keep Studying
Ho believes success stops when you stop learning. That’s why she recommends that every player, especially amateurs, should take time to watch and take advantage of all of the online poker training as they can learn new strategies and valuable concepts. These videos usually showcase the games of some of the world’s best players, and what better way to learn the tricks than to see it from the top pros in the game.
With the numerous achievements under her belt, Ho surely knows the intricate details and complexities behind the game, but the poker pro still sets aside time to watch videos and learn from commentaries. Not only does she continue learning, the videos also allow her to track her own performance and spot areas that need improvement.
Ho said as a player, you have to be honest with yourself and just keep studying and absorbing new input to keep pace with everyone else. This is a useful tip for anyone who wants to improve their game.
Tips For Success At The WSOP
The WSOP is one of the world’s largest poker tournaments and certainly the most popular. Just about every amateur poker player wants to play at the WSOP. Ho has provided some valuable insight for both first time poker players and female poker players to have a good run at the WSOP.
Take it Easy
The WSOP Main Event follows a unique structure, with two-hour levels, and most first-time participants fail to realize the amount of time they have to collect chips. Ho said it is important to pace yourself if you want to make it through each day and still play another day. No need to force the action – while it is a given that you will get very excited, it is vital for you to hold yourself together and let the game play out Avoid being overly involved in many pots as it will lead to more mistakes.
Last but not the least, you must be able to prepare yourself for players of all skill levels. You will be very proud competing with the best in the game, but sometimes you just have to take it easy and pick opponents that you can beat, instead of playing against the better ones.
Composure
If you’re lucky enough to get into a televised table, you want to avoid being distracted and just maintain a level of focus and calm. You must stick to making the best decisions even with lights and cameras around. Most importantly, Ho advises young players to not over-adjust their game. Just continue making solid decisions as overthinking kills the game.