Gaëlle Baumann Last Woman Standing in the Main Event for the Second Time

In 2012 Gaëlle Baumann bubbled the final table of The Main Event. It was the year when Greg Merson was crowned champion, and Norway’s Elisabeth Hille almost made it to the final table too after being eliminated in 11th place.

This year the Winamax pro made another deep run in the most prestigious tournament in the world, and even though she was not able to go as deep as in 2012, she once again became the last woman standing. In 2012 it was Baumann’s evil spirit, Andras Koroknai from Hungary, who sent Baumann to the rail, when she ran her A9 into Koroknai’s AK – and received $590,442 for her impressive run. This year the French pro was eliminated in 102nd place shoving her last chips into the middle with AJ. Once again she was looked up by AK, this time in the hands of Alex Keating. Baumann took home $49,108 for another deep run.

Another player who’s been known to go deep in the Main Event is Maria Ho. Like Baumann she’s been last the woman standing twice. In 2007 she finished in 38th place for $237,865, and in 2014 she was eliminated in 77th place worth $85,812. This year she was on yet another deep run. On Day 4 she was second in chips at one point, but she was not able to keep the momentum going, and she was eliminated in a brutal hand the next day in 242nd place:

Pretty sick way to go but genuinely grateful for yet another opportunity in the #WSOPMainEvent. Thanks for the ❤️. 

— Maria Ho July 16, 2016

Las Vegas pro Louise Francoeur seems to have a great take on the Main Event as well. Last year she finished in 558th place, and this summer she made it even deeper, ultimately finishing in 142nd place for $49k.

Jennifer Shahade (204th), Stacy Matuson (169th), Dee Friedman (132th) and Melanie Weisner (127th), who was chip leader for a short period on Day 4, also went deep in the Main Event this year, which made it very exciting to follow.

With two women winning bracelets in open events this year, Kristen Bicknell and Safiya Umerova, and Courtney Kennedy being crowned Ladies World Poker Champion, it has been a great WSOP from a female perspective. Not to mention all the final tables made by players like Natasha Barbour, Loni Harwood, Katherine Fleck, Esther Taylor-Brady, Maria Ho, Pallas Aidinian, Thi Nguyen, Lisa Meredith, Xiu Deng, Svetlana Gromenkova and Kerryjane Craigie.

Let’s hope next year’s edition will be just as good or even better. Thanks for following along!

Photo: Gäelle Baumann last woman standing in 2012 WSOP Main Event.