Women in Poker Hall of Fame to Honor Foxen, David, and Brodie
The Women in Poker Hall of Fame tallied the votes, verified the qualifications and numbers, and put it all together. This week, WiPHoF announced that this year’s inductees will be Kristen Foxen and Jeanne David. In addition, Starla Brodie will be posthumously honored as the first in the new Pioneer category of honorees.
The Nominees Were…
The open nomination process took place in September, wherein the public submitted names of women that they felt should be honored by the Women in Poker Hall of Fame in 2024. With inductions every two years, people had been anxious to get some names into the mix. In October, the finalists were announced as:
- Kristen Bicknell Foxen
- Liv Boeree
- Jeanne David
- Jamie Kerstetter
- Kara Scott
- Rebecca McAdam Willetts
- Annette Obrestad
- Jennifer Shahade
More than 1,200 people voted, as well as a group of industry persons, to determine the women to be inducted this year.
Two to be Inducted
When the organization tallied the votes, there were two women who won the most votes: Kristen Foxen and Jeanne David.
Kristen Foxen, formerly Kristen Bicknell, hails from Canada but lives in Las Vegas now with husband Alex Foxen. She got her start in poker online, achieving PokerStars Supernova Elite status in the early 2010s. She started playing more live events about a decade ago, spurred by winning her first World Series of Poker bracelet in the 2013 WSOP Ladies Championship. She won her second bracelet in a NLHE Bounty event in 2016, her third in a WSOP Online NLHE 6-Handed event in 2020, fourth bracelet online in Crazy 8s in 2023, and her fifth one in WSOP Online in 2024. In addition to those five bracelets – the most ever won by a woman in WSOP events – she has numerous other titles to her name, such as APPT High Roller and Poker Masters wins. To date, per the Hendon Mob Database, she has accumulated nearly $8.5M in live tournament winnings, and won the GPI Female Player of the Year award 2017-2019 and again for 2023.
Jeanne David spent years working as the head of responsible gaming for PokerStars and aided in the establishment of PokerStars as a regulated poker site in the post-Black Friday US market. In addition to her expertise in responsible gambling matters and legislation, she has been a longtime mixed game player in the live poker realm. Her Hendon Mob Database listing shows more than $250K in live earnings to date, with numerous wins in Vegas-based events, which is where she resides.
New Pioneer Award
The Women in Poker Hall of Fame added a new award this year, one to honor pioneers of the game who have been under-recognized for their contributions to the game at various points in history. The new Pioneer Award will posthumously go to Starla Brodie.
Brodie was a poker player in the 1970s through the 1990s, starting during a time when few women played live poker. She was an options trader and competed in numerous Las Vegas poker tournaments and won two WSOP bracelets – in the 1979 $600 Seven-Card Stud Mixed Doubles alongside partner Doyle Brunson and in the 1995 $1K Women’s Seven-Card Stud. She was the first woman to win a bracelet in an open event. Brodie inspired other greats like Linda Johnson and served as a role model for more women of that era to compete at all levels of the game.
Induction and Celebration
The WiPHoF induction ceremony will be combined with a luncheon on Wednesday, December 11 at the Plaza Hotel and Casino in Downtown Las Vegas. PokerStars is sponsoring the event. The public is welcome, and tickets are available on the WiPHoF website.
Later that afternoon, there will be a WiPHoF tournament at Resorts World on the Las Vegas Strip. The $185 buy-in tournament will offer $50 bounties and special bounties on Hall of Fame members.
