button in SafariFoxen Finally Beats the Best to Win "Dream" WSOP $25K High Roller Title
Two years ago, Kristen Foxen made it clear that her next major goal was to win a World Series of Poker bracelet in what she described as a "tougher" field, saying she wanted to capture one in “an event you feel a bit prouder of.”
In Event #19: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em, Foxen found exactly what she was looking for, and completely conquered it.
The Canadian outlasted a field of 345 entries stacked with elite pros at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas to capture a historic sixth WSOP bracelet and the largest live tournament score of her career, banking $1,773,083 after defeating Galen Hall heads-up.
Up until now, Foxen herself had said that all her bracelets had come from smaller or online events. This one was different.
"It feels like where I'm supposed to be and what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm just so blessed that I found poker, that I'm able to do this.”
“This was just all the best pros in the world,” she told PokerNews. “I haven't won a large $25k yet, so it feels really good. Things just went my way. It was really a dream. It feels like where I'm supposed to be and what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm just so blessed that I found poker, that I'm able to do this.”
This is the fourth seven-figure cash of Foxen's illustrious career, with all of them coming in the last 12 months. The $1.7 million score was also her largest and the fourth-largest score of all time for a female player.
WSOP $25K High Roller Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kristen Foxen | Canada | $1,773,083 |
| 2 | Galen Hall | United States | $1,182,050 |
| 3 | Biao Ding | China | $819,504 |
| 4 | Joey Weissman | United States | $577,326 |
| 5 | Ignacio Moron | Spain | $413,389 |
| 6 | Zdenek Zizka | Czechia | $300,942 |
| 7 | Ihar Soika | Belarus | $222,798 |
| 8 | Giuseppe Calio | Argentina | $167,792 |
How Foxen Beat the 'Best Pros in the World'
Hall entered the final day with nearly one-third of the chips in play after an incredible Day 3 sun run that saw him eliminate seven players on his way to the overnight chip lead. He continued applying pressure immediately after cards went in the air on Day 4, winning several early pots before eliminating Zdenek Zizka in sixth place with a turned flush.
Foxen stayed patient during the early stages of the final table as Hall played table captain from her direct left. However, momentum began to shift after Foxen eliminated Spain's Ignacio Moron in fifth place. Moron jammed from the small blind with ace-ten, but Foxen woke up with pocket eights and won the race to bust Moron, helping close the gap on Hall at the top.
The United States' Joey Weissman was next to bust, shoving king-eight from the small blind into the dominating king-queen of Biao Ding in the big blind. Both players improved to a straight on the turn, but Ding held the nut straight to reduce the field to three, and lock up his spot as the number one on China's all-time money list, according to TheHendonMob.
Shortly afterward, Ding found himself battling to stay alive as Hall continued extending his chip lead, winning a huge pot against Ding after rivering a straight against Ding’s two pair, leaving the Chinese pro as the clear short stack.
Foxen then successfully bluffed Ding off a pair in a significant pot, helping her stay safely in second place just before she and Hall clashed preflop. Hall three-bet Foxen's button open, but Foxen four-bet shoved big slick, forcing Hall to fold and giving her the chip lead for the first time on Day 4.
Foxen rang the knockout bell on Ding not long after, when he moved all in from the small blind with king-seven and Foxen made the call with ace-eight. Ding paired his king on the flop, but Foxen picked up a flush draw and completed it on the river to eliminate Ding in third place.
That pot gave Foxen a narrow chip lead against Hall, with the two virtually even in chips. Both players had already locked up seven-figure payouts, but with the bracelet and $1,773,083 still on the line, all focus now turned to heads-up.
The Fight For the Bracelet
Hall took back the advantage after rivering the nut flush against Foxen's two pair in a three-bet pot. The Day 3 chip leader continued to stay aggressive throughout the start of heads-up play, putting Foxen into several difficult spots and at one point stretching his lead to more than two-to-one.
Foxen, however, refused to let Hall pull away. She began chipping back into the lead with a series of well-timed pots, including where she check-raised the flop with top two pair before firing again on the turn to force Hall off of his hand. Hall still found ways to respond, picking off a bluff from Foxen with third pair before winning another large pot with trips where Foxen made the correct fold.
The biggest pot of the tournament came from a brutal cooler. Both players turned a straight, but while Hall held a jack-high straight, Foxen had made a queen-high straight. All the chips went in on the river, and when Foxen tabled the winner, she suddenly found herself holding more than a 2:1 chip lead.
Only minutes later, it was all over. Foxen completed from the button and Hall moved all in from the big blind. Foxen snap-called with pocket aces and found herself in the perfect spot against Hall's ace-four offsuit. Hall was drawing dead by the turn, and moments later, Foxen had her hands on a bracelet she could be immensely proud of.
"A Dream Come True"
“I’m very lucky. This is a dream come true,” Foxen said, following her victory. “Definitely the life I imagined when I first found poker, and I'm super grateful to actually be able to live out that dream.”
As an inspiration to many female poker players around the world, Foxen says she is proof positive of what is possible at the table.
"Just because you're a female doesn't mean you don't belong there or that you can't do it. If this is what you want to do, pursue it. There's nothing stopping you."
"Playing in these super tough tournaments where there are very few women is just to show that just because you're a female doesn't mean you don't belong there or that you can't do it. If this is what you want to do, pursue it. There's nothing stopping you."
Fittingly, despite the seven-figure payout, Foxen still holds her first bracelet, the 2013 Ladies Event, close to her heart. The intervening 13 years have seen her reach the highest heights in poker.
