Denise Pratt is a recreational poker player from Olive Branch, Mississippi, who had a successful career as a businesswoman who owned various pharmacies throughout the South. She picked up the game after seeing Joe McKeehen win the 2015 WSOP Main Event.
“I worked my ass off all my life, and let me tell you, eight million dollars is very hard to come by. I was so enthralled by Joe McKeehen,” Pratt has previously said. “I’ve played a few cash games as well, but I realized that winning in a tournament is much more fun. I don’t understand why more women aren’t playing poker. I’d rather play poker than sit there at a damn slot machine by myself hoping the wheel spins right.”
She won a World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold online bracelet in 2023 after taking down the WSOP Online Event #24: $3,200 High Roller Championship for $104,690. She did so over a final table that included Andrew Lichtenberger, Brian Rast, and Shannon Shorr. She even defeated Kristen Foxen in heads-up play to claim victory.
In early 2025, Pratt publicly called out Maurice Hawkins after disagreements in their backing agreement. As of the end of 2025, Pratt has $342,483 in lifetime live tournament earnings according to The Hendon Mob, which includes a career-high $70,262 for finishing fourth in the 2017 WSOP Circuit Potawatomi Main Event.
Two years later, Pratt made a name for herself in the poker world when she was prominently featured on PokerGO. She was described as “loud, rowdy, blunt, and full of life.” An advocate for women in poker, she competed on Femme Fatale II week alongside Farah Galfond, Danielle Andersen, and Kitty Kuo.
“I’m well known for being rowdy, and I have been told to shut up before,” Pratt told PokerGO. “There was this one time – and I won’t name the casino – that I was told to be quiet because there was some other big event going on in the room.”
Pratt is also a noted philanthropist. She has supported the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi since 2010 and has directly benefited nonprofits that have ranged from food pantries to domestic violence shelters for women, to coats, gloves, and shoes for children. One time, she even purchased 100 tickets so that kids could attend a Memphis Redbirds game.
