It’s not like Kristen Foxen has been sneaking up on the poker world. She is one of the few women who step into the high-stakes world of “High Roller” poker, tournaments that run over $10,000. She has won five World Series of Poker bracelets in her career, topping her husband, Alex Foxen, in that category. Kristen can now add another tick mark to her bracelet ledger – and a $1.77 million payday, the biggest of her career – after winning Event #19, the $25,000 High Roller tournament, at the 2026 WSOP.
Hall, Foxen Head Six-Handed Final Table
On Sunday, the final table of Event #19 came together, chock-full of top-name professionals. Leading the way at that point was Galen Hall, who led with his 16.05 million in chips over Foxen’s 9.325 million. They weren’t the only major players on the felt for this event, as Joey Weissman (7.2 million), Biao Ding (6.875 million), and Zdenek Zizka (4.375 million) occupied other seats at the table. The only unknown quantity was Ignacio Moron, but he was making himself known by coming to the final six with 7.9 million in chips.
Hall would make life tough for his tablemates, using his sizeable stack to push them around. Hall took out Zizka rather early in the tournament when Hall four-flushed Zizka’s flopped pair of tens to end Zizka’s day in sixth place. Trying to keep pace with Hall, Foxen would then do the same to Moron, who took his A-10 up against Foxen’s pocket eights. A Jack-high flop brought no help for Moron, and he was off to the cage to collect his fifth-place money.
Ding and Weissman would determine the final three in the tournament. In a blind versus blind fight, Weissman pushed his nearly five million chip stack to the center and, after some deliberation, Ding would make the call:
Ding (small blind): K-Q
Weissman (big blind): K♥ 8♥
Weissman was in tough shape in the hand, and it got worse on the J-10-4♥ flop that brought a straight draw for Ding. A 9♥ completed the straight for Ding, but it also brought the potential for a flush for Weissman to stave off elimination or a Queen to chop the pot. Alas, a trey on the river didn’t bring any help for Weissman, and he was sent to the rail in fourth place.
Foxen Begins Her Run
Hall still held the edge as three-handed play began, and he would look to make quick work of Ding and Foxen. In another blind-versus-blind fight, Hall cut a swath of chips out of Ding’s stack after making a straight on the river against Ding’s two-pair. That left Ding with less than five million in chips, and they eventually would go in against Foxen.
Ding pushed all in from the small blind, and Foxen immediately made the call from the big blind:
Ding (small blind): K-7
Foxen (big blind): A-8♦
Foxen held a small lead pre-flop, and it got more complicated on the K♦ J♦ 2♦ flop. While Ding had found the King he needed, Foxen also found four diamonds toward completing a flush. A nine on the turn didn’t change anything, but a 3♦ gave Foxen exactly what she needed to claim the flush and the chips in knocking out Ding in third place.
Hall and Foxen were virtually even at the start of heads-up play, but Foxen would be the one to find her groove. Although Hall would start well in hitting a nut flush and getting paid for it by Foxen, the Lady Fox would grind it out and take over the lead after a run of three hands that saw her stack jump into the lead. She would continue to apply that patient style, and slowly Hall’s chips leaked across the table to Foxen’s stack.
On the final hand, Foxen limped in, and Hall, sensing weakness, hammered his stack into the center all-in. Foxen nearly beat him into the pot, for obvious reasons once the cards were on their backs:
Foxen (small blind): A-A
Hall (big blind): A-4
Hall was in terrible shape against Foxen’s rockets after a masterful trap, and the flop of 9-8-K brought nothing to help Hall’s situation. After a five on the turn left Hall drawing dead, Foxen commenced the celebration as the formality of the river deuce left her the champion of the $25,000 High Rollers at the 2026 WSOP.
1. Kristen Foxen, $1,773,083
2. Galen Hall, $1,182,050
3. Biao Ding, $819,504
4. Joey Weissman, $577,326
5. Ignacio Moron, $413,389
6. Zdenek Zizka, $300,942
This championship at the 2026 WSOP was particularly sweet for Foxen on several accounts. It is her fourth seven-figure cash of her career, and her largest cash, all of which came in the last year. It also added to Foxen’s record for most bracelets by a female player, with six, and (in the Foxen household, this might be a big deal) increased Kristen’s lead over her husband, Alex, to 6-3. Finally, it also moves Foxen into a special circle in WSOP history; Kristen joins 26 other men who have won six or more bracelets.
The post 2026 WSOP: One for the Ladies – Kristen Foxen Takes Down $25K High Roller appeared first on Poker News Daily.
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