Esther Taylor was one of poker’s standout female players of 2025, having the best year of her career. As a part-time player, she achieved 18 cashes, 6 final tables, and $880K in winnings last year, making her the tenth highest-earning woman of 2025.
Most notably, E-Tay reached the final table of the world’s most prestigious tournament: the $50K WSOP Poker Players Championship. She faced the best players in the world and ended up three-handed against Bryn Kenney and the eventual winner Michael Mizrachi. She finished third for $595K, becoming the event’s highest-placing female player, surpassing Melissa Burr‘s seventh-place finish in 2014.
We reached out to Esther to glean insight from her experiences throughout 2025 and took the opportunity to ask her about her 20-year career playing the live tournament circuit, where she became a mixed games specialist.
10th: @BetMGMPoker ambassador Esther Taylor pic.twitter.com/havAWhEckI
— Poker Org (@pokerorg) February 2, 2026
Interview with Esther Taylor
You had a great 2025 with 6 final tables. How would you summarize your poker year?
Definitely the best year of my career. My goal was to just keep putting myself in a position to have a shot, and I feel like that what’s I did!
You finished third in the $50K PPC playing against the best in the world. What was that experience like?
Pretty surreal to be honest, and actually pretty hard to define in the moment, but looking back I really felt like a small fish in a big pond. I have accrued a lot mixed game poker experience over the years, but nothing could have prepared for being at the final table of the $50K 9-game tournament, competing vs the best in the world. Truly indescribable, but also a pinnacle moment that you work throughout your career to try and reach!
Esther during the 3-handed of the 2025 PPC / Photo: Alicia Skillman
Days later you achieved your best result in the WSOP Main Event, finishing 152nd. How did the deep run feel?
Maybe even better than the $50K if I’m being honest LOL! Only because this was my 10th time playing the WSOP Main Event, and I’ve never ever gotten any traction in that tournament, so to break through and finally make a deep run was just felt not only a huge relief, but validation that I’ve been looking for across two decades.
You finished the year with final tables in Austin and Las Vegas. What was missing for you to take home a championship trophy in 2025?
I focus primarily on the things I have control over, and the elements that I have no control over I do not waste energy on, therefore I am very realistic on being results-oriented. YES, I want to WIN, but I have always and will say how hard tournaments are and how many things have to go right to win. I can only work on making BETTER decisions and put myself in a good position to have a chance to win. That’s what I will continue to do until I win the trophy.
With your latest results, you’ve climbed to 19th place on the Women’s All Time Money List. Are you motivated to try and reach the Top 10, or is that not something that interests you?
While I appreciate the accolade, I don’t give too much stock in these “rankings”. There are a ton of PHENOMENAL women poker players that their data isn’t collected, maybe they are part time players raising a family, etc. I have never been a full time player. I identify with those that have many other things going on in their lives, and these rankings aren’t a true representation of ALL women who play poker.
How did you first become interested in poker and the world of tournaments?
I had a wonderful and fulfilling job in wealth management when I was introduced to poker through a friend. I had zero knowledge of the industry whatsoever, other than what you see on TV where someone makes a “royal flush”. I come from a very competitive and athletic background, so I was immediately HOOKED.
Your first cash was in the WSOP Ladies event way back in 2006. What do you remember about that tournament?
I just remember walking into the Rio, with my only experience playing online, very small local tournaments, and home game sit & gos. I was overwhelmed, star struck and intrigued.
In 2007 you won your first tournament in Pendleton, Oregon. Do you remember what that felt like at the time?
I just remember feeling “what just happened” haha!
In 2009 you finished second in a $5K WSOP Circuit event, just shy of the ring, and achieved your first six-figure result. Did that motivate you to play more live poker?
Yes, definitely. I think that was a turning point where I thought to myself, “I can get here. I can put myself I position to win.”
You reached your first WPT final table in 2015. What was it like for you to be in front of the cameras for the first time?
I had just come off a five-year break from poker to raise my daughter, and I was fortunate to find a successful run right away a major WPT event in my backyard at Borgata. It was a thrill and I was proud to prove that you can be a mom, have a life outside poker, and still find a path that is successful.
At the 2016 WSOP you finished 4th, 10th, 11th, and 32nd in mixed games events. Were you already comfortable playing those formats at that time?
If I had to grade myself looking back, being honest, I was probably a C-level mixed game player. Although, I did have some more experience than others because I was able to learn mixed games online between 2006-2009 before Black Friday shut it all down.
What recommendations would you give to someone who wants to learn mixed games today?
VOLUME. Get as much volume as possible at the lowest stakes possible. Try tournaments that you are comfortable playing. Ask a lot of questions to your friends and colleagues that have more experience than you and absorb it all. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.
At the 2017 WSOP, you finished third in a $25K PLO High Roller, facing tough opponents at the final table. Was that your biggest challenge as a player up to that point?
Absolutely, that was my first year getting into PLO, and while I got very lucky to be there, once it came down to the final table, I was just absolutely under experienced and completely outclassed.
You came within a hair’s breadth of winning a bracelet in 2022, finishing second. Do you think you’ll eventually win one? How do you mentally deal with tournament variance?
I’ll relive that tournament the rest of my life, and the detrimental mistake I made heads up. I will tell you right now, if you can’t find a way to remove the result of a flip of a card in a high equity spot emotionally, you are not cut out for this industry. That’s what I’ve tried to do. I go in to each tournament with confidence, the focus on making the best possible decisions, maintaining what’s in my control and then everything that happens from there I am at peace with win or lose.
Esther during the final table at the 2022 WSOP / Photo: Spenser Sembrat
You mentioned in an interview that you’ve never read a poker book. How do you study or try to improve your poker game?
I don’t study books or charts, but I absolutely study my opponents, patterns at the table; I pay attention. My homework is done the first hour at any new table. You are going to be put in many high pressure/equity spots where no book or chart can save you and you have to go off intuitive experience and gut.
What’s the best thing poker has given you?
Freedom, experience, adrenaline and competitive fix, life changing relationships and a platform to help others.
What goals and dreams do you have as far as poker is concerned?
I want to leave a positive mark on the industry in any way I can. I have physical goals of trophies, but if people remember me for being unique, genuine, authentic, having fun and helping others, I am 100% OK with that.
E-Tay with her first trophy of 2026
Esther’s latest triumph came in Event #14 H.O.R.S.E. at the 2026 Borgata Winter Poker Open, taking home $15K for the victory. We wish her the best of luck in making 2026 even better than 2025!
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