Editor
The 2025 US Poker Open began with a familiar face winning another title as Kristen Foxen won the first event, a $5,100 buy-in event for a grand prize of $158,025.
Foxen won the 129-entry event over two days, becoming her third PokerGo Tour title of 2025. She also won an event in the PokerGO Cup in February and one in the PGT kickoff series in January.
This significant cash is only her fourth largest of the year, as she has had a very solid 2025 thus far, accumulating $1,113,650 in eleven cashes through the first three months of the year. That has been a nice boost to career total earnings, which now sit just short of $10 million, a milestone only achieved by one other woman in history: Vanessa Selbst.
The path to this title included a heads-up win over Ping Liu after overcoming notable names at the final table, such as Francis Anderson, David Peters, and Justin Saliba.
GPI Player of Year Race
Foxen is the front-runner for the 2025 GPI Female Player of the Year with 3,255.78 points, leading defending champion Cherish Andrews, who sits in second place with $3,043.27 points. Andrews will put up a stiff challenge as she recently achieved the largest cash of her career. As of early April, these two women, the titans of Texas Hold’em, are well out before any other challengers.
However, Foxen likely has her sights set even higher, as she currently is #14 in the overall GPI Player of the Year rankings. Over the next week, she will have plenty more chances for more points and money with eight events in the US Poker Open.
