Ema Zajmovic Makes WPT History in Montreal

Over the last few years, there have been multiple close calls for female players on the World Poker Tour. Cate Hall reached three final tables in Season XIV, Esther Taylor opened 2015 with a final table appearance, Kelly Minkin notched a podium finish later that year and financier Lauren Roberts nearly made the televised final table during the WPT Five Diamond Classic at Bellagio to close out that calendar. Prior to this week, the latest close call belonged to Canada’s Ema Zajmovic, who recorded a 5^th place finish in November’s partypoker.net WPT Montreal Main Event.

That tournament was eventually won by the WPT’s Mike Sexton, creating one of the bigger story lines of 2016 but just a few months later, Zajmovic returned to the Playground Poker Club looking for another shot at the WPT Playground Championship belt. This time, she wouldn’t simply record a close call but instead make World Poker Tour history.

Zajmovic won the Season XV partypoker.net WPT Playground Main Event on Tuesday night for C$261,000, outlasting a field of 380 entries to become the first female player to win an open WPT event. There has only been one other female victor on the tour, when Van Nguyen won the WPT Celebrity Invitational in 2008.

For nine years, the poker world has wondered when there was going to be a female WPT Champions Cup winner. Fittingly, on Valentine’s Day, that almost decade old question was answered.

“Honestly, I am really happy that I proved women can do it,” Zajmovic said after the win before adding, “The funniest and nicest part of this experience was all the women who came and were so supportive of me. It was amazing.”

Women weren’t the only ones supporting Zajmovic on Tuesday night, as the WPT’s Mike Sexton praised her play in both partypoker.net WPT Montreal Main Events.

“I have great respect for her,” said the WPT commentator. “This is no fluke, in my opinion. We’re going to be seeing a lot more of her in the future. She is that good.”

Sexton went on to compare Zajmovic to two of the game’s best, saying, “She is a combo of Phil Ivey and Vanessa Selbst.”

Comparisons aside, the world will see more of Zajmovic on the World Poker Tour throughout the rest of Season XV. She is currently sitting fourth on the Hublot WPT Player of the Year leaderboard and the incentive of contending for that honor could see Zajmovic make a push through the second half of the season.

With her victory, she will also play in the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions. The $15,000 buy-in event is only open to past WPT winners, meaning that Zajmovic will, unless another female player visits the winner’s circle between now and April, be the only woman in that field. Ema Zajmovic may not be done making history just yet.