By Alex Drummond, Editor-in-Chief · April 15, 2026 · Fact-checked by Maya Chen
Kristen Foxen, the most accomplished female tournament poker player in history, has reached the final table of Event #4 at the 2026 U.S. Poker Open, sitting third in chips with 1,315,000 and $198,000 awaiting the winner. The Canadian, who just three weeks ago banked a career-best $1,449,000 at the Triton Super High Roller Series in Jeju, South Korea, is once again positioned among the best players in the world at poker's highest stakes.
The five remaining players will return to MGM National Harbor on Wednesday for the conclusion of the $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em event, which drew 66 entries and generated a prize pool of $660,000. Foxen's 44 big blinds give her a workable stack, though she trails chip leader Jeremy Ausmus, who bagged a commanding 4,060,000, roughly half the chips in play.
The Final Table Field
Foxen's opposition at this final table reads like a shortlist of the game's elite. Ausmus, a three-time WSOP bracelet winner with more than $20 million in career earnings, dominated Tuesday's action, eliminating five players over the course of the day to bag nearly half the total chips. Sam Soverel, a two-time U.S. Poker Open series champion sitting second with 1,905,000, adds another layer of difficulty. Brock Wilson, who won Event #1 of this year's series for $120,900 just five days ago, returns with 765,000 and has shown no signs of slowing down.
| Seat | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Jeremy Ausmus | United States | 4,060,000 | 135 |
| 5 | Sam Soverel | United States | 1,905,000 | 64 |
| 3 | Kristen Foxen | Canada | 1,315,000 | 44 |
| 2 | Brock Wilson | United States | 765,000 | 26 |
| 1 | Michael Rossitto | United States | 210,000 | 7 |
Michael Rossitto, the short stack with just seven big blinds, faces the most precarious situation. Among those eliminated during Tuesday's session were statistician and author Nate Silver, who finished seventh for $26,400, and Cherish Andrews, who had won Event #3 earlier the same day for $117,407 before falling to Soverel in eighth.
A 2026 Season for the Record Books
Foxen's appearance at this final table caps a stretch of results that, even by her standards, is extraordinary. At the Triton Super High Roller Series in Jeju last month, she finished fourth in the $100,000 Main Event for $1,449,000, the largest single payday of her career. That result alone placed her among the highest-earning women in poker history for a single event, falling just short of the all-time record held by Vanessa Selbst.
The Triton final table also produced one of the year's most discussed hands: facing a series of raises and a four-bet jam with nine players remaining, Foxen folded pocket kings preflop in what she and analysts identified as a mathematically sound ICM decision. The fold, which was later validated by solvers, was voted Triton's play of the day by viewers, even though a king fell on the turn. She recovered from the setback to climb from sixth in chips to a fourth-place finish worth nearly $1.5 million.
Before Jeju, Foxen had already established herself as the player to watch on the PokerGO Tour. She won Event #1 of the 2025 U.S. Poker Open for $158,025, a title she could effectively defend with a strong showing this week. In February 2025, she took down PokerGO Cup Event #7 for $348,300, entering the final table as the shortest stack and defeating Patrick Leonard heads up. Those results pushed her career earnings past $16.7 million, according to CardPlayer, making her the all-time leading female tournament earner by a wide margin.
The Canadian Connection
Foxen, who was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick, has been one of the most visible Canadian players on the international circuit for the better part of a decade. Her five WSOP bracelets, earned between 2013 and 2024, place her alongside Daniel Negreanu and Jonathan Duhamel in the upper tier of Canadian bracelet holders. She has cashed 92 times at the World Series alone, accumulating more than $3.5 million from that event series.
Her prominence matters for the Canadian poker ecosystem at a time when Ontario's regulated market is working to establish its competitive identity. Players physically located in Ontario who use GGPoker, the province's largest regulated room, can follow Foxen's results through the platform's ambassador program and PokerGO Tour coverage. The 2026 WSOP, which runs May 26 through July 15 at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, will offer another stage for Canadian players, with GGPoker Ontario running satellite qualifiers from as low as C$1.
Her husband, Alex Foxen, was also competing in Event #4 but was eliminated by Ausmus during Tuesday's session. Alex, who has 15 career U.S. Poker Open cashes, tied for third most in the event's history, and the couple remain two of the most recognizable names in tournament poker worldwide.
What to Watch on Wednesday
The five players return with 24 minutes remaining on Level 16, blinds at 15,000/30,000 with a 30,000 big blind ante. The minimum payout is $49,500 for fifth place, rising to $66,000 for fourth, $89,100 for third, $128,700 for second, and $198,000 for first.
For Foxen, the structure of the remaining field presents both challenges and opportunities. Ausmus's dominant chip position gives him leverage over the entire table, but Foxen's deep tournament experience, particularly in ICM-heavy spots, makes her a formidable opponent when pay jumps are significant. Her willingness to make disciplined laydowns, as demonstrated at Triton, combined with her aggressive three-betting range, has been the hallmark of a player who consistently converts deep runs into top-three finishes.
The U.S. Poker Open continues through April 25 at MGM National Harbor, with events ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 in buy-in. Foxen's participation across multiple events could position her for a run at the overall series championship and the Golden Eagle trophy, awarded to the series points leader.