It might be hard to believe, but up until this week, no female had ever won a World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event. That all changed on Monday when Michelle Chin (pictured, image courtesy WSOP) took down the Council Bluffs Main Event for $88,000 and a coveted gold ring.

The native of Taiwan currently living in Kansas told WSOP officials, “It feels really great. This is probably at most the 10th tournament I’ve ever played in my life. It’s just awesome to make history.” The WSOP Circuit started 10 years ago and has had over 160 stops.

She added, “It means a lot to me [to be the Circuit’s first female Main Event champion]. There aren’t too many women in the poker community. We like to see more and more women play because it is a fun game. No matter what sex you are, you should be able to enjoy it. It means a lot to me. I hope I encourage a lot of other girls to come out and play.”

According to WSOP staff, including Chin, there have been 40 female Circuit ring winners in open events. Including Chin, 25 women have made Circuit Main Event final tables, most recently Nancy Nguyen twice earlier this year. This number includes two from South Africa in 2011.

Chin started the final table with the chip lead and remained atop the pack when the tournament had ended in a wire-to-wire performance. Here were the final table results:

1. Michelle Chin – $88,126
2. Mike Lang – $54,468
3. Michael Sanders – $39,642
4. Jesse Wilke – $29,317
5. Greg Jennings – $22,021
6. Michael Jensen – $16,797
7. Tom Moss – $13,007
8. Gregory Beaufait – $10,223
9. Richard Fitzgerald – $8,153

The tournament had 235 entrants in total, spread out over two starting flights. The top 24 players made the money and claimed a piece of the $352,000 prize pool.

Congrats to Chin on making history!

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