Victoria Coren Mitchell: Two-Time EPT Champion and Poker Trailblazer
POKER HALL OF FAME
Inducted 2014
Victoria Coren Mitchell holds a distinctive place in European poker history. The English poker player, writer and broadcaster became the first woman to win a European Poker Tour Main Event in 2006 and, eight years later, became the first player of any gender to win two EPT Main Event titles. Those achievements, combined with more than $2.5 million in recorded live tournament earnings and a career that has connected poker with mainstream British media, have made her one of the most recognizable figures from the EPT's formative era.
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Who Is Victoria Coren Mitchell?
Victoria Coren Mitchell is an English poker player, author, columnist and television presenter from London. Her recorded tournament history on Hendon Mob dates to 2001, although poker has never been her only professional focus.
Coren Mitchell has maintained a substantial writing and broadcasting career alongside poker. St John's College, Oxford, where she studied English Language and Literature, notes that she has presented and commentated on multiple televised poker programs and has hosted the BBC quiz show Only Connect since its launch in 2008. Her poker memoir, For Richer, For Poorer: A Love Affair with Poker, was published in 2009.
Her place in poker history rests most heavily on the European Poker Tour. Coren Mitchell won EPT London in 2006 and EPT Sanremo in 2014, becoming both the first female EPT Main Event champion and the tour's first two-time Main Event winner.
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Early Poker Career and Rise in the British Game
Coren Mitchell emerged from the British poker scene before the international tournament boom transformed the game. Hendon Mob records her first live tournament cash in July 2001, when she finished ninth in a £200 Pot-Limit Hold'em event at the European Poker Championships in London.
Her results grew more substantial over the next several years. She finished second in a £200 Pot-Limit Hold'em event at the 2004 European Poker Championships for £14,910 and became increasingly visible through televised poker as the game expanded across the United Kingdom.
That combination of live competition and television helped establish Coren Mitchell as a recognizable poker personality before her breakthrough on the European Poker Tour.
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Victoria Coren Mitchell Wins EPT London in 2006
Coren Mitchell's defining early achievement came at the 2006 European Poker Tour London Main Event.
The tournament attracted 398 players and generated a £1.393 million prize pool. Coren Mitchell won the event for £500,000, defeating Australian Emad Tahtouh heads-up.
The victory made her the first woman to win an EPT Main Event. Hendon Mob converts the £500,000 prize to $941,513, which remains the largest recorded live tournament cash of her career as of August 26, 2026.
Winning an EPT Main Event was already a major accomplishment during the tour's early years. Coren Mitchell's victory carried additional significance because it established a milestone for women competing on one of poker's most prominent international tours.
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The 2014 EPT Sanremo Victory Makes Poker History
Eight years after winning in London, Coren Mitchell returned to the top of an EPT Main Event field at EPT Sanremo in April 2014.
She entered the final table as the shortest stack but survived to defeat a 556-entry field and collect €476,100. More importantly, the victory made her the first player in European Poker Tour history to win two EPT Main Event titles.
That record did not remain exclusive forever. Other players later joined the group of two-time EPT Main Event champions, but Coren Mitchell was the first to reach the milestone.
The Sanremo win demonstrated more than longevity. Her two championships came in different stages of the tour's development and eight years apart, giving her a unique connection to multiple eras of the EPT.
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Major Poker Accomplishments
Coren Mitchell's tournament résumé is built around several results and milestones with lasting significance:
Two European Poker Tour Main Event titles: EPT London in 2006 and EPT Sanremo in 2014
First woman to win an EPT Main Event
First player to win two EPT Main Event titles
£500,000 first prize at EPT London in 2006
€476,100 first prize at EPT Sanremo in 2014
Winner of the €5,250 heads-up event at the 2012 EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final for €58,900
17th place in a $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event at the 2012 World Series of Poker
Inducted into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2016
Her accomplishments are notable not because of volume alone, but because two of her victories established firsts in European Poker Tour history.
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Career Earnings and Tournament Statistics
As of August 26, 2026, Hendon Mob lists Victoria Coren Mitchell with $2,504,768 in recorded live tournament earnings and a best live cash of $941,513. Live tournament databases change as new results are added, so those figures should be treated as a current snapshot rather than permanent totals.
Her results database contains cashes dating from 2001 through 2022 and includes events in England, Monaco, Italy, the United States and other international poker destinations.
According to the World Series of Poker player database, Coren Mitchell has no WSOP bracelets and no WSOP Circuit rings. CardPlayer records two WSOP cashes totaling $32,573, including her 17th-place finish in the 2012 $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event for $26,414.
Her major-tour résumé is instead centered on the European Poker Tour, where her two Main Event championships remain the signature results of her tournament career. CardPlayer records no World Poker Tour Main Event championship for Coren Mitchell.
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Playing Style and Approach to Poker
Coren Mitchell's own descriptions of poker suggest an adaptable, opponent-focused approach rather than adherence to one rigid style.
During her 2014 EPT Sanremo run, she explained that being short-stacked gave her time to observe unfamiliar opponents and look for the right opportunities instead of immediately forcing action. In other discussions of strategy, she has emphasized adjusting to table conditions, becoming more aggressive when opponents are passive and more patient when a table is already highly aggressive.
Heads-up poker has also been a productive part of her record. Her victory in the 2012 EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final heads-up event provided another significant title outside her two Main Event championships.
Coren Mitchell has also discussed the importance of playing within a comfortable bankroll. That perspective fits a career in which poker has remained one major pursuit among several rather than becoming her sole professional occupation.
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Poker, Writing and Broadcasting
Coren Mitchell's influence reaches beyond tournament results because she has spent much of her career moving between poker and mainstream media.
She has worked as a journalist and columnist, written books and presented television and radio programs. Her poker broadcasting work has included presenting or commentating on Late Night Poker, the Poker Nations Cup, World Poker Tour coverage, EPT programming and other televised poker productions.
St John's College, Oxford, has also noted an unusual connection between her academic background and poker. Coren Mitchell has discussed how studying narrative structure during her English degree influenced elements of her poker strategy.
Her 2009 memoir, For Richer, For Poorer: A Love Affair with Poker, explored her relationship with the game and helped bring poker culture to readers beyond the tournament community.
Coren Mitchell was also formerly associated with PokerStars as a sponsored professional. She ended that relationship in 2014 after the company expanded into online casino games, separating herself from the sponsorship while remaining closely associated with the EPT through her tournament achievements.
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Victoria Coren Mitchell's Impact on Poker
Coren Mitchell's significance in poker comes from a combination of competitive accomplishments and visibility.
Her 2006 EPT London victory broke an important barrier by producing the tour's first female Main Event champion. Her 2014 Sanremo victory then established a record that applied to the entire field: she became the first person to win two EPT Main Events.
Those achievements contributed to her induction into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame in 2016 alongside Debbie Burkhead.
Her media career also gave poker a recognizable representative outside dedicated poker broadcasting. Through newspaper columns, books, television presenting and poker commentary, Coren Mitchell reached audiences who might otherwise have had little exposure to tournament poker.
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Where Is Victoria Coren Mitchell Now?
Coren Mitchell has played a substantially lighter tournament schedule in recent years than during her busiest EPT period.
In a 2022 PokerNews interview at EPT Monte Carlo, she said she was playing considerably less poker while continuing to enjoy occasional major tournaments. Hendon Mob lists her most recent recorded live cash as May 4, 2022, when she finished 54th in an EPT Monte Carlo Second Chance Mystery Bounty event for €3,650.
That database record does not establish that she has stopped playing. PokerNews later listed Coren Mitchell among the confirmed names expected to attend the PokerStars Women's Winter Festival High Roller in London in November 2024.
The available evidence therefore supports describing her as a less-frequent tournament participant, not as a retired poker player. Her standing in the game continues to be defined by accomplishments that remain part of European Poker Tour history.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many EPT titles does Victoria Coren Mitchell have?
Victoria Coren Mitchell has won two European Poker Tour Main Events. She won EPT London in 2006 and EPT Sanremo in 2014.
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Was Victoria Coren Mitchell the first woman to win an EPT Main Event?
Yes. Coren Mitchell became the first woman to win an EPT Main Event when she captured EPT London in 2006 for £500,000.
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Was Victoria Coren Mitchell the first two-time EPT champion?
Yes. Her 2014 victory at EPT Sanremo made her the first player to win two EPT Main Event titles.
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How much has Victoria Coren Mitchell won in live poker tournaments?
Hendon Mob lists Victoria Coren Mitchell with $2,504,768 in recorded live tournament earnings as of August 26, 2026. Tournament earnings totals can change when new results are recorded.
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What is Victoria Coren Mitchell's largest live poker cash?
Hendon Mob lists her largest live cash as $941,513, the database's converted value for her £500,000 victory at EPT London in 2006.
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Does Victoria Coren Mitchell have a WSOP bracelet?
No. The World Series of Poker player database lists Coren Mitchell with zero WSOP bracelets and zero WSOP Circuit rings.
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Is Victoria Coren Mitchell in the Women in Poker Hall of Fame?
Yes. Victoria Coren Mitchell was inducted into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2016.
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Is Victoria Coren Mitchell still playing poker?
Coren Mitchell has played less frequently in recent years. Her latest cash currently recorded by Hendon Mob is from EPT Monte Carlo in May 2022, while PokerNews later listed her among expected participants at a London poker event in November 2024. The available information does not support describing her as retired.