We desperately wanted a woman to win the Main Event – it would have done wonders for the game – but with only 270 female entries in a field of almost 9,000, the numbers didn’t add up. We caught up with Vanessa Rousso, who cashed three times in this year’s WSOP and made a final table in the $5,000 Short-Handed event, to find out what’s going wrong.

PokerPlayer: We really thought this year might see more of a balance between men and women but only three percent of the Main Event were female. Are you disappointed?

Vanessa Rousso: If you look at the WSOP in general, although no ladies won a bracelet, in terms of the numbers playing we’re doing really well.