Kelly Minkin: Poker Results & Memorable Hands

Kelly Minkin’s deep runs in the WSOP Main Event have earned her the title of “last woman standing” twice in the world’s biggest poker tournament. Minkin’s poker accolades include more than $1.5 million in cashes, regular appearances on poker television, and popular Instagram and Twitter accounts.

Minkin’s success reaches far beyond the poker table. The Wisconsin native holds a Juris Doctorate degree and works as a medical malpractice lawyer, as well as a poker advocate attorney for the VerStandig Law Firm.

Let’s take a look at Minkin’s life, success, and memorable poker hands:

Kelly Minkin’s Tournament Results and Biggest Cashes

As of November 2020, Kelly Minkin’s career poker tournament earnings total $1,519,604. Minkin’s five biggest tournament scores include:

1. 2015 WPT Lucky Hearts $3,500 No-Limit Hold’em (3rd – $262,912)
2. 2015 World Series of Poker $10,000 Main Event (29th – $211,821)
3. 2018 World Series of Poker $10,000 Main Event (50th – $156,265)
4. 2013 Arizona State Poker Championship $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em (2nd – $151,983)
5. 2018 WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble Main Event (3rd – $146,973)

Check out Minkin’s entire resume of tournament cashes on her Hendon Mob page.

Kelly Minkin’s Memorable Hands

The following hand on Live at the Bike starts with the commentators hoping for some kind of crazy hand involving Minkin. They get their wish right away, with Minkin and LATB regular Antwan mixing it up in a $5/$10 cash game hand:

Antwan opens to $50 from early position with Q♦ T♦ and Minkin flat calls with K♣ K♦ in the hijack. The cutoff player calls and three players go to the flop.

That flop comes out K♥ J♥ A♦, giving Minkin middle set but bringing in a superior broadway straight for Antwan. Antwan bets $75 into the $165 pot, Minkin just calls, and the cutoff player gets out of the way.

The turn comes the 8♥, completing the heart flush draw from the flop. Antwan puts in a two-thirds pot bet for $200, Minkin raises to $550, and Antwan makes the call. 

The river falls a brick, with the 3♣ hitting the board. Antwan checks, and Minkin bets $1,100. Antwan goes deep into the tank, eventually folding the better hand. Minkin’s set of kings actually ends up functioning as a bluff in this hand, which might not have been what Minkin intended.

Our next hand featuring Minkin comes from a Halloween Special episode of Friday Night Poker on PokerGO. The blinds are $5/$10 in this cash game, with a $20 straddle. Joey Ingram takes us through the action on this hand (starts at 2:12):

The seven-deuce rule is on in this game, and any player winning a hand with the worst starting hand in Texas Hold’em earns a $100 extra payout from each player. Justin Young raises to $70 from the button, Bryan Piccioli calls in the small blind, and Minkin three-bets to $310 with 7♦ 2♣ from the big blind.

Young four-bets to $1,200, and Minkin makes the call. The flop comes A♣ 4♠ K♥, bringing no help for Minkin and giving Young a pair of aces. Both players check, and the turn comes 7♠.

Now with third pair, Minkin bets $1,600, Young min-raises to $3,200, and Minkin makes the call. The river comes 7♥, with Minkin finding runner-runner backdoor trips to secure the winning hand.

Minkin checks, Young goes all in for $7,185, and Minkin goes into a mini-slowroll before making the call. Minkin collects the $23k pot and an extra $500 from her tablemates.

Kelly Minkin Instagram and Personal Life

Minkin uses the nickname “The_Illest” for both her Twitter and Instagram social media accounts. The Kelly Minkin Instagram page features a mix of photos from Minkin’s poker travels and her life away from the table.

Minkin is one of the more popular follows from the poker community, with 26,000 followers on Instagram and another 17,000 on Twitter. She’s also known as “Machine Gun Kelly” among her poker peers.

Born in Wisconsin, Minkin’s family moved to Arizona when she was eight years old. Minkin earned undergraduate degrees in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Arizona.

She then moved on to law school at Arizona Summit Law School in 2014. Minkin is a licensed attorney in Arizona and also works with the VerStandig Law Firm, an outlet specializing in poker and gaming clientele.

Last Woman Standing at the WSOP Main Event

Kelly Minkin holds the distinction of “last woman standing” at the World Series of Poker Main Event on two separate occasions. In both 2015 and 2018, Minkin was the last female player eliminated from the Main Event,

Those two finishes stand as two of Minkin’s top-five career cashes. Minkin’s Hendon Mob database shows a total of five tournament cashes for six-figure totals, including wins at the L.A. Poker Classic and World Poker Tour bestbet series.