Hammersmith-born Victoria Coren Mitchell is a journalist, broadcaster and professional poker play. Although probably best known to British audiences as the host of the BBC television quiz show ‘Only Connect’, she also has the distinction of being the first woman to win a European Poker Tour (EPT) event and the first player, of either sex, to win more than one EPT Main Event. Her first EPT win, worth £500,000, came in the EPT Main Event at The Poker Room, London in 2006 and her history-making second win, worth €476,100, came in the EPT Main Event at Casino Sanremo, Sanremo in 2014.
Formerly a member of Team PokerStars Pro – although she left in 2014, following the introduction of casino games on PokerStars.com – has total live earnings of over $2.47 million. However, since the end of 2014, she has just one tournament cash, of just $7,580, to her name. In April, 2018, after her first poker tournament for nearly a year, Coren Mitchell initially tweeted that the newly-introduced shot clock ‘bends too much to the impatience of the iPhone generation’, but later tweeted, ‘I take it all back. Get on with it already!’ Tournament poker aside, Coren Mitchell also plays poker recreationally and is a regular at the Victoria Casino on Edgware Road, London.