Gaëlle Baumann: The French Poker Phenom Who Made WSOP History

Gaëlle Baumann is a French poker player who made it to the final table of the WSOP 2012 Main Event. She lives in two places: Malta and London, and has earned over 1,000,000$ in live tournaments.

Baumann has two master's degrees in English literature and linguistics, and written translations. She moved to Perth, Australia, to improve her English and enjoy the beach lifestyle. Baumann started playing poker in 2007 after being invited to a home game by friends. She began playing online poker with a deposit of 100 euros under the nickname O_RLY.

Baumann quickly progressed to multi-table tournaments (MTT) and increased her bankroll to 1,500$. In 2010, she returned to France and continued to play both live and online. She won 22,000$ in online games, earning her a reputation as one of the few female grinders. In early 2012, she signed a contract with Winamax and moved to Malta.

In June 2015, Baumann gave birth to a daughter with fellow poker player Kevin Nollet. In 2011, she debuted in live tournaments, finishing 14th in the ChiliPoker Deepstack Open Main Event and winning 3,000€ (4,405$). In 2012, she participated in three WSOP events, including the Main Event, where she finished 10th and won 590,442$. Baumann has three additional ITM finishes at WSOP and five at the European Poker Tour.