Victoria Coren Mitchell

Childhood

Victoria Elizabeth Coren was born on August 18, 1972, in Hammersmith, West London. She is the only daughter of the renowned humorist and journalist Alan Coren and his wife Anne Kasriel. Growing up in Cricklewood, North West London, alongside her elder brother, journalist Giles Coren, Victoria was raised in a household where her parents had distanced themselves from their Orthodox Jewish upbringing.

Her education took place at prestigious independent girls' schools, including St Paul's Girls' School, where she admittedly felt out of place among her classmates. She later attended St John's College, Oxford, where she read English. Victoria's writing talent emerged early in her life.

At just 14 years old, she had a short story published under a pseudonym in Just Seventeen magazine. During her teenage years, she won a competition in The Daily Telegraph to write a column about teenage life for its "Weekend" section, which marked the beginning of her writing career.

Career

Victoria Coren Mitchell's most significant professional achievements have been in the world of poker. Her accomplishments in this field include:

• First woman to win an event on the European Poker Tour (EPT London 2006)
• First player to win both a televised professional tournament (EPT London 2006) and a televised celebrity tournament (Celebrity Poker Club 2005)
• First player to win two European Poker Tour Main Events (EPT London 2006 and EPT Sanremo 2014)

Her poker journey began with appearances on "Late Night Poker," though she never made it to a series grand final. However, she won the series two grand final of the spin-off "Celebrity Poker Club," defeating Willie Thorne before joining Jesse May as a commentator for series three.

Victoria's breakthrough moment in professional poker came on September 24, 2006, when she won the main event of the European Poker Tour London, earning a prize of £500,000. In November 2011, she finished second in the International Federation of Poker's inaugural The Table World Championship, donating £10,000 of her $100,000 prize to Age UK.

Her second major tournament victory came in April 2014, when she won the main event of the European Poker Tour San Remo, earning €476,100 and making history as the first player to win two EPT titles.

Victoria was formerly a member of Team PokerStars Pro but removed her endorsement in November 2014 due to ethical concerns about the company's decision to start an online casino, citing discomfort with the potential for addiction among vulnerable people.

In recognition of her contributions to the game, Victoria was inducted into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame in 2016.

Personal life

Victoria married actor and comedian David Mitchell in November 2012, after first meeting at a film premiere in 2007 and beginning to date properly three years later. The couple has two children; their first child, a daughter, was born in May 2015, and their second child was born in October 2023.

In public comments about her lifestyle, Victoria has described herself as regularly staying up until 6 am, "Smoking and drinking and gambling," while also enjoying more domestic pursuits like cooking and gardening.

Revenue

As of 2021, Victoria Coren Mitchell's total live tournament winnings exceeded $2,500,000, making her the 14th highest-earning female live poker player of all time. Her largest single tournament wins include:

• £500,000 ($941,513) from winning the EPT London Main Event in 2006
• €476,100 ($658,748) from winning the EPT San Remo Main Event in 2014
• $100,000 from placing second in the IFP Table World Championship in 2011

Her earnings extend beyond poker tournaments to include income from her writing, television presenting, and commentary work.

Interesting facts

Victoria once created an elaborate hoax to expose a group of "serial funeral crashers" after being warned they might target her father's memorial service. She invented a fictional "Sir William Ormerod" and placed a death notice to trap the group.

She writes questions for the quiz show "Only Connect" under the pseudonym "Geri Wiley," a nod to comedian Ronnie Barker's pseudonym "Gerald Wiley." Victoria has openly discussed her fear of flying. In a tragic coincidence, in 2012, she revealed that the therapist who had been helping her address this fear was killed in a plane crash.

Despite her success in the high-stakes world of professional poker, she has maintained a regular career as a writer and television presenter.

Legacy

Victoria Coren Mitchell has left an indelible mark on the poker world as a pioneering female player who broke barriers in what was traditionally a male-dominated field. Her achievement as the first player to win two European Poker Tour titles remains a significant milestone in poker history.

Beyond poker, her long-running tenure as host of "Only Connect" has established her as a beloved television personality in the UK. Her writing, spanning newspaper columns, books, and plays, demonstrates her versatility as a media figure.

Perhaps most notably, Victoria has managed to bridge multiple worlds—gambling, literature, television, and journalism—with remarkable success, defying easy categorization and establishing herself as a unique cultural figure in British media.

Her principled stance regarding her separation from PokerStars over ethical concerns about gambling addiction also highlights her commitment to responsible gambling, adding a dimension of integrity to her legacy in the poker world.