Ana Marquez on the Main Event Call That Hurt, Solvers and the WSOP Grind

The seventh interview in ACR Poker’s 14-part 2026 WSOP series explores the Spanish pro’s experience of a long Las Vegas summer, her approach to modern strategy and a Main Event decision that stayed with her.

ACR Poker’s 14-part weekly 2026 WSOP interview series continues with Ana Marquez, the Spanish ACR Poker Team Pro who plays online as AnaMarquez. The series gives ACR Pros, ambassadors and poker personalities a chance to revisit the summer in their own words, looking beyond tournament results to the decisions, experiences and lessons that stayed with them.

Marquez grew up in Málaga, Spain, and discovered poker while studying history, with a minor in economics, at American University in Washington, D.C. She eventually made the game the subject of her bachelor’s thesis, examining poker’s history and social development. What began with low-stakes online games led to a professional career spanning major events in Europe and North America.

Her live results include a Hollywood Poker Open championship in Las Vegas in 2013, worth $320,189, and a third-place finish in the 2019 partypoker MILLIONS Vegas Main Event for $445,000. She joined the ACR Poker Team Pro roster in 2022 and has continued competing across live and online tournaments.

That experience gives her an informed view of the World Series of Poker. But what she remembers most from 2026 was not a trophy or a headline result. It was a difficult call near the end of a day in the Main Event. After reviewing the hand, she still believed her decision was reasonable. Emotionally, she had a harder time accepting the outcome.

The same conversation moves from that personal moment into broader questions: why the WSOP demands so much stamina, how its varied player pool rewards adaptability and what solvers can teach players without replacing their judgment at the table.

Why the WSOP Still Feels Different

Marquez has played major tournaments on both sides of the Atlantic, but she does not see the World Series as simply another stop on an international schedule. Its size and history create a different kind of atmosphere, even before a player sits down.

ACR Poker: You’ve played major tournaments in both Europe and North America. What made the 2026 WSOP experience in Las Vegas distinctive?

“Well, the WSOP is unlike any other series because of what it represents. It's the World Series of Poker, so there's a different atmosphere from the moment you walk into the venue. It feels like a marathon where you're competing day after day alongside the best players in the world, all chasing the same dream of winning the Main Event.”

“It also receives a level of mainstream attention that no other poker event does. I mean, Triton is quite cool as well, but the World Series is the World Series. For example, ESPN was covering it this year, so I don't know another tournament that has this attention. And the combination of prestige, endurance and global exposure makes it a truly unique experience.”

— Ana Marquez

The Main Event is central to that atmosphere. It connects players who approach the series from very different places, from seasoned professionals chasing another major title to newcomers making a trip they may have imagined for years. For Marquez, that shared ambition is part of what separates the WSOP from other events.

A Player Pool That Refuses to Stay the Same

The variety is not just cultural. It changes what a player faces from one table to the next. Marquez sees a sharper contrast in Las Vegas between elite regulars, experienced competitors and recreational entrants than she typically encounters at large European events.

ACR Poker: How did the playing styles you encountered compare with those in major European events?

“It's quite different. In Europe, it feels more homogeneous. I think everybody plays a little more similarly. The WSOP has a very diverse pool of people, from the best players in the world and top-ranked players to very good regulars and all kinds of recreational players. So you have a wide variety of players.”

“And I think one of the most valuable skills is adaptability. Being able to adapt to that many different kinds of player profiles is super important.”

— Ana Marquez

Her point is not that one kind of player is inherently easier or harder to beat. It is that applying the same approach to everyone can become a mistake. Reading the table and adjusting to the people actually sitting there remain central skills.

The Marathon Beyond the Felt

A long WSOP schedule tests more than a player’s technical knowledge. For international visitors, it can also mean weeks away from home, unfamiliar routines and the physical cost of repeated full days at the table. Marquez believes some players arrive well prepared for poker but less prepared for everything surrounding it.

ACR Poker: What do international players most often underestimate when planning an extended summer in Las Vegas?

“Well, most people prepare for poker, but they really underestimate the physical and mental demands. Playing for 10, 12, sometimes 13 hours in one day, several days at a time, isn't just about making good decisions at the table.”

“Sleep, nutrition, hydration, recovery and knowing when to take a day off become just as important. If you don't manage your energy well, your decision-making inevitably suffers.”

— Ana Marquez

It is a reminder that performance can deteriorate before a player notices it. The schedule may be built around tournament start times, but recovery has to be planned just as deliberately.

Accepting the Days That Are Not Your Best

That thinking shaped one of Marquez’s most important adjustments during the 2026 series. Rather than expecting herself to operate at maximum intensity every day, she concentrated on staying consistent and recovering from the previous tournament before the next one began.

ACR Poker: What was the most important strategic or personal adjustment you made during the WSOP?

“The biggest adjustment I made this year was accepting that every day doesn't have to be your best day. In a long series, consistency is more valuable than constantly trying to be at 100%. I focused on making solid decisions, managing my emotions after busting out of tournaments and being ready to start fresh the next day. That mindset helped me stay balanced throughout the series.”

“Yeah, I think it's a mistake to try to give 120% every single day. Some days are better than others, and it is how it is in life, so you just have to accept that.”

— Ana Marquez

There is a practical difference between demanding the best possible decision in a hand and demanding that every day feel like a personal peak. Marquez’s answer makes room for fatigue and frustration without accepting careless play. The aim is to keep the quality of the decisions steady, even when the energy level changes.

What Solvers Still Cannot Replace

Marquez’s academic interest in strategy predates the modern availability of solver tools. She learned the game when players had to do much more of their own analytical work to understand difficult spots. Today, players can study sophisticated solutions much more easily, but she sees a gap between having access to an answer and understanding it.

ACR Poker: Your background includes history and economics, along with a strong interest in strategy. How has your analytical approach changed as live poker has become more solver-influenced?

“Solvers have transformed how a lot of people understand poker. Back in the day, we were learning how to think like solvers by ourselves, but now the homework is already done for people, right? People are learning to understand poker through solvers, and this is making people better. In live poker, I think the level has increased.”

“But the game is still played by people, not computers. I think people understand that the solver is the baseline, while the real edge comes from recognizing where opponents deviate from optimal play and adjusting accordingly. It's about combining theory, observation and experience.”

“So even though the level has increased a bit compared to 20 years ago, people still need to put in the work. They still need to understand how the solver works. Even if they have the solutions in front of them, they need to understand why the solver is doing this. And this is a skill that you learn over the years, or that is innate in you. So it increases the level a bit, but it doesn't change things as much as we think.”

— Ana Marquez

For Marquez, technical study and live observation are not competing approaches. Solver work helps define a baseline; experience helps identify when an opponent is likely to do something else. The advantage comes from understanding both, not simply memorizing a recommended play.

The Main Event Call That Stayed With Her

When asked to choose a single memory from the summer, Marquez returned to the hand that ended her Main Event. The disappointment was not simply about being eliminated. It revealed how much emotional weight she still places on the tournament, despite approaching poker decisions analytically for a living.

ACR Poker: What is the one moment you will remember most from the 2026 WSOP?

“The moment I remember the most was actually the hand where I busted out of the Main Event. From a poker perspective, it wasn't a particularly remarkable hand, but emotionally it hit me much harder than I expected. And it made me realize how much importance I have attached to the Main Event over the years. In the end, it's still just another tournament, but it is also a tournament every poker player dreams about, and that makes it feel a bit different.”

“Even though there are many high rollers I dream about winning and many other tournaments, the Main Event is still very painful to bust out of. I wait for it all year. This hand happened at the end of the day, and it was a difficult call that I ended up making. I was wrong this time. It was an okay call to make, but it really hurt.”

“But when I analyzed the hand afterward, it was a completely standard call. Considering the type of player and the ranges he was playing, it was a good call. But I was still so mad, and it took me a while to get over it.”

— Ana Marquez

The distinction is important. Marquez did not describe the call as an obvious mistake. She believed it made sense against the opponent’s likely range. The difficult part was accepting that a defensible decision could still end the tournament she had waited all year to play.

The lesson reaches beyond one hand: reviewing a decision can settle the strategic question without immediately settling the emotional one.

Even the Main Event Is Another Tournament

The last answer of the conversation is only a sentence long, but it brings the interview back to the tension running through her Main Event story: the importance of the tournament and the need to keep it in perspective.

ACR Poker: Complete this sentence: “My 2026 WSOP taught me that…”

“My 2026 WSOP taught me to remember that even the Main Event is still just another tournament.”

— Ana Marquez

That does not mean the Main Event should stop mattering. Marquez is candid about how much she wants to succeed there. It means separating the size of the occasion from the quality of any one poker decision, and not allowing one result to define the whole summer.