Melissa Hayden is a professional poker player.
As of 2023, Hayden's live tournament winnings exceed $890,000. Her biggest return to date was at the 2000 World Series of Poker limit Texas hold 'em event, where she finished in second place, winning $142,000. She placed fifth in the WPT Ladies' Night V Tournament at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California, on September 1, 2007. Hayden once beat world champion Stu Ungar in a $5,000 heads-up match in what is believed to have been his final poker game before dying days later.