Poker may once have been a man's game, but those times are long gone; more and more women are now playing poker - and winning millions in the process. Here are just a few prime examples of the ever-growing legion of poker heroines:-
Kathy Liebert
Kathy became the first woman ever to win a poker tournament with a buy-in of $5,000 or more and the first woman to win $1,000,000 in tournament poker in 2002.
She has had two second-place finishes at the WSOP and many other final table appearances and won her first WSOP bracelet in 2004 in the $1,500 Hold'em Shootout Event.
Kathy leads the ladies in terms of winnings, with around $4,000,000 at the time of writing.
She has her own website at http://www.kathyliebert.net/.
Annie Duke
Annie initially began playing poker locally to help pay her mortgage; in 1994 her brother, Howard Lederer, suggested she try the WSOP and she repaid the favour by knocking him out of her very first tournament. After winning over $70,000 in her first month of competition, she made the logical decision and moved to Las Vegas to play poker professionally. Since then she has won millions of dollars and a bracelet at the 2004 WSOP $2,000 Omaha Hi-Lo event.
She has her own website at http://www.annieduke.com/.
Isabelle „No Mercy" Mercier
Born in Canada, Isabelle initially worked as a lawyer before moving to Paris, where she worked for four years in the famous poker room Aviation Club de France. She became a professional player in 2004 and has been steadily amassing hundreds of thousands of dollars in winning since then.
Isabelle believes fine-tuned instinct is a powerful female attribute and a handy one for a poker player to have. While the technical and mathematical aspects of the game can be learned by anyone who studies it enough, Isabelle thinks reading people is a harder skill to acquire and that women in general have a delicacy of feeling for others, giving them a greater ability to read their opponents at the table -- "as long as they don't let the men intimidate them."
She has her own website at http://www.isabellemercier.com/.
Cyndy Violette
Cyndy is one of the few professional women players who has been around since long before the poker boom erupted, cashing in her first tournament back in 1984. Many years of success have followed, with the highlight being her victory in the 2004 WSOP Seven Card Stud Hi Lo event. In 2005 she made three final tables at the WSOP and remains one of the most successful women players ever.
She has her own website at http://www.cyndyviolette.com/.
Jennifer Harman
Jennifer's life reads like a Hollywood movie script and it will be no surprise if a movie is eventually made about her.
As a child she learned poker in her father's home games and he often put her in the game when he was losing to help him win money back.
Faking ID to get into games in casinos when she was still under age, battling chronic health problems which culminated in two kidney transplants and learning the game the hard way by going broke by 1993, Jennifer came back to eventually establish herself as one of the world's finest cash game players, one outstanding example of which was winning over $9,000,000 in one day against Andy Beal. Her tournament skills are equally outstanding, having netted her two WSOP bracelets.
Annette Obrestad
By the age of 19 Annette has already won more money at poker than most people ever see in a lifetime. There are plenty of rumours about her: that she started playing online, illegally, when she was only 15; that she has never made a deposit, building up her huge bankroll from an initial $9 freeroll win;
What's not in doubt is her awesome talent - she won the first ever WSOP Europe event in 2007 for a $1,874,700 payday, beating a host of seasoned professionals along the way, and followed that up with a second place finish at the EPT in Dublin just a few weeks later.
Annette is not yet old enough to play in an American casino, but when that time comes expect to see her destroying opponents at the WSOP.
Victoria Coren
Vicky is one of the many successful women players currently revolutionizing the game.
The television presenter, newspaper journalist and author has been a regular on the London scene for a few years and came to global attention by becoming the first woman to win an EPT event, claiming victory at the London tournament in 2006 to win $937,350.
Mimi Tran
Born in Vietnam but now living in the USA, Mimi might possibly be the biggest money-winning female player, but kept a low profile for many years exclusively playing cash games until Barry Greenstein persuaded her to try tournament poker.
In her first fifteen events, she had two seconds, a third, a fourth, a tenth, and an eleventh place finish - all at the World Series of Poker. She has since passed the $1,000,000 winnings mark in tournaments.
Barbara Enright
Barbara holds the distinction of (so far) being the only female player to make it to the final table of the WSOP main event. Her track record included numerous tournament wins, including three WSOP bracelets. Enright. Barbara is also a respected writer, Editor-in-Chief of Woman Poker Player magazine, and a motivational speaker and in 2007 became the first woman to be inducted into the official Poker Hall Of Fame.
Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer is a very well-known actress, having been nominated for an Oscar, but spends more time at the poker table these days after being taught how to play by her boyfriend, professional player Phil Laak.
She became the first celebrity to win a WSOP bracelet, beating 600 players in the 2005 Ladies‘ Event, and followed this up shortly afterwards by beating another sizeable field, including pro Isabelle Mercier, at the WPT Ladies‘ Night event.
