Barbara Enright: Only Woman in the WSOP Hall of Fame
Okay, here’s a quick pop quiz: In the history of the World Series of Poker (WSOP), there has only been one woman to make it to the final table in the Main Event. Who was it and what year was it?
If you said Tiffany Michelle, that would be a good guess but incorrect. She was the last woman standing in the 2008 Main Event, coming in 17th place.
The correct answer is Barbara Enright, who has a lot of firsts connected to her name, not the least of which is being the first—and to date the only woman ever voted into the WSOP Poker Hall of Fame, inducted in 2007 the same as Poker Brat Phil Hellmuth.
Her fifth-place finish in the 1995 WSOP Main Event was thus far the only time a woman has made the final table. The bracelet that year went to her fellow WSOP HoF member Dan Harrington, who became a member this past year in 2010 along with Team Full Tilt Pro Erik Seidel.
Other ‘firsts’ attached to this trail-blazing female poker player include the first woman to win a WSOP bracelet in 1986 in the Womens Seven-Card Stud event, earning only $16,400 but making history. She then became the first woman to ever win two WSOP bracelets when in 1994 she again took down the Womens Seven-Card Stud event, earning $38,400. Then in 1996 she did it again, but this time became the first woman to ever win an open event, winning the Pot Limit Holdem tourney, earning a respectable $180,000.
She was born May 26, 1939 and raised in Los Angeles, California and began playing five-card draw at the tender age of four. Her love of the cards never left her and although she tried a variety of jobs as an adult, including hairstylist, bartender, and cocktail waitress, it was poker she made the most money at, a familiar face in cardrooms beginning in the latter part of the seventies.
At that time, women poker players were as rare as politicians with ethics, yet she was said to be fearless with a strong passion for tournament play and a top shelf competitor in limit holdem.
Other honors she has received include earning the All Around Best Player Award at the 2000 Legends of Poker tournament for her remarkable eight cashes making six final tables.
She is also a writer, motivational speaker, and editor-in-chief of Woman Poker Player magazine.
She also served as the technical director for National Lampoon’s Strip Poker, appeared on Poker Faces, and Poker Royale: Battle of Ages, along with Evelyn Ng, Erin Ness, Jennifer “Jennicide” Leigh, Dan Harrington, and TJ Cloutier.
Enright has made guest appearances on a variety of TV shows including A Current Affair, Inside Edition, and the Discovery Channel’s show High Roller.
Her total career earnings are in excess of $1,393,064. She makes her home these days in Hollywood, California, living with poker player and fellow author Max Shapiro.
