Linda Johnson has been called the First Lady of Poker. For seven years she was the publisher of Card Player. Even though she has retired, Linda has been involved in planning World Poker Industry Conferences and the World Players’ Conference. Omaha/8 and Chinese Poker are two of her favorite games. In 1997 she won a gold bracelet at the World Series of Poker.

Barbara Enright placed 5th in the World Series of Poker Main Event in 1995. This was higher than any other woman. In 1996 she won the World Series of Poker pot-limit hold-em tournament. She began playing in card rooms in 1976. She is the only woman to make the final table at the World Series of Poker championship event. Currently she is involved in launching a new women’s poker magazine, Woman Poker Player. The magazine encompasses profiles of professional female players, lifestyle issues such as fashion and wellness, mathematics and strategies of poker, tournament trip reports, tips on playing poker with men, and winning strategies.

Forty eight year old Rose Richie from St. Petersburg, FL was the top female finisher in the $10,000 Championship event of the 2004 World Series of Poker. She placed 98th out of 2,576 entrants and won $20,000 in prize money.

Cyndi Violette was on the women’s show on the World Poker Tour. She began playing poker when she was 22 years old and dealing blackjack and poker at a downtown Las Vegas casino. She was pregnant and almost broke, but was able to get the money to play low limit poker games. In the 1980’s she began playing higher stakes Stud games. She moved to Atlantic City and works only on weekends now. She plays $150/$300 up to $400/$800 where she has 5 figure swings. She spends her time traveling around the world playing in exciting games where she can find them.

Jennifer Harman is a perfectionist when it comes to playing poker. She is a petite woman who uses her size to her advantage. Many times male players think they can bluff her, but are they surprised when she hangs in there to the end. Poker has been her only source of income since she was 21 years old. She began playing in low-limits games and building her bankroll and moving up to playing in $3000/$6000 games. She beat Lyle Berman to win the 2000 World Series of Poker deuce-to-seven no-limit draw title. Amazingly, she had never played the game before the tournament.

Maureen Feduniak, originally from England, and Evelyn Ng are two women who are rising in the ranks of professional poker players.

Women poker players come from all walks of life, not afraid to take chances, love the game, and will do anything for the chance to play.