Barbara Enright is an American professional

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

player,

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, and

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of ''Woman Poker Player''

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, and an Ambassador of Poker League of Nations, the world's largest women's poker organization. She has won three bracelets at the

World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker pla ...

and has made it to the US$10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event final table. Enright was the first woman to win an open event at the World Series of Poker and the first woman to win three WSOP bracelets, and is the only female player (as of 2019) to have made it to the final table of the $10,000 buy-in main event.

Early life

Enright began playing poker at home at the age of 4, playing five card draw against her older brother. She started playing in cardrooms in 1976. Enright worked as a

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bartender A bartender (also known as a barkeep, barman, barmaid, or a mixologist) is a person who formulates and serves alcoholic or soft drink beverages behind the bar, usually in a licensed establishment as well as in restaurants and nightclubs, but a ...

, and

cocktail waitress A cocktail waitress is a female server who brings drinks to patrons of drinking establishments such as bars, cocktail lounges, casinos, comedy clubs, jazz clubs, cabarets, and other live music venues. Casinos traditionally dress their cocktail w ...

, often holding down three jobs at once to support her family. Soon she was making more money playing poker part-time than all of her jobs combined so she quit working and started playing poker for a living full-time.

Poker career

Barbara Enright Women in Poker Hall of Fame

Enright is best known as the only woman to have reached the final table of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) US$10,000

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hold'em Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt fac ...

Main Event. She achieved this in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, finishing in 5th place after her pocket eights were outdrawn by a suited 6-3. She also finished

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in the

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Main Event, having qualified through a $10 online

satellite tournament A satellite tournament is either a minor tournament or event on a competitive sporting tour or one of a group of such tournaments that form a series played in the same country or region. Poker A satellite tournament in poker is a qualifying event ...

. Enright was the first woman to win two

WSOP bracelet The World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet is considered the most coveted non-monetary prize a poker player can win. Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP. Even if the victory occurred before 197 ...

s, the first woman to win three bracelets and the first woman to win an open event at the World Series of Poker. On July 6, 2007, Barbara Enright was inducted into the

Poker Hall of Fame The Poker Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional poker in the United States. Founded in Las Vegas, it was created in 1979 by Benny Binion, the owner of the Horseshoe Casino, to preserve the names and legacies of the world's greatest ...

along with

Phil Hellmuth Phillip Jerome Hellmuth Jr. (born July 16, 1964) is an American professional poker player who has won a record sixteen World Series of Poker bracelets. He is the winner of the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the Main Even ...

. She was the first woman to be inducted, followed only by Linda Johnson in 2011 and

Jennifer Harman Jennifer C. Harman (born November 29, 1964) is an American professional poker player. She has won two World Series of Poker bracelets in open events, one of only four women to have done so. Career Harman won her first World Series of Poker brac ...

in 2015. In 2008, Enright was inducted into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame, making her the only poker player to be in all three poker halls of fame including the Senior Poker Hall of Fame, the World Series of Poker Hall of Fame and the Women in Poker Hall of Fame. Enright received the All Around Best Player Award at the 2000 Legends of Poker tournament and was awarded along with her prize money, a new

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for her trophy. She had eight money finishes and six final tables. She was the highest finisher among women in the Tournament of Champions of Poker held at the Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. She finished in 11th place and just missed winning a car by one player. She also took part in the televised poker series Poker Royale: Battle of the Ages. As of 2018, Enright's total live tournament winnings exceed $1,650,000. Her 21 cashes at the WSOP account for over $425,000 of those winnings. Enright is in a relationship with poker player and author Max Shapiro.

World Series Of Poker Bracelets

* First woman to win a bracelet in an open event

Notes

External links

Woman Poker Player magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Enright, Barbara American poker players Female poker players Living people World Series of Poker bracelet winners Super Bowl of Poker event winners People from Los Angeles Year of birth missing (living people) Poker Hall of Fame inductees