The 40th Annual World Series of Poker is only weeks away. Between now and the start of the Main Event BluffMagazine.com will be presenting the 40 Greatest Champions in WSOP history exclusively on WorldSeriesofPoker.com.
Barbara Enright is the only woman to ever make the Main Event Final Table, placing fifth in 1995. Her exit has to be one of the most painful bad beats in Final Table history when her pocket 8’s were drawn out against 6-3 that flopped two pair. The three time bracelet winner has been playing poker since the age of four and playing in card rooms since 1976.
A lifetime player, Enright has a few more firsts to her credit as well. She was the first woman to win two bracelets, and the first to win 3 as well. She was the first woman to win an open field event in the WSOP. She was the first woman to win multiple Ladies’ Championships. She was the first woman to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. She was in the first class of inductees to the Women’s Poker Hall of Fame, and the only person to belong to three different poker halls of fame; the last being the Senior’s Poker Hall of Fame.
Enright’s first two bracelets were in the Ladies’ Championship events in 1986 and 1994. Her third bracelet came in an open event in a 1996 Pot Limit Hold ‘Em event. She has another Main Event cash from 2005 when she finished in 286th place. Enright also won a 2008 WSOP Circuit Ladies event at the Caesar’s Palace Las Vegas stop. She has 11 WSOP cashes and four circuit cashes for more than $400k is tournament earnings.
Enright has contributed to the poker community off the felt as well. She served as Editor-in-Chief for Woman Poker Player Magazine. Enright continues to play poker today and lives in Los Angeles with her partner, noted poker columnist Max Shapiro.