Friday, May 10, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
THE girls are back in town.
The top women poker players in the world, that is, who come to play in the annual World Series No Limit Hold 'em Championship and the Mother's Day Women's Seven Card Stud Championship at Binion's.
The World Series of Poker was an exclusively male enclave until 1979 when Barbara Freer entered.
Then in 1986, Wendeen Eolis came along and placed 25th among 141 players.
She placed again in 1993 -- 20th in a field of 220 -- along with Marsha Waggoner, who placed 19th in the main event.
Then in 1994, Barbara Samuelson finished 10th -- one player away from the final table.
And in 1995, Barbara Enright became the first woman in World Series history to make the final table in the $10,000 Buy-In No Limit Hold 'em competition.
She finished fifth and walked away with more than $114,000.
Enright's also the only two-time Women's World Poker Champion. She won the Mother's Day tournament in 1986 and again in 1994.
And she's made history already this year. She's the winner of the World Series Pot Limit Omaha Tournament -- the first woman to do so since 1982 -- earning $180,000.
She was one of three women at the final table, which included Lucy Rokach of Stoke-On-Kent, England who finished third, winning $45,000, the highest finish to date for a foreign woman.
Enright reigns as the all-time top woman money winner at the World Series of Poker with $356,960 under her belt.
She hails from Oceanside, Calif. and is one of the few professionals among women poker players. She said she got an early start at the game.
"I started playing when I was 4. My brother taught me, we played for pennies and matches," she said, adding that as an adult she played for fun until a serious illness changed her life.
"I was a hairstylist, but after I became ill in 1976, I started playing more seriously and after a year I quit my job. Playing poker for a living gave me the freedom to adjust my schedule so I could sleep when I needed to and get my health back. Poker supported me and my son for many years," she said.
Now Enright does hair for fun.
Eolis is a legal consultant and first assistant to New York Gov. George Pataki. She said she got started in the game after a romantic involvement with one of the world's best poker players.
"I became interested in poker because I have card sense. And I use the same skills as in my business. Poker is a series of negotiations. It's a brain game and it's challenging -- but mostly it's a lot of fun," she said.
The vivacious redhead, who's the mother of grown twins and has five grandchildren, also enjoys the people in the world of poker.
"It's a very unique world. Poker players come from all walks of life. They're competent, competitive and extraordinary human beings. I enjoy the diversity between my professional world in New York and the poker world," she said.
And what does New York's Republican governor think about his top aide playing in the World Series of Poker?
"He didn't object," she said.
Linda Johnson publishes Card Player magazine here in Las Vegas, and Catherine Brown owns a home health care business in San Antonio, Texas.
Both are playing in the World Series and recently Brown went skydiving -- just for the challenge.
Johnson's been playing poker in casinos for 20 years.
"My father got me started. When I turned 21, I played blackjack. But he told me if I wanted to win any money I needed to learn to play poker. So I did, and he was right," she said.
Brown started playing poker seriously after her husband died seven years ago. She decided that it would be a good way to socialize.
She described her beginning as "low-limit recreation" until 1993 when she came to the World Series of Poker.
"My husband and I would visit Las Vegas and while he was playing live poker, I'd sometimes enter small tournaments to learn the game. After he died, I entered the Mother's Day tournament. I do love a challenge and I told myself I'm either going to win or I'm out," she said.
She won $67,000.
Brown said that after paying her expenses, she gives most of her winnings away.
"If I win over $60,000 this year, I pay for somebody's house. I promised them," she said, laughing. "That's all part of the fun in this for me."
The women of poker play at social and private card clubs in their home territories as well as in casinos throughout the country.
They said that playing poker has nothing to with gender, except that some men take exception to being beaten by a woman -- especially if anyone's watching.
"But most professionals here in this tournament don't have any problem competing with women," Eolis said, noting that women play canasta, bridge and pinochle.
"It's just a matter of exposure,"she said. "The women who come here distinguish themselves not as women but as poker players."
Some of the women actually take exception to the Mother's Day tournament and refuse to participate.
Like Johnson.
She said that when the women's tournament started in the late '70s and there weren't many women poker players around, it was a vehicle to get them started.
"But it's outlived its usefulness. Women are playing as well or better than their male counterparts and in my view it's demeaning and degrading. I used to play in it and finished in the money three times, but I haven't in 10 years," she said.
"It's condescending," Brown said.
"I don't like the Mother's Day Tournament," said Shari Flanzer, who won the tourney in 1992. "Mother's Day should be spent with the family."
Johnson said another problem with the traditional tournament is that it's held the day before the World Series Championship event, which makes it impossible for women entering the World Series to rest up like the men.
Enright, however, argued that the women's tournament provides an opportunity for women to get started in the world of poker and is looking forward to winning the event for the third time.
The women advise any women flirting with the idea of playing poker to just do it.
They recommend learning the values of the various poker hands and the rules, then start playing in small games and seek out $10 to $20 buy-in tournaments -- which can be found every night of the week in Las Vegas.
"Oh, you'll lose some money in the beginning but that's how you learn," Brown said. "And you should also play with players who are better than you."
Eolis compared the beginning stages to paying tuition for an education and said it's well worth the investment.
As time goes on, women will continue to infiltrate the male-dominated ranks of professional and tournament poker, the women said.
Johnson said women shouldn't be afraid of the game.
"Women should understand that they have now gained full acceptance in poker rooms and will be treated respectfully," she said. "They should get out there and have fun, like we do."
archive
