Biography of Barbara Enright

Barbara Enright, is a legend among poker players.  She is the quintessence of a woman who championed her way into a once-dominated field of masculinity, and gained respect and a wide array of elite accomplishments along the way.

She began playing poker when she was a mere four years old.  She used to play five card draw with her older brother, and when he would win, she would cry. Barbara has come a long way since that time and holds the record of many firsts for women in poker. 

She is the only female to date that has ever made the final table at the World Series of Poker championship event, when she came in fifth in 1995.  She is also the only woman to ever win an all around best player award, when she won that title at in the Legends of Poker in 2000, and she is the first woman to ever win a championship in a World Series of Poker major open event when she won the Pot Limit Hold’em event in 1996.

Barbara has three World Series of Poker championship bracelets among her long list of poker achievements and awards. 

In 1976, Barbara was diagnosed of having Lupus, a disease that affects the immune system, but her energy and spontaneity is that of a teenager, and her disease is not something that many are aware of.  In 2005, Barbara beat out 95 percent of the field in the World Series of Poker main event.  She won her way into the 10,000 buyin through a $10 online satellite, and won over 24 thousand dollars.

She recently was the technical director for National Lampoon’s Strip Poker, can be seen in an upcoming production called “Poker Faces, “ and will be featured on GSN”s Poker Royale: Battle of Ages.

She has been a tournament host, and has appeared as a guest on “A Current Affair,” “Inside Edition,” and a discovery channel’s “High Roller.”

Barbara is also an accomplished writer, and a motivational speaker.  She is the editor-in-chief of Woman Poker Player magazine, and is well known for her humorous anecdotes, and leading women to be more assertive both on the felt, and in life.