Barbara Enright: Career, Strategy, and Style of the Professional Poker Player

Among the best poker players, it's hard not to mention Barbara Enright. A true legend of cash tables, Barbara Enright is the first woman to have almost won everything. With an impressive record of 3 WSOP bracelets and her membership in three different Halls of Fame (Hall of Fame, Women’s Hall of Fame, Senior Poker Hall of Fame), she paved the way for today’s female players by breaking the norms of her time and daring to venture as a woman in a world dominated by men.

Let’s take a look at a story filled with thrilling moments, encounters, and decisive turning points that shaped both a remarkable personality and an avant-garde playing style.

Barbara Enright's Journey with Poker

Barbara Enright's career is that of a "Wild Woman" in a man's world. Her story is that of a "heavy rock on a steep hill," as described by Al Moe in one of his books. A fighter who broke the social codes of her time to become a pioneer, pave the way for other women, and win (or almost win) everything before the others. These are the terms that could be used to describe Barbara Enright in a biography!

A Childhood in the 50s

Barbara Enright's story with poker starts when she was very young. At just 4 years old in 1953, she began playing 5 Card Draw with her brother. Older than her, he didn’t go easy on her, and that’s likely what shaped her from a young age to deal with all the emotions encountered at a poker table. At the time, the stakes for both children were minimal, far from the amounts Barbara Enright would win in live tournaments many years later: they bet buttons, pennies, candies, and snacks.

Of course, the social norms of the time were what they were: no one expected a woman to take poker as her passion, let alone as a profession. In her twenties, she worked several jobs to support her son, including as a hairdresser and waitress. Poker remained a hobby at that point and didn’t yet allow her to make a living solely from cards. Things were about to change.

From Early Steps in the Game Room to Her First Significant Victory

The first time Barbara Enright entered a game room was at 26 years old. With this decision, she disrupted the norms and didn’t do it openly: she would drop her son off at school in the morning and make sure to return home before he did. Initially, her winnings were minimal, but by the 1970s, she fully devoted herself to her passion.

Then, in the 1980s, she discovered John Fow's book *Play Poker, Quit Work, and Sleep Till Noon*. This reading changed her perspective, and she ended up winning more at the table than from her combined jobs.

She eventually quit her job as a hairdresser but continued working as a waitress, a job she particularly enjoyed. After winning a small local tournament in Gardena, someone suggested she participate in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in 1986. There, she was directed to the Ladies competition, which at the time was played in Stud. She won the tournament again. This was her first big victory, although it didn’t immediately earn her the title of pioneer, since Starla Brodie had already achieved this distinction in 1979, seven years earlier.

However, winning her first bracelet launched Barbara Enright onto the path that would eventually lead her to the Hall of Fame. She won $16,400, a sum of money that changed her life.

Barbara Enright: A Rock’s Records

For several years, she oscillated between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, where her game gained maturity and aggression. In 1990, she won two high-level tournaments and in 1991, she participated in the Diamond Him Brady and took home two prizes of 45,000 euros, before winning a nearly 50,000 euro prize in 1992 at the same festival.

Her status as a pioneer was finally confirmed in 1994 when she became the first female player to win the WSOP Ladies event a second time, still in Stud. It was a style of play she appreciated and considered to require more strategy, memory, and concentration. Indeed, the absence of community cards leaves less room for chance and more for reflection!

During the very first Legends of Poker event, her meeting with Max Shapiro in 1995 marked another turning point in Barbara Enright’s biography, as he would become her life partner. On the tables, success continued: that same year, she made history by becoming the only woman, still to this day, to reach the final table of the Main Event at the World Series of Poker.

She finished in 5th place, eliminated by Brent Carter, but the die was cast: Barbara Enright entered the Hall of Fame in 2007 alongside Phil Hellmuth, and then became the first woman to join the women’s version when it was created in 2008. A true monolith in the history of poker, she is also a member of the Senior Poker Hall of Fame: in other words, she is the only player present in all three prestigious institutions.

How Much Money Has Barbara Enright Won Playing Poker?

It is a fact: Barbara Enright and her fortune are linked to the world of poker. Barbara Enright’s poker winnings over the course of her life are estimated at more than $1.8 million (exactly $1,863,127). Some of her biggest wins include:

$180,000 at the Pot Limit Hold’em event of the 1996 WSOP
$114,180 for finishing 5th in the 1995 WSOP Main Event
$74,277 for winning 1st place at the 1998 Carnivale of Poker

Barbara Enright's Achievements

Barbara Enright and the WSOP have a long history of victories. As mentioned earlier, as the first woman to win two, Barbara Enright with her WSOP bracelets is a true pioneer. Competitions followed one after another throughout her career, taking her to the highest level: for example, Barbara Enright has participated in the World Poker Tour and Legends of Poker...

Her performances are recognized across many styles of play, and it’s her mastery of Texas Hold'em that opened the door to her 5th place finish in the 1995 WSOP Main Event: it was the title that opened the gates to the immortals’ circle! About ten years too early, however, for Barbara Enright to be crowned WSOP Player of the Year, as this title wasn’t introduced until 2004.

In 2000, however, she was named the best overall player after reaching 6 final tables in various poker variants, including No Limit Hold’em and Limit Hold’em.

As you can see, Barbara Enright’s presence in the poker landscape is undeniable. Beyond her victories, winnings, and titles, she hasn’t just made history in poker but also in History with a capital H by breaking the social codes of her time and daring to venture into paths that were still relatively unexplored. This taste for risk and this forward-thinking mindset make her a memorable figure, now immortalized in the Hall of Fame.

Player Style

How can we summarize Barbara Enright’s playing style in poker? First, by citing her strengths, starting with her remarkable resistance to tilt. The player has always been able to keep a cool head, even in difficult situations at the table. In addition to this self-control, her aggression and bluffing abilities are recognized within the community. For instance, upon winning her third WSOP title, Mike Sexton referred to her as “the most dominant, relentless, and aggressive player on the circuit’s tournaments.”

Barbara Enright herself feels she was ahead of her time in terms of aggression, in comparison to modern playing styles. She gave an interview to Ante Up Magazine in 2009, where she stated that she felt she had invented this way of playing, so much so that some players referred to her as a maniac. Her style of play has evolved, as she herself admitted in this interview that she now plays in a more “conservative” manner than before.

But let’s not be mistaken: it’s this avant-garde aggression that allowed her to make a name for herself in the high-level competitions of the 1990s. More than just a pioneer, she has become a role model for millions of players worldwide.