Lucky Dog Poker by Russ Scott

Action Lady players captured the spotlight recently in Las Vegas, including three new inductees to the Women in Poker Hall of Fame and a tournament rookie who won the game's most coveted women's prize.

The newest hall of fame members — June Field, Jan Fisher and Cyndy Violette — and female players everywhere were celebrated at a dinner-dance featuring "ambassador of poker" Mike Sexton as master of ceremonies.

— Field probably is best known as founder of Card Player magazine in 1988. Her poker-playing resume includes a World Series bracelet in the 1982 women's championship event, which back then was decided playing limit seven-card stud.

— Fisher wrote in a column that she was "honored and humbled." Her player stats show three final-table finishes in WSOP ladies events. She also was recognized as co-founder of the Tournament Directors Association and board member of the Poker Players Alliance.

— Violette's poker-star status was built by killing high-limit cash stud games in Atlantic City and racking up 28 World Series tournament cashes through 2008. Her WSOP highlight was a 2004 bracelet in an open seven-stud high-low event. Her career tournament earnings top $1 million.

They join the original four inductees honored last year — three-time bracelet winner Barbara Enright, plus Susie Isaacs, Linda Johnson and Marsha Waggoner.

Enright, by the way, is the only woman to make a main-event final table (fifth in 1995) and win three WSOP events. Twelve of her 85 career cashes have come at the World Series, including one this month playing stud. She's also the lone female in the Poker Hall of Fame, inducted in 2007.

Meanwhile, the music and dancing barely had ended last week at the Golden Nugget when tournament novice Lisa Hamilton began her pursuit of the $195,390 top prize at this year's WSOP ladies championship at the Rio Casino.

Predominantly a medium-limit cash-game player, Hamilton had no track record as a no-limit hold 'em tournament player when she decided to take on the field of 1,060 women.

"I entered at the last minute.

I'm shocked," she told reporters after defeating Lori Bender heads-up. On the final hand, both players flopped a pair of eights, but Hamilton's Q-8 out-kicked Bender's 9-8.

Although entries were down slightly from 2008, the turnout topped 1,000 for the fourth straight year. WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack told the media: "This is a gem of an event for us. More than a thousand women for yet another year in a row have decided that this is where they want to stage their biggest event in the world."

In a late-April media conference call, I asked Pollack what can be done to attract more women to World Series action, especially the main event.

He said the number of women competitors at the WSOP "has grown over the years from 2 percent to 9 percent. And we're always very focused on doing what we can to attract more women to the game. I think we're headed in the right direction. There's always still work to be done."

In sheer numbers, women face daunting odds in their chase for that historic first main-event title. Last year, only 209 of the 6,844 players were women, with Tiffany Michelle the highest finisher (17th).

Yet, Pollack was enthusiastic at the thought of a woman breaking through in the world championship.

"The impact on the game would be terrific," he said. "We think what makes the World Series of Poker so special is that we are infinitely accessible. Anyone can enter. Anyone can win. So, we would love to see a woman win the main event!"

E-mail your poker questions and comments to russ@luckydogpoker.com for use in future columns. To find out more about Russ Scott and read previous LuckyDog Poker columns, visit www.creators.com or www.luckydogpoker.com.

COPYRIGHT 2009 RUSS SCOTT

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