Barbara Enright is an American professional poker player. At the age of 4, playing five card draw against her older brother at home, she used to beat him all the times. In years Barbara had a few jobs before starting playing poker professionally such as hairstylist, bartender and cocktail waitress. She often worked at three places during the day and the night to support her family but soon she realized that she earned more money playing poker part time than holding down three jobs all day. Because of that reason she started playing poker full time.
So she started playing professionally and won her first bracelet at the World Series of Poker in the Women’s 7-Card Stud event in 1986 earning a prize that exceeded $16,400. She won the Ladies 7-Card Stud event again in 1994 and that made her the first woman who had won this event twice. However, what made Barbara Enright really famous is that she is the only woman who had finished the final table of the World Series of Poker $10.000 No Limit Hold’em main event. That happened in 1995, when she placed 5th, after Brent Carter decided to call her all-in bet and she was outdrawn by a suited 6-3. In 1996, one of her luckiest year, Barbara Enright was the first woman who had won three WSOP bracelets and the first woman who had won an open event at the WSOP. In the next years she had other winnings at major events such as the Legends of Poker, the Hollywood Park Poker Derby and the Diamond Jim Brady tournament.
Barbara Enright won the best all-around player at the 2000 Legends of Poker tournament because she made six final tables and eight money finishes in different games, so she went home with a new car. In 2007 Barbara Enright was the first woman to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. She was also one of the 12 players who have taken part in the television show Poker Royale: Battle of the Ages. She participated in the show along with TJ Cloutier, Dan Harrington, Erin Ness and others.
The greatest ambition of Barbara Enright is to travel all over the world for a year and to win millions of dollars which she will help poor people with. When she has a spare time she likes going to the theatre, listening to music, watching movies and reading. Her favorite places are Vienna, Barcelona, New Orleans and New York.
To this moment, Barbara Enright works as a motivational speaker and Editor-in-Chief of Woman Poker Player magazine. She is married to the poker player and card player Magazine humor columnist, Max Shapiro. They are living in Los Angeles from where Barbara Enright plays poker online nowadays, because she enjoys relaxing at home. However, she does most of her big scores live. As of 2008, her total live tournament earnings exceed $1,275,000.
