In June 2005, World Poker Exchange commissioned KRC Research to conduct a Poker Player Habits and Attitudes survey. Results indicated that 82% of women were playing as often as men; however women were more interested in the social and fun aspects of the game than men. In Canada, despite playing the same number of times each month; registered women participants in tournaments were less than 2%.

Although world renowned female players such as Barbara Enright, who is the only woman to date to make the final table at the 1995 WSOP and Lucy Rokach, who gave a great fight in the WSOP $10, 000 no limit hold’em main event in 1996 and 2004, have been challenging even the best of male players for the last decade, there hasn’t been a significant growth in female poker tournament players around the world, however, women continue to be a new market for tournament organizers, making female poker players an exciting group to cater to.

The World Series of Poker certainly understands this untapped market. Their “Ladies Only” Event breaks attendance records each year, with 2007 as no exception. In fact, according to Nolan Dalla, head of media relations for the World Series of Poker, The WSOP Ladies Event in 2007 was the “biggest, baddest estrogen-fueled poker tournament in the history of the world, ever”. What’s even more unique, and recognizing the interests of their female players, the first place winner receives a spa makeover at the Rio and courtside seats to a WNBA Sparks game, on top of the sweet cash prize of $262, 077. Other WSOP events consist predominantly of male players, a staggering 85-90%, and there are those that view the additional prizing in the Ladies Event to be patronizing. That aside, the WSOP are only reflecting their understanding that female players are unique in their interests in poker and unique in their reasons they play the game.

Today, in any given tournament, female players are making their mark on tournament felts across North America. The marketability of female pros is two fold if you’re a player like Liz Lieu or Evelyn Ng, where their skill and esthetics make for a killer combination. Celebrity females like Shannon Elizabeth and Jennifer Tilly are consistently coming into the money but are also adding to the whole marketability and attraction of this game to females, in tournament play. With their looks and skill these female pros have been giving the males a run for their money, both in the game and in the mass media.

Certainly there’s more venue for exposure when it comes to being a poker pro these days. With televised games on shows like Poker After Dark and the made-for-TV NBC Heads-Up Championships, the exposure to the mass public is greater than ever. Can you imagine what kind of International fame a player like Johnny Chan could have had by now if poker was a national phenomenon when he was collecting his early WSOP bracelets? But then again.. would Johnny do as well back then if he had the on-liners to contend with, as he so fiercely does today? Not that I’m declaring the Orient Express is not of legend status. That he certainly is. BUT if the internet was around when Johnny was making his early mark, as a young kid on the Vegas strip, his skills would have made him more popular than Paris Hilton. He’s told me himself that some of the kids that challenge him on the tournament floor have played more hands in an all nighter on-line than he used to play in a month…. back in the day.

My point about mass media around poker, in relation to female players is this: when male players, like Johnny Chan, Brad “Yukon” Booth and Phil Hellmuth, are pushing energy drinks and poker how-to books as subsidiary endorsements, female players are much more limitless in the kinds of merchandise and marketable items they can endorse. They’re not just a pretty face on the felts anymore. Certainly Shannon Elizabeth’s big score in this year’s NBC Head’s-Up Championships for 125K made her more memorable than any flic she’s been in recently.

Most recently, and closer to home, British Columbia had a female poker pro at the first Johnny Chan Classic at the River Rock Casino Resort. Lacey Jones was a guest pro of Johnny’s at his tournament and played close to the money at the final event, not to mention out ranking all but one of the other male pros in the tournament, including Johnny himself. Gavin Smith was the only guest pro that came into the money at the final event, coming 15^th in that tournament.

Back: Gavin Smith, Danny Chang, Johny Chan, Brad “Yukon” Booth

Front: Me, Lacey Jones, Angela Koulyaras

Lacey is a regular face in the cash rooms and tournaments in Las Vegas, where she makes a career of playing professional poker and modeling. If you saw her in pictures there would be no doubt that you’d think she was stunning, but if you’re lucky to meet her, she’s the whole package in person. Not only does she have skills in the game but, and this is why I love her so much, she’s a dream to promote to media. Her looks, her know-how of the game, and her eloquence on camera make her a triple threat. It’s an easy sell and a win-win for the game of poker. It was genius of the 2007 WSOPs to bring Lacey on as their host of their exit interviews. When you come second at a WSOP event, the last thing you want is to be asked a series of irrelevant questions. Lacey gets right to the meat of the interview, playing out hands from the match, proving she’s not just a pretty face on the side. Having said that… no one is complaining she’s not too shabby to look at, which seems to be the icing on her cake. She certainly leaves a lasting impression.

Will there be a time when the women equal the men on the tournament floors? There is certainly no indication that the game of poker is losing its appeal in the mass market. With the likes of female players such as Jennifer Harman, who has two WSOP bracelets under her belt, Annie Duke, who won a golden $2 million dollar prize at the 2004 WSOP Tournament of Champions, and Kathy Liebert, the first female to win $1 million in tournament poker four years ago, to set the bar, there’s no doubt there will be a lot more fresh new female players inspired to go all-in in tournament poker.