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The nominations of the Poker Hall of Fame (HOF) are getting close and it will be interesting to see which ladies will make the cut. There are definitely some very talented female poker players who would love to be in this year’s class and share the honour with some of the best female players of all times including Kathy Liebert, Cyndy Violette and Jennifer Harman.

The top female poker players started being honoured by the Poker Hall of Fame in 2008, when they inducted its first class of Women’s HOF. On that occasion four of the best female poker players were honoured. For their impressive contribution to poker, Susie Isaacs, Marsha Waggoner, Linda Johnson and Barbara Enright deservedly made the cut that year.

In 2010 Jennifer Harman was chosen by HOF as one of the best players in a woman only HOF version. In 2015 she is the HOP inductee.

On that same year, Kathy Liebert and Billie Brown also received the honour. Billie Brown was one of the early innovators of tournaments and promotions in Las Vegas back then.

They were some of the best players, male or female. They showed the world that women can complete with the top male poker players and win. During the poker boom era Harman and Liebert were two of most known poker players. They played at many televised high stakes pokes events at the height of the poker boom era.

HOF Nomination’s Pre-Requisites

On the WIPHOP website all poker fans can vote on the female poker they believe deserve an induction. Voters must take 3 main criteria in consideration when deciding who to choose. First all of players must be 35 years old or older. The second important criterion is that players must have been playing poker for at least 10 years. In addition, voters must take in consideration the impact the player have made on the poker world. Eligible players must have made accomplishments in the industry such as dominating high stakes cash games, winning World Series of Poker bracelets or helping grow the game.

The board of directors are the ones who decide which inductees chosen by poker fans can go through.

In comparison with the Poker Hall of Fame, some of the requirements are different. For example to be eligible for the Poker Hall of Fame players must be at least 40 years old. Also female players are not required to have played at the high stakes level, although it is a plus if that is the case.

Female Poker Players

Current surveys show the percentage of female poker players is relatively low, only 24%. Poker is much more popular with the male fans. This is troublesome if you look at it long term.

At the industry right now, there are many female players who are doing an incredible job, including Maria Ho, Vanessa Selbst, and the newcomer Kelly Minkin. However an increase of the female participation in the industry would be very beneficial for the poker market.

Female players active at the top and associations such as Women in Poker Hall of Fame try to enforce gender equality in the industry, but poker is still far more popular among male players.

The Women in Poker HOF will take place on 5th of July, time and location are yet to be settled.

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