Women in Poker Hall of Fame Inducts Inaugural Honorees

The Women in Poker Hall of Fame inducted its first four members February 2nd at the historic site of the first World Series of Poker, Binion's Casino in Downtown Las Vegas. Recognized for their excellence, performance and contributions to poker, Barbara Enright, Susie Isaacs, Linda Johnson and Marsha Waggoner became the inaugural honorees of the new Hall of Fame.

World Poker Tour commentator Mike Sexton acted as master of ceremonies for the prestigious induction, which opened with a colorful slide presentation featuring the careers of each inductee. "Years from now," Sexton proclaimed in opening the impressive ceremony, "the names of these four women will be a trivia question on a quiz show."

Jan Fisher, keynote speaker, passed out kudos to each of the inductees, and also gave credit to Lupe Soto, who envisioned and organized the affair, and Gyla Whitlow, who produced it. Suzanne Carter, marketing director of Ocean's 11 casino; Maureen Feduniak, prominent tournament player; attorney Allyn Shulman, proponent of poker players' rights; and Karina Jett, columnist and well-known tournament player, introduced the four inductees to the packed audience of poker dignitaries.

Other women at the podium included Dianna Donofrio, Margie Heintz, and Lupe Soto, all of whom reviewed the diverse roles of women in poker in the past. Jacqueline Britton outlined the work of Breast Cancer Angels, and thanked the Hall of Fame committee for its donation to the charity.

The Women in Poker Hall of Fame, founded by LIPS (Ladies International Poker Series), was sponsored by Card Player magazine. Ocean's 11 Casino and WPT Boot Camp supported the ceremony as Gold sponsors. Others supporting the Hall of Fame by donating door prizes included Joker Gaming LLC, Framing Studio LV, Venetian Casino, Binion's Casino, Palm Imports LLC, Club UBT.com, PokerSchoolOnline.com, GreasieWheels.com, and Wildhorse Casino. The grand prize for the free door-prize drawing was an entry into a future WPT Boot Camp.

Prominent poker industry leaders, managers, and journalists in the star-studded audience to honor Enright, Isaacs, Johnson and Waggoner included Card Player publisher Barry Shulman, industry leaders Bob Feduniak, Susan Albrecht, Jack McClelland, Matt Savage, David Lamb, Donna Harris, Doug Dalton, Janice and Tom Sexton, and Lisa and Mark Tenner, as well as journalists Nolan Dalla, Max Shapiro, Larry Grossman and Dana Smith. Also attending the festivities were poker champions and personalities Tom McEvoy, Kenna James, Phyllis and Milt Meyers, Mary Jones, George Marlowe, Earl Kim, Mel Judah, Ron McMillan, Freddy Deeb, Kathy Liebert, Chip Jett, Russ Hamiltion and Jim Ward.

A recap of the introductory comments of each presenter and the acceptance speeches of the honorees appears in the commentary feature accompanying this news article. For more information on the Hall of Fame and its four inaugural inductees, visit www.WomensPokerHallofFame.com.

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