Continuing our look at the best female poker players, the focus is now on the best up and comers. Again, arguably some of these ladies are already in the top 5 for female players. One of them already is in terms of winnings, at a very young age, another has been tabbed as THE next big thing in poker after winning a tournament without ever looking at her hole cards, and one has one of the most famous main event runs in history. This week is the Ladies Championship at the WSOP and the inductions for Cyndy Violette and others at the Women’s Poker Hall of Fame. In honor of that, here are five women who one day might make it in there too.
5. Tiffany Michelle - She has drawn a lot of wrath for one deep tournament run. A former poker reporter Michelle went deep in the 2008 Main Event and became the story of the event. Her table presence, a battle for sponsorship rights that revealed an ugly formerly behind the scenes side of poker, and her natural good looks made her a lightning rod for criticism and appreciation. It remains to be seen if Michelle can follow up on her success, but unlike many 17th place finishers Michelle will not be forgotten soon.
4. Liv Boeree – Another poker beauty, this one a Brit. Her education includes studying physics and astrophysics. She has an unusual route to poker being discovered on a British reality show where she was coached by lovable Phil Hellmuth. Boeree only has 162k in tournament winnings, but already has more in the money (ITM) finishes at the WSOP than Michelle (2 to 1) and 1 WPT ITM finish. She’s also won a European Ladies Championship in 2008. Her potential is sky high.
3. Vanessa Selbst – You could make the argument Selbst should be number one on this list. Selbst graduated from Yale undergrad and is studying law there too. Already she has 7 cashes at the WSOP. She final tabled her first cash and though she bluffed off all her chips you could tell her aggression and game acumen was second to none. Selbst won a bracelet in the 1.5k Pot Limit Omaha Event in 2008. She has already won almost $800,000.
2. Vanessa Ruosso – Unlike the number 1 player on the list Ruosso is over 21 and has been on fire for the last couple of years. The Duke graduate and law student is a games theory student, wife to Chad Brown, spokesperson for GoDaddy.com, and model in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue (even if it was an ad). Ruosso has 2.1 million in live tournament winnings.
1. Anette Obrestad – Has done very little in live poker. Why? She turns 21 in Septemeber of this year. This Norwegian poker prodigy already has a WSOP bracelet (winning the WSOP-Europe) where under 21 year olds were allowed to complete. Her online texas hold’emwinnings are comparable to anybody. Still, her live winnings are already in excess of 2.5 million (and she’s not allowed in most casinos worldwide). Many think she’s a Tiger Woods of poker and will challenge both male and female records for wins and cashes. She’s already won an online tournament without looking at her hole cards and allegedly got her started playing free rolls, never putting her own money into her bankroll.