On Friday, June 5th, the Women in Poker Hall of Fame will grow a little bigger. June Field, Jan Fisher, and Cyndy Violette will join an esteemed class of poker pros that already includes Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Linda Johnson, Marsha Waggoner, Susie Isaacs, and Barbara Enright.
On the three newest inductees, Johnson told Poker News Daily, “The 2009 inductees into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame are each very worthy of this honor. June Field inspired me as a publisher, Cyndy Violette inspired me as a player, and Jan Fisher inspired me as an industry leader.” The trio will be honored at a special dinner and dancing celebration at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas that will benefit the charity Poker Gives.
June Field is the founder of CardPlayer magazine, which today has grown into one of the largest poker publications in the world. She is also the founder of CardPlayer Cruises and Classic Poker Cruises. Later in her career, she launched Poker Digest, which merged with Casino Player magazine. On starting up CardPlayer, Field commented in a press release distributed by the Women in Poker Hall of Fame, “I wanted a media vehicle that would be a reliable source for advertisers and readers alike. One they could turn to and find out what’s happening, where it’s happening, and who is making it happen.” On the poker felts, Field won a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet in 1982 in a $500 buy-in Limit Seven Card Stud tournament for $16,000. Johnson was also at the final table of that tournament and took fourth.
Jan Fisher co-founded the Tournament Directors’ Association (TDA) with Johnson, Matt Savage, and David Lamb. She is currently a partner in CardPlayer Cruises and authors the column “Fishing Around” for Poker Player Magazine. Fisher is extremely active in the poker community and sits on the Board of Directors of the Poker Players Alliance (the poker industry’s main lobbying arm), Ladies Poker Association, and Ladies International Poker Series (LIPS). She gained notoriety by serving as the in-house statistician during the first six seasons of the World Poker Tour.
Cyndy Violette is a Full Tilt Poker sponsored pro and took down her first (and so far only) WSOP bracelet by winning a $2,000 buy-in Seven Card Stud High-Low Eight or Better tournament in 2004. Two years later, she took third in a $5,000 buy-in Seven Card Stud event for $102,000, outlasting all but Shawn Sheikhan and Benjamin Lin. In 2005, she made three final tables at the WSOP, earning her even more exposure.
On June 4th, a $230 buy-in tournament with $50 rebuys will take place at the Golden Nugget benefiting Poker Gives, a charity founded by Johnson, Fisher, Mike Sexton, and Lisa Tenner. The tournament will kick off promptly at 7:00pm local time. The next day at 6:00pm, Sexton, the Host of the World Poker Tour and a Guest Columnist right here on Poker News Daily, will emcee the induction ceremonies. Tickets for the event can be purchased online at the official website of the Women in Poker Hall of Fame and include nominating rights for the 2010 class.
On Saturday, June 6th, LIPS will hold $175 satellites with winners getting their choice of entry into the Golden Nugget Grand Series event or the LIPS Championship in August. On Sunday, the $1,000 buy-in WSOP Ladies Only event kicks off at the Rio, one of 57 tournaments to be held as part of the 2009 WSOP. LIPS Championship entries will also be given out on Monday at an event at the Golden Nugget.
