The 2011 World Series of Poker is beginning to look more like the Year of the Woman than the 2010 WSOP.  Already, two women have made final tables, and one finished runner-up in an event.  Here is a look at the top 5 women to watch this summer.

#5.  Lauren Kling – Kling had a solid year at the 2010 WSOP with three cashes, including the WSOP Main Event.  Earlier this year, she finished 2nd in the Ladies Event the PCA and cashed at the WPT L.A. Poker Classic.  A deep run or two during the WSOP may propel her to the forefront of the poker world.

#4.  Kathy Liebert – The all-time money leader among women is always a force to be reckoned with.  She had two top 20 finished in WPT events earlier in the year and already has a cash in this year’s WSOP.  While Liebert hasn’t made a WSOP final table since 2008, all it takes is one good run to remind everyone why she is at the top of the money list.

#3.  Liv Boeree – Boeree had a breakout year in 2010 when she won the EPT San Remo Main Event for $1.68 Million.  She then went on to cash three times at the WSOP in Vegas and once at the WSOP Europe.  She has been quiet for in 2011 so far, but she is still among the most feared female players in the game.

#2.  Vanessa Selbst – Selbst flat out pwned the poker world last year.  She took the NAPT Main Event at Mohegan Sun for $750k and then won the Partouche Poker Tour Cannes Main Event for $1.8 Million.  As an encore, so far in 2011, she has repeated as NAPT Mohegan Sun Champion and finished 8th at the NBC National Heads-Up Championship.  If not for the fact that her WSOP performances have been next to non-existent the last two year, she would be in the top spot.

#1.  Maria Ho – With her performance in the $5,000 NL Hold’em Event a few days ago, Ho put herself back into the poker limelight.  Her stats have been consistently growing over the last couple of years, and so far this year, she has won over $609,000 in prize money.  Most of the poker world is pulling for her to make another final table, and a bracelet win would put her among the elite female players in the game.

Honorable mention in this category has to go to Jennifer Harman.  She doesn’t play as many events as other players, but she is a force in non-Hold’em and mixed games.  Her only two WSOP cashes last year were both final tables.  Don’t be surprised if she was to make another final table and take down another bracelet this year.

Only a dozen events have completed so far in the 2011 WSOP and already we have had two women make final tables.  At that rate, we should see around a dozen women competing for WSOP bracelets, not including the Ladies Championship.  Will a woman take an open bracelet this year?  Momentum seems to be shifting that way.  Now it is time to see who can seal the deal.

Tags: 2011 World Series of Poker, 2011 WSOP, Breakout Year, Cashes, EPT, Forefront, Kathy Liebert, Kling, Lauren Kling, Limelight, Liv Boeree, Maria Ho, Mohegan Sun, Money Leader, National Heads-Up Championship, NBC National Heads-Up Championship, PCA, Poker World, prize money, Time Money, Vanessa Selbst, World Series of Poker, WPT, WSOP, WSOP 2011, WSOP Main Event, Year of the Woman

This entry was posted on Friday, June 10th, 2011 at 6:32 am and is filed under Poker News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.