Many people who’ve been following the 2012 WSOP are well aware that it’s been a while since a woman has won an open entry event. In fact, we haven’t seen a female open WSOP champion since Vanessa Selbst did it in 2008. However, Allyn Jaffrey Shulman finally ended the drought by winning the Event #29 Seniors Championship along with $603,713.
Before Shulman’s victory, it had been a lengthy 249 consecutive open WSOP tournaments without a female champion. Fortunately, we can now lay this talk to rest since the CardPlayer writer and lawyer won one for the ladies.
Following her victory, Shulman talked about the importance of women grabbing bracelet wins by saying, “I do think it’s important and I don’t think women have been given their due. I’m happy for myself, but I’m happy for all women that I won this, showing that any woman can win a poker tournament. I’d like to see more of them out there playing, feeling comfortable with going at it with the boys and winning.”
Aside from the fact that she became the first woman since ’08 to win an open WSOP tournament, Shulman also helped create some more history. Seeing as how her husband, Barry, and son, Jeff, also made final tables this year, they became the first family to put three members on a WSOP final table in the same year.
With Allyn’s bracelet, the Shulman family could make a claim for having poker’s best bloodline. Barry won the 2009 WSOPE Main Event, which netted him a $1,321,534 windfall. The same year, Jeff finished fifth in the 2009 WSOP Main Event and cashed for $1,953,452. As if these huge cashes aren’t enough to make the family wealthy, the Shulman’s have also made a very nice profit off of their CardPlayer Magazine business.