So what’s the fuel behind all these ladies taking the cake? For Selbst it could be her luck, it could be chance, or it could be the impressive academic background that she brings to the table. Selbst first came on the scene in 2007 when she finished third in the heads-up championship at the World Series of Poker*. Just one year later she picked up her first bracelet in a pot-limit Omaha event and then unexpectedly to most, virtually disappeared from the scene. Holiday to a tropical island? Year off to work on her game? Hardly, Selbst took off to hit the books.

Selbst decided that poker was losing the fun it used to have and she missed the intellectual stimulation of school. Selbst returned to Yale, (where she already held one degree and a subsequent Fulbright scholarship) to pursue a degree in law as a human rights lawyer. If you think about it, this career choice – skilled poker shark turned lawyer – isn’t that strange of a call as some of the qualities lawyers and successful poker players share are surprisingly complementary- analytical style, logical thought process- it makes sense.

Selbst has stated that her removal from the game really gave her the time she needed to take a step back and approach the game with a clean slate. Following her NAPT win Selbst stated that, “When I’m playing tournaments now, I play so few that everything is fresh and seen from an outside perspective; I don’t get caught up in pre-programmed lines and thoughts, and I’m able to look at each situation anew. In some ways I’ve leveled myself, I needed some distance from the game to see it as it is.”

Lawyer gone poker, or poker gone lawyer, either way this leading lady is doing something right and has proven that she’s got what it takes to succeed in both fields. Selbst now plans to take next year off from her studies and return to the tournament circuit before completing her degree the following year. After her degree is finished, Selbst plans to find the perfect medium and division of her time by playing the tournament circuit for about six months and trying her hand at pro bono cases for the rest of the year.

So boys, are you going to sit back and let these ladies walk away with all the prize money in 2010? Only time will tell but one thing is for sure, the horses are out of the blocks and the stallions have some catching up to do. Good luck to all in the rest of the year’s competitions and if anything goes sour we can recommend a really good lawyer.

If you’re interested in pursuing a law degree you’re going to have to look elsewhere, but if it’s a little poker with the added bonus of rakeback you want to try your hand at then look no further.

* World Series of Poker and WSOP are trademarks of Harrah’s License Company, LLC (”Harrah’s”). Harrah’s does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with RakeTheRake or its partners, products, services promotions or tournaments.

Prize Pool: $30,000

Race Details: Finish in the top 150 rakers in RTR’s Boss Network rake race during the qualifying periods and win a share of $30,000
First prize in the race will be $3,000 Cash.

Click Here for current leader board

Terms: The data we used is based on the 24 hour reports we get from the poker room. Players who finish in winning positions on our leader board will receive their prizes direct to their poker account on or before the 15th day of the following month. This race contains only RTR entrants from the following rooms: Fortune, PokerHeaven, InterPoker, Paradise & Parbet. These Race payments are in addition to your 30% Rakeback and ANY other Race or Promotion that the rooms/network are running.

Click here for last month’s final leaderboard

SIGN UP AT FORTUNE POKER

SIGN UP AT POKER HEAVEN

SIGN UP AT INTERPOKER

SIGN UP AT PARADISE POKER

SIGN UP AT PARBET

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE CURRENT LEADER BOARD

SIGN UP AT VIRGIN POKER

Party Poker’s parent company – PartyGaming – recently agreed to a merger with the Austrian gambling site Bwin that will take place in 2011.  The two companies finally agreed to terms on the merger this week, and Bwin will get 51.4% of the company while internet poker giant Party Poker will have a 48.36% stake in the company.

What’s most interesting about this merger is that the two companies will pull both their gambling and poker software resources together.  Party Poker is the third largest online poker room in the world while Bwin also has a pretty large poker site.  Together, the two sites could potentially become the biggest force in poker. 

More importantly, both poker sites might offer even better online poker deals than before!  Party Poker has a huge Million Dollar Guaranteed poker tournament while Bwin gives players the chance to participate in lots of freerolls and special sit and go tournaments.

Party Poker CEO Jim Ryan commented on the big merger by saying, “This is a transformational opportunity for both our companies to create the world’s largest listed online gaming business.  The Enlarged Group will have a winning formula to exploit the growing online gaming market, supported by a strong balance sheet, significant cash flow generation and a highly experienced management team.”

If you’d like to be a part of this revamped site, you should complete the poker download of Party Poker and take advantage of their huge deals.  Once you’ve done this, you’ll be able to play poker at this huge room when the merger is completed in 2011.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE CURRENT LEADER BOARD

SIGN UP AT FULL TILT POKER

Dates of Promotion: 1st August 2010 to midnight on the 31st August 2010

Qualification:

• New Players: Rake $1 at Cake Poker during the qualifying period and you will get automatic entry to the Freeroll.
• Existing Players: Players need to rake $100 at Cake Poker during the qualifying period.

Prizes

The freeroll will be held on Sunday 19th September 2010 at 20:00 BST (19:00 GMT, 15:00 ET)

Click here to see last month’s qualifers

SIGN UP AT CAKE POKER

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE CURRENT LEADER BOARD

SIGN UP AT UNIBET

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE CURRENT LEADER BOARD

SIGN UP AT REDSTAR POKER

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE CURRENT LEADER BOARD

SIGN UP AT NOIQ POKER

Dates of Promotion: 1st August 2010 to midnight on the 31st August 2010

Qualification:

• New Players: Rake $1 at Betfair Poker during the qualifying period and you will get automatic entry to the Freeroll.
• Existing Players: Existing players SPECIAL! Rake $10 at Betfair during the qualifying period

Prizes

The freeroll will be held on Sunday 19th September 2010 at 20:00 BST (19:00 GMT, 15:00 ET)

Click here to see last month’s qualifiers

SIGN UP AT BETFAIR POKER