Women are increasingly becoming driving forces both on and off the felt. Women can be found everywhere in poker: from professional players, to poker room managers, tournament directors, marketers and other industry executives. Women are commanding the attention of their peers worldwide and are growing in stature and competitiveness as more women enter the field.

The Maven Awards were derived from that falling glass ceiling to give recognition and encouragement to all women and provide an opportunity to highlight those who have been especially innovative, talented, and revolutionary.

"I wanted to do something to push the poker industry to start thinking more about the women who play," said Maryann Morrison, Editing Manager of Woman Poker Player and creator of the Maven Awards. “It equates to the recognition and support of women, their potential, and their advancement in this industry."

The Maven Awards cover all areas of women in poker and are nominated by public vote. Opening the nominations to public vote versus a board or group of decision makers, not only avoids sponsorship issues, but allows the voters to nominate based on their own criteria and put forward those they feel are truly deserving of recognition and the honour of receiving an award based on their achievements.

The nominations are then counted and the top three from each category are up for vote. Again the public can vote for their favorites in categories such as the most inspirational, female friendly poker room and player of the year as well as other categories.

Approximately 12,000 votes were counted in the first Maven Awards, with many of them ringing in for Player of the Year award winner, Vanessa Rousso.

Vanessa Rousso certainly has been a household name not only for her tremendous accomplishments in poker, but also her mainstream sponsorships.  Vanessa has winnings of over 3.5 million since she started playing professionally in 2006, and is one of the top female poker players of all time.

"I am honored to have been selected for this award by my female poker playing peers! Supporting the growth of women in the game is something very close to my heart, and to be able to help by showing women what is possible with hard work and dedication is awesome!" said Vanessa.

Two popular awards for the Best Tournament Series and the Best Ladies Event both categories went to the World Series of Poker (WSOP). The WSOP has been bringing women into poker since May of 1977 when the first ladies event was a $100 buy-in Seven-Card Stud game that entertained a small number of women. The event has now grown to a $1,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em game where over 1,000 players step up to the felt to compete in the largest women’s events in the history of poker.

“It’s with great honor we accept these two Maven Awards,” says Jack Effel of the WSOP, “It’s very meaningful when the poker community selects us as the best in something.  We put on the WSOP for the poker community and are grateful our ladies event continues to be a standard-bearer for the industry.”

Two very special awards were brought to the vote through the Maven Awards. One being Best Role Model won by Jennifer Harman Traniello. Jennifer got her start in poker when she was very young and took her game professional when she turned 21 and won her first WSOP bracelet in 2000 in the No Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball Event and her second in the 2002 $5,000 Limit Hold’Em event. In 2004 Jennifer took time off from poker to have her second kidney transplant. Jennifer’s health trials brought her to create Creating Organ Donor Awareness (CODA), a non-profit organization to raise money for the cause that is so close to her. Harman has since moved on to organizing and hosting some of the largest charity tournaments today benefiting The National Kidney Foundation and the ASPCA. “I'm very honored to receive this award and thank you so much for everyone’s support,” says Jennifer.

The other special award was the “Humanitarian Award” given to a person in the poker industry who has shown exemplary charity work and a philanthropic spirit.  This prestigious award was won by Liz Lieu. Liz is an icon in her poker career and excels at the game she loves with an elegant flair and down to earth personality that cannot be paralleled. She is a true ambassador for women and the lifestyle of Poker. Liz the professional poker player is a great talent, and Liz the woman is someone much admired and an inspiration to all of us.

"I am so honored to receive this Humanitarian Award, especially in the company of such great women who all make a huge difference and give of themselves so generously.” Says Liz “I feel like giving back is what life is truly about and nothing makes me happier than to be able to feed someone who is hungry, clothe someone who is shivering or put a smile on a little child's face. And if I can inspire just one person to give back, and they inspire one person, and so on, there's no greater reward and NO LIMIT to the change we can provoke in this world!"

The complete winners list for the Inaugural Maven Awards:

Best Role Model for Women
Jennifer Harman

Inspirational Award
Linda Johnson

Most Female-Friendly Online Poker Site
PokerStars

Most Female-Friendly Poker Room
The Venetian Las Vegas

Best Overall Tournament Series
World Series of Poker

Best Ladies Poker Tournament
WSOP Ladies Event

Most Appealing Marketing Campaign Aimed at Women
Big Slick Poker Boot Camp

Favorite Blogger or Poker Writer
Katie Dozier

Humanitarian Award
Liz Lieu

Most Notable Performance
Annette Obrestad

Top Media Personality
Kara Scott

Up and Coming Player
Vanessa Selbst

Player of the Year
Vanessa Rousso

Congratulations to all the winners, and thank you to all the nominees and voters.The support of the women who play poker and the continued support of each other in the industry demonstrates the same spirit that we want the Maven Awards to highlight.

The nominations for this year's awards are now open at http://www.mavenawards.com.  Please help to spread the word!