With the World Series of Poker starting in just over two weeks, poker players from around the world are making their final preparations to be able to devote their entire attention to the game. Thousands of players descending on the Rio All Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for the 41^st renewal of poker’s greatest event have the dream of capturing the most exclusive prize in poker, a WSOP bracelet. This year, however, there is more focus on the ladies in the game, with the opportunity for bracelet victories bountiful, and the focus is for a very good reason.

Over the past year, top female players in the game have made significant impact on several top championships. It seems to have started with Vanessa Rousso’s runner up finish in last year’s National Heads Up Poker Championship to Huck Seed, but the last few months have featured some of the top women in the game capturing some of the biggest championships in the game. It has led many to ask the question - is 2010 the Year of the Woman in poker and, as such, at the WSOP?

There is plenty of argument for both sides of the discussion. The last “year of the woman” that many people think of is 2004, when three of the top women in the game - Cyndy Violette, Kathy Liebert and Annie Duke - all captured open bracelets (the Ladies Event is not considered in this count). Duke went on to become the first ever Tournament of Champions victor, capping the win with a $2 million payday. What was thought to be an explosion of female champions to come at the WSOP, as women picked up the game, quickly dimmed; in the past five years after that breakthrough, only two women - Katja Thater (2007) and Vanessa Selbst (2008) - have earned bracelets from the hundreds of events offered.

2010 might be a different story, however. Over the past six months, women have been stepping up to capture some of the top championships around the world. Each of the victories were unique in their own right, but all were against some of the most difficult competition that poker has to offer.

In March, Annie Duke went to the National Heads Up Poker Championship coming off a five month layoff and with a very poor record. In the previous five NHUPCs, Duke had amassed a dismal 1-5 record and was not considered a candidate to even make the money in the event. Over the span of three days, Duke went on a stirring run that stunned many in attendance at Caesars Palace.

Defeating Andy Bloch and Darvin Moon in the first two rounds, Duke survived a thrilling fight against former NHUPC champion Paul Wasicka and defeated former World Champion Jerry Yang to make the Final Four. After defeating fan favorite Dennis Phillips, Annie found herself in the unenviable position of taking on her good friend and eight time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel. In a back and forth battle, Duke eventually emerged as the champion, defeating Seidel 2-1, and became the first woman to ever win the NHUPC. (On a side note, Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad also cashed in the event.)

April was the month where the ladies definitely came to the forefront. In the early part of the month, Vanessa Selbst journeyed to the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut to take part in the second-ever PokerStars’ North American Poker Tour event. The field was a solid 716 players strong, but Selbst was around the top of the leader board through much of the final days of the tournament. In the end, Selbst overcame a strong final table that included online legend Cliff Josephy, Jonathan Aguilar and Scott Seiver to win the championship. (Vanessa Rousso just missed out on making it two women at the final table, finishing tenth.)

At the end of April, one of the biggest breakthroughs in recent memory occurred in Italy. At the European Poker Tour stop in San Remo, an astounding 1240 players came out to set the record for the largest ever EPT tournament in its six year history. Liv Boeree came to the Italian tournament better known for her looks and her hard rock attitude than for her achievements at the poker table. She silenced all critics with a powerful run of skillful poker in San Remo that drove her to become only the third woman to win an EPT championship event, all while banking a solid €1,250,000 (approximately $1.6 million) for her effort.

With these performances in mind, this year has already become “The Year of The Woman.” What would solidify this status is a strong run by any of the women mentioned above - or some that lurk beneath the surface, such as Svetlana Gromenkova (2008 WSOP Ladies’ Champion), the always dangerous Joanne “J. J.” Lieu, Erica Schoenberg or another fan favorite, Jennifer Harman - at this year’s WSOP. If two or even three ladies could capture that elusive WSOP bracelet, then 2010 would be a truly definitive year.

While the numbers may work against the fairer sex (it is estimated that last year’s WSOP Championship Event was only approximately 5% percent female), it could very well be time that, in 2010, women show something that more intelligent men in the game know…that poker knows no gender, the cards don’t care what you’re wearing and that an individual player’s skills, be they male or female, determines the champion.