When it comes to poker, women have been making their way to the forefront of the collective conscious for decades. Today, there's no shortage of femme fatales getting down to the felt and we repeatedly see many of the same names in the upper echelons of the leader boards in world renowned tournaments. Players like Annie Duke, Jennifer Harman, Barbara Enright, Jennifer Tilly and Vanessa Rousso are no strangers to success.

However, while we may have become more aware of women in poker in recent history, credit needs to be giving to one of the gals who did a lot grunt work earlier on – despite (and often in the face of) social propriety. While legend surrounds much of the history of this woman, her prowess at the poker table is incontestable.

Poker Alice: Making History, One Hand at a Time

Poker Alice is arguably the most famous female poker player of the Western Frontier. It is commonly believed Poker Alice was born Alice Ivers on February 17, 1853, in Devonshire, England. During her childhood she and her family relocated to Colorado. It was this move which lead to her meeting and marrying Frank Duffield, a gambler who taught her how to play poker.

Her marriage to Duffield was brief. He was killed while resetting an unexploded dynamite charge in a mine, leaving her young and widowed. As the old adage goes, necessity is indeed the mother of invention. Her new situation left her vulnerable, so Alice fashioned herself into a revered poker player and dealer.

In the 1800's, Alice moved to Deadwood, South Dakota where she landed a job at Bedrock Tom Saloon as a dealer. Like many poker players at the time, Alice carried a gun – in her case a .38.

As fate (or luck) would have it, Alice began her romance with W.G. Tubbs when she defended him in a poker game after another player pulled a knife on her would-be husband.

While Tubbs, a housepainter by profession, was not a lucky poker player, Alice certainly was, often raking in $6,000 a night – a small fortune in that era. Alice was known for her ability to calculate odds quickly and efficiently. Her passion for poker was unwavering. One of her more famous quotes is, "I would rather play poker with five or six experts than to eat."

Raking It In: Playing Poker for a Living

Luckily for her, she didn't have to worry about putting food on the table. Her income alone was enough to support her growing family with Tubbs. While her love for poker never diminished, her desire to live the frantic and fast-paced life in saloons did dwindle as she grew older. She, Tubbs and their 7 children relocated to the Moreau River, where Tubbs eventually died of phenomena.

It is said that she carted his body 48 miles in a sleigh to a town where she pawned her wedding ring to pay for the funeral. She then went to the nearest gambling hall and promptly won enough money to buy it back – yet another testament to her prowess at the tables.

Alice married once more, to George Huckert, who she hired to keep the sheep on her homestead after Tubb's death. While she was not keen on marrying Huckert at first, she eventually did. Ever the pragmatist, she concluded it would be cheaper to marry him than to continue to pay him. He died shortly after the marriage in 1913.

Propietor of the Establishment: From Professional Card Shark to Brothel Owner

During their marriage, in 1910, Alice bought an old house near Fort Meade on Bear Butte Creek which she converted the house to a gambling hall and a brothel. While she continued to gamble and worked well as a madam, she was never a prostitute. It is this house which serves as the scene for one of the most famous Poker Alice stories of all time.

On one particular night, some visiting soldiers got overly rowdy and Alice used her shotgun to fire a warning to quiet down. Unfortunately, the shot went through two of the soldiers and as a result, Alice and 6 of her girls were arrested.

While the shooting was ultimately ruled accidental and all the women were released, Alice never escaped the stigma of the incident and was forever hounded by local authorities for her constant drunkenness and nefarious business until her death in February 27, 1930 after a gall bladder operation in Rapid City.

The home of this consummate gambler was purchased by a businessman in Sturgis where it now serves as a bed and breakfast and popular tourist destination for poker enthusiasts worldwide.

- Patricia Lang, Tower Gaming Media Room Manager