Women in Poker: Dealing With Adversity at the Table

Pros: Xuan Liu, Jamie Kerstetter, Danielle Andersen, and Linda Johnson

Craig Tapscott: Women can sometimes experience a different set of challenges at the poker table. Can you discuss a few experiences that made you a stronger player?

Xuan Liu: I have loved romance with poker and strategy games since childhood, and the first time I started playing poker for real money was during the Moneymaker boom. I had other friends who were just as interested in the game as I was, but I was by far the most diligent and delved into every book and poker resource there was at the time. When you grow up without much and have always worked in hourly wage positions, being able to pay your tuition fees or cover your entire term rent in one session becomes really attractive. No wonder and a bit ironic, I couldn't keep my grades due to this distraction and lost my scholarship.

When I first played in the United States, I had great difficulties. I was shot at an angle and was pulled left and right. I was even held at gunpoint by LAPD . I learned to put up a wall, and I am grateful that these lessons happened relatively early in my career. I was lucky to have people who believed in me and extended a helping hand when I was depressed.

Jamie Kerstetter: I'm not sure if experiencing adversity at the tables really made me a stronger player as it didn't teach me anything strategic about the game itself. But I think some of the annoyances that happen to women from time to time can be an occasion for self-reflection. The question arises: is poker something that I still want to do? Is it still fun? Am I still passionate about learning and improving?

Usually, after an unpleasant experience coupled with a losing session or a downswing, I think about such things, which I should be doing frequently anyway, make sure to dedicate my time and life to a worthwhile endeavor that will lead to fulfillment.

Danielle Andersen: I feel blessed to have spent the first seven years of my professional poker career playing online by chance. Honestly, I wasn't very much in tune with what was happening in the poker world, so I didn't really realize that being a woman was something extraordinary. We are all the same behind the computer screen. When I got down to my first live game, I considered myself a successful, confident poker player. So I was surprised to find out that initially I felt uncomfortable and intimidated as (usually) the only woman at the table.

There was no reason for me to feel this way. I knew I had a better CV and more experience than many at the table, but I felt like a cheat who didn't fit. There was no incident to help me overcome this feeling, but every day I just forced myself to show up and became more comfortable and confident every day.

I know firsthand that the poker table can be an intimidating place for a woman, especially one who is new to the game, but I think the greatest growth in poker and in life comes from pushing the boundaries of our comfort zone. I could just run home and continue clicking buttons in the comfort of my office, but I suspected that if I could overcome my own insecurity, I would love live poker. And I was right. The cumulative experience of all those sessions where I was faced with an uncomfortable environment until it became a comfortable environment allowed me to become a stronger (and happier) player.

Linda Johnson: A lot has changed with women in poker over the years. When I first started playing in '70, I was living in Southern California and playing at the Gardena poker rooms. You rarely saw another woman at the table. I remember one man shouting at me and rebuking me for "trespassing where I wasn't needed." He then told me that "poker is meant to be a game for men."

My scariest moment happened at the start of the club in Las Vegas. ”80s. I entered the $ 22 tournament and was clearly the first woman to play here. The game room manager said to me, "Hello, honey!" The men weren't very friendly. When I got to the final table, we took a break and I could see eight of my opponents huddled and conspired to kick me out of the tournament. There were even terrible threats made to me about what would happen to me if I won.

Back then, only a few women played professionally in Las Vegas. I've met three types of men. The first type was hostile to every woman who played. I've learned to develop thick skin and not let their comments affect me. The second type was condescending. The third type was caring and almost "paternal". Unfortunately, there were less of the third type.

The atmosphere in the poker room today is very welcoming to women, although you still sometimes meet a man who thinks he is better and tries to make it inconvenient for them to play. I think overall the dealers and the people on the dance floor are better trained to handle these situations and I encourage more women to play our great game.

Craig Tapscott: What was your first poker experience that really inspired you to learn the game more deeply? How did you get better?

Xuan Liu: My first few experiences with the European Poker Tour were solo tours, but I quickly started attracting good players after seeing the same faces at every stop. At the time, I was still doing all my calculations in Mandarin Chinese so it was a bit hard for me to cover my hand history even though I was spending time with all these elite players. I've always been a great observer so I doubled this skill up and learned a lot from osmosis.

Looking back, I wish I had been more involved and asked more questions. I definitely had a complex where I was worried about sounding silly and I really wanted to be liked. This, coupled with my unwavering independence and stubbornness, meant that I learned a lot about the community, myself and finances through trial and error. At first, I just wanted to improve my reputation and learn, so I made sure I wouldn't give anyone a reason to gossip or say anything about me that would hurt my reputation and shut the door. Eventually, I realized that what others were thinking was beyond my control and that I could only make decisions based on the information I had at the moment.

Some people find it easier for women because we can use our social skills and distinctive virtues to connect and access the best minds of poker. While this may be true, if you are young, attractive, and socially fit, some of the sexes who don't check these boxes can expect standard treatment to range from simply being ignored to being grossly harassed and kicked out of the elite community.

But of all the nasty things I've witnessed and experienced in the industry, the dynamics that pisses me off the most is when other female players are on an equal or higher level than you. competition. Industry perpetuates an aura of scarcity and turns us against each other. One of my biggest annoyances is when someone tries to compliment me by demeaning someone else. There is plenty of room for everyone to shine.

Jamie Kerstetter: Moving to Mexico's Rosarito Beach one year after Black Friday and being surrounded by a few successful online players who have lived and breathed poker was my first introduction to just how complicated poker can be. I also learned how hard the best players were willing to work to be the best. This was the first time I really felt like I was fully immersed in poker, instead of telling myself that I play poker “in between work” or as a hobby as I have always done in the past.

No matter how hard we all tried to take mental breaks in the game, the stray hand histories were always discussed over dinner or on the beach. It was invaluable at the time to be around people who really loved poker for the first time, and were willing to discuss not only the game's use strategy, but also their overall approach to learning to play.

Danielle Andersen: I was a bankrupt sophomore in college when I won my first $ 100 pot playing online poker. I remember practically floating in my next class, adrenaline racing through my veins. That night, I perfectly remember talking to my boyfriend (now husband) Kora about how this poker hobby could be a viable way to earn extra money. We excitedly talked about how much stress it would have alleviated if I could just squash $ 100 a month.

I should have gone into a few books then, joined the poker forums, and watched some strategy movies. But I didn't because, to be honest, it just didn't sound funny, and I couldn't worry that I'd stopped clicking the buttons long enough to learn. Fortunately, Kory also loved poker and took a more careful approach to the game. He understood concepts like pot odds, capital management and variance before I did, and tried to give me some valuable information. I wasn't the best student (I was sure sitting with half my bankroll on the table would end well!) But he was a persistent teacher and eventually I began to understand some of these important concepts on my own.

Working with poker author and mental trainer Tommy Angelo was a turning point that really changed the way I think about poker. I have really struggled with the emotional ups and downs of being a professional gambler. My mood off the table was often dictated by the table scores, which was unfair to my family and to me. Tommy really helped me learn to better control my emotions, which led to less tilt, higher returns, and a much happier home life. I have seen a lot of poker players who were far more strategically gifted than me as professional poker players because they did not have the emotional courage to deal with the ups and downs. I highly recommend it to players looking to improve so as not to overlook the importance of working on their mental game.

Linda Johnson: When I turned 21 I started going to Las Vegas to play blackjack. My father told me that if I want to play, I should learn to play poker so that I don't play against the casino. I bought a few books (there weren't many at the time) and learned the basics of the game. I knew right away that I would love this game.

My first live experience was with my colleagues at the post office. Eventually, I became a permanent winner and was no longer welcome in the game. After work, I started going to the Gardena cardrooms, and on my days off I flew to Las Vegas. Poker was my niche and I knew I could excel in it through a lot of work and study. I realized that poker is a game that can be beaten if I play better than my opponents.

I bought every poker book I could find, talked about poker with my friends, and attended poker seminars. I played poker every minute of the day and I loved it! Eventually I felt I could make a living from poker, so I quit my secure high-level government post at the post office and moved to Las Vegas. It was the best decision of my life.

Poker is my passion. I never stop learning and studying. I have read hundreds of books on poker. I joined several poker newsgroups. I participated and then finally taught WPT Boot Camp. Nowadays, people have far more resources at their disposal to improve their poker skills than when I first got to know the game. There are magazines, online training sites, videos, trainer sites, etc. Unlike roulette and craps, poker is a game to beat if you want to get the job done and take the time to learn the game.

Xuan Liu is an instructor at Poker Powher and runs her own real estate firm. He has over $ 3 million in combined live and online tournament winnings including $ 600,000 points earning on the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and another $ 524,000 earned on EPT Main event in San Remo. Liu lives in Vancouver, Canada with his rescue mini-pood Didi.

Jamie Kerstetter is a professional poker player and broadcaster, commenting on various poker tours including WPT , PokerGO and WSOP . For the last two years she has been working at WSOP main event in ESPN alongside Lon McEachern and Norman Chad, receiving a Global Poker Award nomination for Broadcaster of the Year. He hosts the podcast The Rake, Run It Once.

Danielle 'dmoongirl' Andersen started playing online in 2003 and is one of the highest paid online cash games ever. She appeared in the 2013 film Bet, Raise, Fold, which documented the rise and fall of online poker in the United States. Andersen is part of the LearnWPT instructor team.

Linda Johnson is known as the "First Lady Of Poker" and has a World Series of Poker bracelet. She is a proud member of the Poker Hall of Fame and Women in Poker Hall of Fame, and is also a co-founder of TDA (Tournament Directors Association) and co-founder of Pokergives.org. She was a studio announcer on the World Poker Tour during its first six seasons. Johnson is also a partner at Card Player Cruises and the former publisher and owner of Card Player Magazine.