Poker: Not Just For The Boys Anymore

In the return of The Glass Hammer’s Intrepid Women series, we sent our own Kathryn Nilsson Reichert to learn how to play poker well enough to beat the gentlemen at their own game. Here, she describes the results…

Card games were never interesting to me. In fact, aside from an occasional game of solitaire while traveling, the last time I remember playing cards was a game of “go fish” with my grandmother when I was in junior high school. I have never owned a deck of cards nor felt the need to buy one.

Naturally, I was less than enthused when a girlfriend called me recently and said, “Come with me to a women’s poker party tomorrow night!” My first thought was, why? It’s cold outside and it’s already been a long week at work. Besides, thinking about poker conjured up images of men in cheap suits in Vegas casinos hunched over tables for hours, slowly burning through wads of cash. “Don’t be a wet blanket,” my friend said. “Poker is the ‘game du jour.’ We can learn how to play and do some quality business networking at the same time.”

This didn’t sound like the scenario I had imagined, so off we went to an Ivy-League alumnae club in midtown Manhattan. We were greeted by the evening’s host Ellen Leikind, the founder and president of Poker Prima Divas (www.pokerdivas.com), a company that runs corporate events educating women about poker. She invited us pick up a drink at the bar and sample the hors d’oeuvres. As we circulated through the well-dressed crowd of women, I overheard various tidbits of conversation, including “No, I’ve never played poker in my life.” I was glad I wasn’t the only one.

Ten minutes later, we were asked to sit down at one of the six poker tables, where we each received a poker reference guide, a pack of playing cards printed with poker tips, and a stack of chips. I joined a table of nine women, including Joan, a retail executive; Estelle, a doctor; Cindy, an investment banker; and Georgia, a finance executive at a toy company. I asked Georgia why she was there. “I know it’s a traditionally male activity,” she said. “But now everyone seems to be playing poker. It looks like a lot of fun and a great way to meet new people.” The dealer at our table introduced herself to the group and we got started.

The next hour was a blur of chips, cards, poker terminology, learning which poker hands were better than others, and practicing my new skills. Suddenly, I found myself actually playing a game of Texas Hold’em, scrutinizing my cards and wondering what everyone else had. A quick glance around the table revealed a few smiles and frowns, but mostly “poker faces.” My first lesson from poker: it’s a good test of how to keep your emotions under control. After seeing “the flop” (the first three face-up cards dealt to the table), I started to think about what cards I needed to win. Second lesson: plan ahead and determine how much risk it takes to succeed.

Those are not the only lessons women can learn, according to Ellen Leikind. A seasoned corporate executive and long-time poker player, Ms. Leikind started Poker Prima Divas because she felt women could improve their risk-management, strategic-thinking, and decision-making skills by learning to play poker. Leikind explains that she “wants women to know that the skills used in poker are directly applicable to business.” She also noted that her male colleagues network and conduct business deals over their weekend golf game. “Poker is the new golf. Women need to be at the table, but they have to learn to play in order to get in the game,” says Leikind. Thus, a thriving company was born.

Our verdict? My friend and I agreed that the event’s networking was a major plus, especially because we met many interesting women from all walks of business. The poker games helped both of us hone our strategic skills and think harder about risk. We both agreed that poker could be a great team-building exercise, especially when a fresh and different activity is needed at a corporate retreat.

We said our goodbyes and headed home, pleased to have learned that poker is much more than just a card game, and hoping that we would catch “World Poker Tour” on cable in the near future.