Among the eight nominees for the Women’s Poker Hall of Fame are jamie kerstetterDuring her 20-year career in poker, she has tried just about everything.
Originally an online cash game grinder and now an experienced poker commentator, Kerstetter also works as marketing manager for WPT Gold, but this year he showed he still has the poker skills when needed. , the virgin WSOP bracelet is within reach.
PokerNews spoke to Kerstetter about her nomination, her involvement in organizing the Women’s Poker Meetup games and initiatives, how excited she was to be nominated, and the contributions of the other nominees.
WiPHOF nomination
Kerstetter was nominated along with seven other women, all of whom she says she respects and admires.
“This is a win-win situation,” Kerstetter said. “I would love to get in, but if I don’t get in, I don’t want to lose to these guys.”
Kerstetter told PokerNews in an exclusive interview that her poker career spans 20 years, starting as a poker player, working as a commentator and ambassador, and currently working as a marketing manager for WPT Gold. He said he was there. .
“When I was an online pro, I never thought I would start an initiative for women or be so involved in the poker community. I always thought he was just trying to sleep.”
But after the life-changing event of Black Friday, Kerstetter began advocating for poker in earnest and, in her words, built a career in poker.
“I decided it was time to get creative. I tried everything. I played live cash, moved to Mexico and practiced online again for 18 months. I got really homesick and had to go back. I’m here.
“I was a poker ambassador. I also started coaching women to encourage more women to get involved in poker. Even now, I might do 10 more things in poker. I just go with the flow in this job.”It’s a very interesting industry. ”
One of the things Kerstetter is best known for is his career as a poker commentator, which began by chance more than a decade ago. At the time, Kerstetter was sponsored by PartyPoker New Jersey and was asked to commentate in Venice alongside veteran commentator Jesse May.
“If there hadn’t been a carrot dangling to go to Venice, I never would have started doing commentary.”
“I had never even been out of the country! I was scared of public speaking, but it was a huge opportunity. If I hadn’t had the carrot dangling to go to Venice, I never would have started doing commentary. There probably wasn’t. That’s so scary.
“But once I tried it, I thought, ‘It wasn’t that bad,’ and I kept doing it.”
For the next few years, Kerstetter worked as a free or “very low-paid” commentator, but he said he kept doing it to improve his commentating skills. And it paid off. In 2018, Kerstetter joined veteran WSOP broadcasters Norman Chad and Ron McEachern in covering the WSOP Main Event. According to Kerstetter, this was the pinnacle of his career.
“I said yes to every commentary job until I was offered the greatest commentary job of all time.”
Her “rambling” career
By his own admission, Kerstetter says that in addition to playing both live and online, he has tried his hand at just about everything in poker, from commentary to ambassador work. She says the fact that she doesn’t lock herself into anything gives her the most satisfaction.
“I’ve had a very rambling career,” she said. “I was a two-sport athlete in college because I couldn’t choose between soccer and track. As a result, I tried a lot of things in poker.”
Kerstetter says getting your foot in the door of all of these areas will help you enjoy each area even more.
“First of all, I started playing poker. Then when I started commentating, I didn’t do it that hard because I still wanted to play and work with WPT on other things.”
“Right now, I’m throwing myself into this marketing role a lot, which is great. There’s a lot of female initiatives as well. This company has more women at the top than any other poker company I know. I’ve got a job. But I still want to go.” If something blows up, I can go back and make $5 to $10 playing poker and doing commentary. That’s good. ”
meetup game
Another pillar of Kerstetter’s poker advocacy is in the form of meetup games, which she has spearheaded for more than three years.
“I’ve always been in a male-dominated field,” she says. “I was one of the only female lawyers at my first law firm, and despite that experience and attitude towards a male-dominated field, poker was still terrifying.”
Kerstetter talked about feeling out of place when he first entered a poker room. I still feel this when visiting new venues.
“When I first started, people looked at me strangely and I didn’t know where to sign up or get chips. It was tough. I still remember that. Masu.”
Jamie Kerstetter’s WPT Ladies Meetup Game at Wynn was a huge success
She says the feeling of not belonging was the main reason she started playing girls’ night games.
“It was great. The first venue was the MGM Grand and I had arranged to have some tables and they agreed. Then I called them the day before and said 163 people… We said we had a name. So that was all the tables. They shut down the entire poker room for us.”
Since then, events have been held at the Venetian and Wynn to help women feel like they can play in a friendly and welcoming environment, and to help educate female poker players on how live poker games work. This will reduce the feeling of intimidation and fear.
critical mass of women
Through the efforts and advocacy of people like Kerstetter, she believes poker is close to reaching a “critical mass” of female poker players.
“It’s really cool to see. I’ve been playing all my life and now you’re sitting in a 10k with multiple other women at a table. Or you’re playing with other women for $5 to $10. And they’re good players. I think we’re getting to the point where there’s always going to be a critical mass of women in poker rooms. ”
Mr. Kerstetter praises the achievement. Kathy Liebert (pictured) was inducted into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame in 2010 and has been instrumental in supporting women in poker.
“So many people have worked on this over the last few decades, including people like Kathy Liebert. She’s a central figure in this project. Just don’t worry about it! She’s I’m showing up, and I’m like, “You can say whatever you want to me, I’m here to play. ”
“There are many women who are trailblazers who are making things better and better for us.”
Voting for the Women’s Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2024 is open until October 30, 2024 at midnight PT