The Poker Pod Interview
Monday, October 11th, 20101. When and how did you get started playing poker?
I was having some significant health problems in late 2005 and was not able to get out much. I was basically on bed rest for about six months. So my husband bought a laptop to help me pass the long days. In early 2006 after I got bored with hacking around on the internet, I found my way to the free games on Full Tilt Poker. The rest is history, so to speak. As my health improved, my first outings were to play live poker.
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2. What would you consider to be the defining moment in your poker career thus far? The defining moment in my poker career was when I finally learned the hand rankings. I remember being in a live tournament trying to decide if a full house beat a straight or not. It’s humbling to admit I played video poker for years without knowing what comprised a flush. Who knows how much money I gave away by not recognizing the need to save cards of the same suit? 3. With 4 children how do you effectively balance poker and life? Since all of our children have graduated high school and moved out of the house balancing life with the kids really isn’t much of an issue anymore. |
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4. What are your interests outside of poker? What? There is life outside poker? I can’t remember what I did before poker. Seriously, I enjoy hanging out with my family, attending cultural events, and traveling. |
| 5. What do you enjoy most about a career in poker?
With my health issues, I am not able to “work” a set schedule so I enjoy the freedom and flexibility poker provides. If I don’t feel well a certain day, I can skip playing. Once I needed to stay in my hotel room for three days before I was well enough to play. In fact, hotel security came to check on me because there were no signs of life coming from my room. |
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6. If you were asked to give a room full of young poker hopefuls one piece of advice what would it be? Know yourself and act on that knowledge to protect your game and bankroll. Identify anything that adversely affects your game and take steps to minimize its effects. It is a great sign of maturity to know and act on physical, mental, and emotional limits. If you are feeling angry, don’t play. If you are sick, don’t play. Listen to yourself and take care of your body. |
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7. How did you feel the day you won the New Orleans Bayou Poker Challenge? There were 269 entrants in this WSOP ladies event called the “Cajun Queen Classic”. In addition to the prize money and circuit title; I got my first piece of poker jewelry! The day started happily as I chatted it up with my table mates.I really enjoy the social side of the ladies events.Many of the less seasoned ladies will tell you how and why they played a particular way, if you have been friendly and ask. I struggled the first half of the day with no good spots or significant luck to build a stack. I headed to dinner break feeling somewhat defeated and short on chips. My friend Jack gives me a pep talk of a lifetime over dinner.I returned from dinner refreshed with a sense of determination. I doubled up on my first hand after dinner when I flopped a set of eights against an aggressive lady, who overplayed her top pair, good kicker.From there I literally did not lose a hand I selected to play.I was catching cards like I never had before in my short poker career. Talk about being a LuckBox! I knocked players out so fast that I did not have time to get my chips stacked between hands. It was so surreal. |
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8. Do you have a favorite poker book? If so what is it? I don’t have a favorite poker book per se, however, I find Read’em and Reap by Joe Navarro to be invaluable. I started my poker education with the classics, such as Harrington’s Harrington on Hold’em Vol. 1 & 2 and Sklansky’s The Theory of Poker and Tournament Poker for Advanced Players.To learn new material, I utilize a study system I developed in college. I take written notes from each book as I read it. These notes are reviewed each day before continuing with the new reading and note taking. Later, I reduce these notes to index cards outlining key information that I am still struggling to learn. I review those index cards before each tournament, sometimes carrying some of these cards to the poker room. I still have and review these note cards. |
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9. If you could hand pick a final table for television that would you want to be sitting with you? The first eight players to be knocked out of the main event! Forget the famous and Bring on the fish! |
| 10. I like to leave this open to you, is there anything you would like to say to those reading today?
I am developing a relationship with Poker Pros Network. While we are in the early stages of development, I feel comfortable inviting you to check out my poker room on The Poker Pros Network. Just click on this link and choose “RUN” and Install. This will load your connection to the Jena Delk players lobby and my private offerings and games. Come Play with Me! Private games and educational opportunities are being developed. Please visit my website at www.jenadelk.com to keep up to date on my current happenings |
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