Katie “hotjenny314” Dozier Relocates to Continue Online Poker Career
In our previous installment of Online Chat, we introduced you to Katie "katie75013" Stone, a member of The Grindettes — four women with unique backgrounds who play poker for a living — who relocated to Rosarito, Mexico to play online poker. Relocating to play has become a popular, albeit averse, decision, and now another Grindette, Katie “hotjenny314” Dozier, has followed in Stone's footsteps.
Dozier began playing poker in 2004 while majoring in creative writing at Florida State. From there, she moved to Washington, D.C., and attended a French culinary school while working her way through the online poker ranks, winning more than $110,000. She is married to poker pro and noted author Collin Moshman, who has written Sit ‘n Go Strategy, Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em and The Math of Hold’em. Dozier not only edited all of those books, she co-authored two books of her own alongside Moshman — The Superuser and Pro Poker Strategy: The Top Skills.
After a successful summer in Las Vegas, which included deep runs in several World Series of Poker events, Dozier made the decision to become an online poker emigrant and headed south of the border. PokerNews recently caught up with Dozier to talk about online poker, living in Mexico, and more.
Those of us on the circuit know you quite well, but can you tell us a little about yourself for those you might not be as familiar?
One of the best parts about my childhood was how my creativity was always encouraged. I was very competitive, from soccer to writing contests to beating my babysitters in Monopoly. My mom is very supportive of my career choice, even though she’s never played a hand of poker. This summer, PokerNews was kind enough to post updates on me, and my mom left me a giddy voice mail every time. I’ve heard many stories from friends in situations where their family is not supportive, which makes me feel even luckier to have her always rooting for me!
How did you learn to play poker, and when did you start playing online?
The first time I ever played poker was actually by accident. I went over to a friend’s apartment and all the guys were playing poker and one of the guys told me to join the girls in the next room, who were all watching Sex and the City. Although I’m a fan of girly TV, the idea of trying to outwit all the guys sounded more fun than watching reruns. After that night, I was hooked and started out by reading the Harrington on Hold ‘em series. I deposited a small amount on Paradise Poker as I learned to beat the game while playing in my sorority house.
What is your screen name and what's the story behind it?
My screen name is (understandably) kind of confusing to people: “hotjenny314.” No part of my real name includes Jennifer. I chose this one after I’d noticed the phenomenon of guys making sexy girl screen names, like “sluttysara69,” and thought me having one was kind of funny. I chose “Jenny” because there were a lot of hot girls in my sorority with that name. The “314” speaks to math that’s so important to the game, and that I’m a fan of baking pies.
What’s it like to be a female online poker player?
Online, I’m pretty genderless, despite my female moniker, and I’ve learned that that means I have to make adjustments playing live versus some opponents.
What sort of games do you play online?
My competitive nature means that I’ll always prefer tournaments to cash, although I do play both live. Online I play mid-stakes MTTs and MTT SNGs, and average 15 tables.
Now that Full Tilt Poker is back on the market, will you be playing on the site?
I’m very excited to play on FTP again, particularly the 90-man bounty tournaments. I enjoy mixing MTT SNGs with MTTs because it reduces the variance, and I love bounty tournaments!
You recently made the decision to relocate to play online poker. What lead to that decision and what sort of things did you take into consideration?
I’m a libertarian and have been disillusioned by the United States government for quite some time, but of course Black Friday made that a lot worse. I’d just moved to Vegas right after that infamous day, so I couldn’t leave just yet. Mid-summer this year, Collin and I started talked about dividing our time between Vegas and somewhere we could play online, and my having a good summer certainly helped the cause.
You opted to relocate to Rosarito, Mexico. Why did you choose that location?
First and foremost, I have a yellow lab and two cats, so I wasn’t up for any move that would require a huge amount of travel or having to quarantine my pets. This pretty much left Canada and Mexico — which is a lot closer for travel back and forth to Vegas. I visited Rosarito before committing to it, and found the area enjoyable. I’d had a very ignorant perception of what it would be like — thinking that it would be extremely dangerous and overrun with donkeys, and not the type I like to play against at the tables. Instead, I found a community embracing poker players and the best guacamole I’ve ever had!
What’s your living situation like in Rosarito?
Collin and I have a place in a popular complex on the ocean. I feel very lucky to live so close to many of my friends. I can even talk to Katie Stone from our balconies!
You had a deep run in this year’s WSOP Main Event, finishing in 451st place for $24,808. What was it like cashing in poker’s biggest event?
It was the second time I’ve played it, and making a deep run was so exciting. The whole tournament was the most fun I’ve had playing poker in my life. Harrington was at my first table, and when he smiled and told me I was bullying him, I felt like my poker career was coming full circle, since his first book was my Bible in the early days.
I also love how many different people I was fortunate enough to meet during the course of the tournament, which is actually one of my favorite things about poker! So many different people are drawn to the game, and even though we’re opponents, we’re all bonded by a love of the game. The amount of support I got was really touching to me, from the Grindettes and other friends coming to rail me, to the people who tweeted words of encouragement. It was a moving experience!
When I busted, I tweeted something like “Out with AA versus TT all in pre, had a blast!” Which I think some people interpreted as sarcasm when it wasn’t meant to be. While I was of course sad to be out, I loved poker more than ever; though it did sting a bit when the cashier said, “Oh, you just bubbled a $4k pay jump!”
You also had a 27th-place finish in Event #54: $1,000 NLHE just prior to the Main Event. Can you tell us a little about that event and what it meant to you?
I think that cash was for about $15K, and I took third in a Venetian Deep Stack close to the Main Event for just under $25K. That was a fun experience too, because for some reason people were constantly trying to bluff me. That’s one real difference between live and online; I’ve found that people try to bluff me live much more frequently. Since I figured that a while ago, it’s become very profitable for me.
You’re a member of The Grindettes. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Katie Stone drew Jennifer Shahade, Jamie Kerstetter, and me together, and I feel so lucky to know all of them. They are all excellent poker players, and fun, dynamic women. We’re a strong support system for each other, and love doing goofy things like taking the sangria Jamie made with star fruit to the hot tub in our apartment complex in Mexico. We often email each other poker hands to discuss, and we’ve recently started offering coaching on our website.
You co-wrote The Superuser with your husband Collin Moshman. Can you tell us a little about the book and what inspired it?
It was a long-term goal of ours to write a novel. Since Collin excels at thriller plotlines, and I enjoy working on character development, we thought collaboration would be natural. In order to adhere to the “write what you know” idiom, poker was a perfect backdrop, and the superuser scandal piqued our interest. We got to use some of the fun trips we’ve taken in the novel, and I particularly enjoyed writing about Monaco.
Once Black Friday happened, I was able to take the manuscript off the back burner and focus on editing it. One of my long-shot dreams would be seeing it turned into a movie. The more poker is in mainstream entertainment, the more players we can have at the tables!
And what about the other book you co-authored, “Pro Poker Strategy: The Top Skills”?
We wanted a concise poker book that would be useful for those looking to improve their poker game in the least amount of time. It was important to us that it was also useful for more advanced players as a refresher. We’re proud to have a quality poker book out for well under $5.
Speaking of Moshman, can you tell us the story of the two of you?
Believe it or not, we met at a poker game in college, not long after we’d both started playing. Considering that he was an economics grad student and I was then a music undergrad, it’s very lucky that we met in such a huge campus. So, no matter how the cards fall on the felt, I’ll always feel that I’ve run very well in life!
Poker has always been a large part of our relationship. I still remember the conversation we had when he told me he was dropping out of grad school to play SNGs full-time, and I fully supported him. Soon after he satellited into the European Poker Tour Main in Monaco, and I managed to get my teachers to let me take exams a month early so that I could go. Right after we’d arrived, he got an email that confirmed TwoPlusTwo was going to publish Sit ‘n Go Strategy. I remember sitting out on the balcony, staring out at the Mediterranean Sea, and being thrilled that poker would always be a big part of our amazing life together. At home, whether in Rosarito or Vegas, we talk about hands so often that I think “poker” must be said over a hundred times a day on average at our house!
What are you upcoming plans as far as poker is concerned?
First of all, I want to continue to improve and become a better player, which is something I constantly strive to do. I also want to combine my love of travel with playing live poker in more exotic locales. Oh, and I just want to win the WSOP Main Event—that’s not too much to ask, is it?
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