Top Pair Podcast 321: Interview with Lena Evans
In episode 321 of the Top Pair Home Game Poker Podcast, Bruce Briggs and Robbie Strazynski welcome Lena Evans to the show. They discuss her career as a poker player as well as the numerous initiatives she’s behind, including Helix Poker and Poker League of Nations. In particular, she’s working hard to bring more women into the game of poker and have them playing not only in Ladies Events but in open tournament fields.
Plus, Bruce and Robbie fill you in on the ups and downs in their home games over the past couple weeks as well as a brief recap of Robbie’s trip to the Malta Poker Festival. Rather than a chuckle, this episode’s One Outer just relates a nice, heartwarming story that took place at a recent charity poker event.
Top Pair thanks their sponsors, J Design Cards and the Poker Notes Live mobile app for their support. Be sure to check ‘em out!
Show Time Stamps
| 00:21 | Synopsis |
| 1:10–21:09 | How Ya Runnin? |
| Bruce: “Breakeven” Bruce once again true to his name over two home game sessions. Having a lady join the home game raises the level of conversation from “locker room talk.” Shout out to a couple of listener Tweets. | |
| Robbie: Four poker sessions since last episode, unfortunately in the red for all four. Recap of a charity poker night fundraiser for Save a Child’s Heart. Also recapping a couple of fun €1/2 cash game sessions at the Portomasso Casino and Dragonara Casino – including the beauty of sitting next to a drunken Scotsman who showed his hole cards. Rarely play tournaments, but had the chance to play at the Israeli Poker Championship tournament at the Malta Poker Festival. | |
| 22:28–1:02:47 | Look Who We’ve Found (Interview with Lena Evans) |
| 23:45 | Exploring Lena’s Hendon Mob page, her two WSOP Circuit ring wins, and why she decided to transition from cash games into tournament poker around summertime 2016. |
| 27:41 | Lena grew up in a very traditional, conservative household; no exposure to gambling. She used to be a high-stakes blackjack player and became attracted to the social aspects of playing poker a little over a decade ago. She began playing in private home games in the San Diego area. |
| 29:30 | Explaining the reasons behind her preference for No Limit hold’em as opposed to other poker variants. |
| 32:55 | Lena founded the Helix Poker Tour. She explains what that entrepreneurial venture is all about as well as how they use home game platforms to send people to prestigious events like the WSOP. |
| 35:35 | How did Lena come up with the name “Helix” for her poker tour, and what makes it unique versus other poker tours? |
| 39:25 | Lena explains what Poker League of Nations (PLON) all about and how it came into being. The focus is on bringing more women into the game, but specifically with getting women to play in more open events. Their Facebook group has over the last eight months risen to over 3,300 members, 99.8% of which are women. |
| 43:00 | Poker League of Nations aims to share the stories of women in poker; not just the wins, but also deep runs. Members are very engaged; it’s not just group admins posting! |
| 44:45 | Lena talks about her history in hosting charity poker events, and the unique facet’s she’s able to help bring to them, including celebrity participation. |
| 47:04 | Lena discusses some of the interesting initiatives that Poker League of Nations is behind, including: hosting local staking events and leagues, which enable ladies home games to send participants via satellites to larger-scale tournaments, including mid-stakes buy-in events as well as higher buy-in events. These events take place all over the world. |
| 49:30 | Lena talks about a new program PLON has started with the aim of sending 50 women to the 2019 WSOP Main Event, a solid boost to the female participation numbers in the year’s #1 marquee event. |
| 56:03 | Lena shares a story of how she recently got to play poker with Boris Becker and Patrik Antonius at the Battle of Malta in the Pink October charity event. |
| 58:25 | (Teaser) Lena will soon be working together with Molly Bloom on a poker-related initiative to help promote women’s empowerment. |
| 1:02:58 | One Outer – A heartwarming story about how participants in a charity poker event helped cover the host’s “overlay.” |
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Follow hosts Bruce Briggs @toppair and Robbie Strazynski @cardplayerlife, also available via email: [email protected]
