PokerStars is showing its support of women in poker with the announcement its newest ambassador, London-based player and industry insider Kerryjane Craigie. As an Ambassador for Women in Poker, Craigie will spearhead efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in poker.
To help celebrate the new appointment of Craigie as Ambassador for Women in Poker, PokerStars will be hosting a dinner party at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas during the Ladies Event, which runs from Jun 28 – Jul 1. The celebration will coincide with the dinner break on Day 1 of the the bracelet event.
“I am delighted and honoured to be given the opportunity to promote and support women in poker as a PokerStars ambassador,” said Craigie. “I truly believe that the mindset that PokerStars has and their belief in making a difference is on point in today’s environment. Launching an active program for Women in Poker with initiatives to encourage, support, and promote this game we all love is as exciting as it gets.”
“There are complex moments at a poker table when someone in a minority, and not just talking gender, feels uncomfortable,” Craigie continued. “It’s time to make that a thing of the past, and we can all make a conscious change. I’m beyond thrilled to be a part of it and raring to go!”
Craigie joins the ambassador team at PokerStars after more than 10 years with the Hippodrome in London where she has helped the poker room, run as a collaboration with PokerStars, grow into one of the premiere poker destinations in London.
Network with Poker Greats
The special Ladies Night Ambassador Reception will provide an opportunity for attendees the chance to meet and mingle with the new PokerStars ambassador.
Designed as a networking event to bring women in the industry together, the 60-minute reception will also feature PokerStars pro and chess queen Jen Shahade who turned her chess mastery into poker success, as well as author and poker star Maria Konnikova, giving the public a chance to network with some of the top players in PokerStars’ stable.
Capacity for the networking dinner is limited to 100 people, and tickets will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
To request a ticket, you will need to fill out this form. For additional details on the special dinner party, check out the PokerStars blog.
Meet the Ambassadors
The Women in Poker Networking Dinner is mostly about giving women in poker a place to network during the biggest women’s event on the annual poker calendar. However, getting the chance to meet and chat with new ambassador Craigie, as well as Shahade and Konnikova, all of whom know what it takes for a woman to succeed in the game, is a huge bonus.
While attendees will have the chance to get more details in person, here is a quick look at the three headliners for the evening:
Kerryjane Craigie
Craigie began her ascent in the poker world in 2012 as the poker room manager for the Hippodrome Casino in London. That joint collaboration with PokerStars was her introduction to the company, and she quickly turned the room into the go-to spot for poker in the UK capital.
Over more than a decade, she grew the room, and the partnership flourished with her eventually emerging as the Director of Poker at the Hippodrome Casino. In 2023, she joined the board of the Women’s Poker Association (WPA) where she heads the global component of the “Raise it Up” campaign.
She is more than just an industry player, however. Craigie has a UKIPT title on her resume, as well as a runner-up finish in the WSOP Casino Employee’s event in 2016 along with other accolades for total tournament winnings close to $100k. In 2014, Craigie founded the Ladies Club which meets monthly to share strategy, mindset tips, and experiences in the game.
Jen Shahade
With nearly $500k in live tournament winnings to her name, Jen Shahade is always a threat at the tables, but initially, she was focused on a 64-square board instead of a field of green felt. Shahade began her competitive life in the chess world, and quickly became a rising star in the game.
At 18, she became the first woman to win the U.S. Junior Open and she followed that up with two wins in the U.S. Women’s Chess Championship. She published her first book in 2005, Chess Bitch: Women in the Ultimate Intellectual Sport and has three other titles to her name including Chess Queens: The True Story of a Chess Champion and the Greatest Female Players of All Time from 2022.
After pivoting to poker, she joined PokerStars in 2014 as the MindSports Ambassador and she’s represented PokerStars ever since. She also hosts the Global Poker Award-winning GRID podcast.
Maria Konnikova
Maria Konnikova’s journey to the poker world started with an interest in game theory. With an undergraduate degree from Harvard and a Ph.D in psychology from Columbia, she began her career in media and writing.
She was a producer for the Charlie Rose Show as a well as a columnist for Scientific American and she has three books to her name including The Biggest Bluff from 2020 which looks at her journey into the world of poker.
Unlike most players, she approaches the game less as a gamble, and more as a study of psychology, and her approach appears to work. She took down the PCA National in 2018 in the Bahamas, just a year after she started taking the game seriously.
Poker mentor Eric Seidel was surely a big help to her in smoothing out the learning curve, but her analytical mind and focus on psychology and game theory make the victories all hers. To date, she has two wins on the live felt and a bit more than $620k in live tournament winnings.
The chance to pick Konnikova’s brain, along with the formidable talents of Shahade and Craigie, make the Women in Poker Networking Dinner the event of the season for women players serious aboutpoker. Secure your ticket now.
