Kristen Foxen, Jeanne David, and Starla Brodie were officially inducted into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame (WiPHOF) on Wednesday during a ceremony sponsored by PokerStars at the Plaza Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas.
Brodie, a two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, passed away in 2014. She was inducted as a pioneer in the game as she was one of the first women to have ever won an open WSOP event. A handful of her family members attended the ceremony, and her son, Daniel, gave an acceptance speech that brought the 150 or so attendees into an ovation.
Foxen couldn't make it to Las Vegas for the festivities as she is busy chasing her sixth WSOP bracelet in the Bahamas at the World Series of Poker Paradise (WSOPP). She gave an acceptance speech via PokerNews with an introduction from 2018 WiPHOF member Maria Ho.
"In my poker career, I decided I was pretty determined to try to show that women can compete. I just wanted to be as successful as I could be," Foxen, whose husband Alex Foxen is a surefire future Poker Hall of Fame member (as is she).
David's Lucky and Unlucky Day
Jeanne David
Tuesday was, shall we say, a strange day for David, one day before she received the greatest honor of her long poker career. She explained to PokerNews in a pre-ceremony interview how she went from bad luck to winning a ClubWPT Golden Passport into the $5 million freeroll that begins on Friday at Wynn Las Vegas.
"Yesterday was an interesting day," David said, beginning to tell a wild story. "When I found out that (Foxen) couldn't make it, I said to one of my friends, 'what happens if I get sick and can't make it? What happens if I get food poisoning?'"
David did wake up on Tuesday with a bout of food poisoning from her dinner the previous night. She became concerned the WiPHOF ceremony would have to go on without any of the inductees in attendance. But she began to feel better later that same day and she met some friends at Wynn where she knew was holding a drawing for ClubWPT Gold members to earn a seat into the historic freeroll.
The drawing awards more than just Golden Passports. Some players win free swag, while a few earned even bigger prizes, including a McLaren GTS luxury car. But David wasn't expecting to hit any of the most coveted prizes, and then she turned over the envelope to discover she'd won a Golden Passport and will be competing in the $5 million freeroll this weekend.
"I screamed because it was the Golden Passport, and I was so excited and everyone's congratulating me," she said.
Unfortunately, for the former PokerStars Head of Game Integrity, her day would take a turn for the worse. The mixed game specialist left Wynn and headed to Horseshoe to meet a friend, and that is where a taxi driver ran over her foot.
"He ran over my big toe. I have tire tracks to prove it," David explained.
She also has a boot on to prove the damage, but she was a trooper and made it to the Plaza the following day to give an acceptance speech in front of her many friends, including poker pros Karina Jett and Chip Jett, along with WiPHOF and Poker Hall of Famer Jan Fisher, the emcee for the event. Actress Jennifer Tilly and fellow WiPHOF member Lupe Soto both dazzled the crowd as well.
David is rare in that she's impacted the game both as a player and on the operator side. As the head of game integrity for years, she helped fight to convince lawmakers in Nevada that poker is a game of skill.
"For me just to get into the Hall is a shock, it really was, and I am so honored about this," the new WiPHOF member said.
David had a mostly no good, very bad, horrible day on Tuesday. She got sick and broke her foot. But she did win a seat in the largest freeroll in poker history and she received the honor of a lifetime the following day. So, it hasn't been all bad. Things could get even better for her if she wins the $1 million first place prize in the historic event, which takes place during the WPT World Championship festival.
