Linda Swears Isn't Playing Alone

There were no Tag Team events yesterday, but Linda Swears wasn't playing alone.

Swears lost her boyfriend, fellow poker player Jordan Fishman, last Fall. The retired professor from Massachusetts had $184,433 in poker tournament earnings, highlighted by a victory in the Eastern Poker Open High Roller for $45,000.

Swears, who herself has $223,825 in earnings, was on the rail for that victory, and Fishman credited her with helping him improve his game.

“She had a more conservative style, and I was more aggressive," he said after the April 2025 victory. "We meshed our games together. Without her, it wouldn’t be as much fun.”

"That was a moment for him," remembered Swears.

Fishman passed away last October after suffering an unexpected cardiac event. Less than a year later, Swears is playing in his honor at the Potomac Summer Poker Open. In yesterday's $500 Seniors event, she played with a coin card protector printed with an image of her late partner and the words "Always loved, forever with me."

Swears has already felt Fishman's presence. When PokerNews pulled her away from the table, she had just been dealt pocket queens.

"And he always called me his queen. So he's here. He's here with me all the time."

Swears is back and grinding in Day 1a of the $500 Monumental stack, and she still has her special card protector in front of her.