Second Life on the Felt
Kathy Waterhouse does not fit the image of a tournament grinder, but her opponents would do well not to underestimate her. A native of Port Richmond, Philadelphia, Waterhouse now lives in Brigantine, NJ, just across the bridge from Atlantic City.
“My family growing up, we were all game players. Board games, card games, you name it. If it was raining, we’d all be on the porch playing games,” Waterhouse says.
After meeting her husband, Barry, at Temple University, completing her degree in what was then called Personnel Administration (better known today as Human Resources) at University of Texas, and raising two children, Waterhouse went on to a 30-year career in Marketing and Recruiting for technical roles in both the corporate and academic sectors. Retiring in 2012, Waterhouse says, “It wasn’t long before I found myself in need of a hobby.”
“My mother and father,” she says, “were gamblers. My aunts and uncles, too. And my father was one of those who believed women couldn’t do what men could, you know, like playing sports. Well, I defied him. I played soccer ‘til I was 38.”
Like many, Waterhouse found her way to poker through like-minded friends. She played cash at first but found the swings a bit much and turned to tournament poker. Over the years she has amassed over $61,000 in career earnings in the past decade, but confesses that her love for the game is all about the competition.
“During the Covid shutdown, everything around here was closed. My best friend, Marie, and other friends would all go down to Maryland Live together to play. They had the mask rule and plexiglass dividers, but at least we could play.”
Waterhouse started Day 2 of the $400 PokerNews PowerStack as the shortest stack in the room with just 16,000 chips. After an early double-up, Waterhouse finished 113th out of 981 runners for a payday of $875 when she ran her Ax8x into an opponent holding AxKx.
When not on the felt, the 72-year-old enjoys time with Bruno, her chihuahua, and two grandchildren.