Billie Martin: From Road Gamblers to The Lodge

Few people have the unique experience and perspective on the Texas poker scene as much as Billie Martin, who has seen poker in Texas grow from the underground scene to the filled hall of The Lodge Card Club in 2026.

Martin came to play the RunGood Poker Series for the first time and shared with PokerNews her unique story and a slice of poker history as she generously shared her photos of legends of the industry.

Martin’s relationship with poker dates back to the 1980s when she met her then-boyfriend Johnny Joseph, who was a local gambler in the Austin scene. Martin knew little to nothing about poker at the time, but her partner Joseph was a fixture of the Austin poker community. It was during this period that Martin was introduced to now legends of poker such as: Benny Binion, Doyle Brunson, Billy Baxter, Stu Ungar, and Jack Binion.

To Martin, it was just another day, and she shared that at the time, these legendary poker names were just people she had met playing a no-limit deuce to seven game. Martin shared that she was just taking normal photos of people and didn’t have any aspirations or perspective that these photos would be a piece of poker history.

“No, I didn’t. You know, it would be like me taking a picture of you. It’s like no big deal. You walk past these people all day long,” said Martin, reflecting on her experience meeting some legends of the game.

Martin’s particular prized treasure is a signed copy of Brunson’s Super System that is a trove of the who’s who of poker legends, including Benny Binion, Brunson, and Unger.

Martin was particularly proud of the signature from Unger, whom she had fond memories of as a player.

“He was brilliant,” Martin said. “The guy never slowed down.”

Martin’s perspective on poker is unique, as she has seen the poker culture in Texas come out from the dark and into the light. She reflected that playing games in Texas was a risky proposition for coniserable time and is thankful that the poker scene has gone from the backroom to the vibrant scene it is currently.

“The poker scene in Austin was actually really scary because there were a lot of games that got held up,” Martin said. Factors such as these meant that poker was relegated to when she would visit Las Vegas, but now that the local poker has grown, Martin feels comfortable with staying close to home.

Martin shared that she has no desire to leave Texas poker now, after living through an era where playing poker locally was a dubious if not unattractive proposition, but she did share that the poker scene isn’t as close-knit as it was during the late 1980s and early 1990s and still has a fondness for that period of poker history.

“It’s not as intimate as it used to be,” Martin said. “I was truly blessed to have witnessed that era.”