The poker odyssey of Poker Momma June Jenkins
We could listen to June Jenkins tell poker stories all day, and thankfully, after a more-than-decade-long love affair with the game, she’d never run out. A “Poker Momma” to many, the Canadian has an unrivalled passion for poker, a game she says changed her entire life.
Jenkins is currently on what she describes as a “poker odyssey”, a cards-and-friends-fuelled vacation that’s taken her to multiple destinations across Europe. It started with a trip to Malta to catch up with old friends and play some poker. While there she spotted the UKIPT Nottingham stop, so hopped on a plane and made her way to Dusk Till Dawn, where we speak.
But before her bags were even packed for Malta, she got online and won the very first satellite on PokerStars for the Women’s Winter Festival. In doing so, she won a package allowing her to bring a guest, and for Jenkins, that perk is worth more than playing.
“It lets me bring my friend Jan as my plus one,” she says. “So I’m very excited about that, more than anything really.”
Jan is Jan Combes, mother of respected British pro Charles “JIZOINT” Combes, and an experienced player in her own right. Jenkins and Combes first “met” in the PokerStars chat box as they both grinded online satellites for live events. They became fast friends, despite playing from their homes thousands of miles apart, and in 2016 Combes won a package to the UKIPT/ESPT Marbella, inviting Jenkins along as her plus one. “I had a really nice trip,” she remembers. “I really love the PokerStars events.”
“PokerStars treated us like queens [at the PCA], and we loved our necklaces.” – June Jenkins
FINDING CONFIDENCE
Jenkins remembers watching her family play cards when she was still in the high chair. “My father loved to play poker,” she says. “When I was four we’d play stud and make up poker games.”
But it wasn’t until around 2012 that she learned how to play no limit hold’em. “My mom was getting dementia so I started taking her to the church for seniors’ card games,” she says. “One of the gentlemen there asked if I played Texas Hold’em and I said no, so he offered to teach me.”
Despite initially declining his offer, a hip injury at the gym gave Jenkins all the downtime she’d need to pick up a new hobby. She took Larry up on his offer and eventually joined a bar league which she won, even making the national championships. “That’s how I started playing on PokerStars,” she says. “We’d play a $2.20 game on a Friday night and from there I won a freeroll to a World Poker Tour (WPT) event in Montreal for a $3,500 package.”
“It’s not about guarantees. It’s not about meeting famous players. It’s about getting out of the house, escaping the day-to-day tedium.” – June Jenkins talking to PokerStars Blog at UKIPT Nottingham
To prepare, Jenkins went to Las Vegas and entered a $200 Women’s Event at Binions. She remembers shaking with nerves as she entered but ended up chopping it four ways with three women who are in the Poker Hall of Fame. “I learned more about poker that day than any other because I was under fierce competition,” she says. “From there my confidence went up.”
“I AM LIVING THE DREAM” – JUNE JENKINS
Since that first trip to Marbella, June Jenkins and Jan Combes have travelled to many events together, all thanks to chatting while playing. It’s something that Jenkins feels has been lost with the introduction of Throwables and the increase in speed during gameplay.
“I met so many wonderful women from that because we had the chat going on during the game, which was very important to networking and support,” she says. “For me, having been a single mum… as a woman, you’ll always have way more domestic responsibilities than men. So having these satellites online for women was huge. For me, it was very much life-changing.”
Jenkins has played poker events around the world
Despite major improvements, from Women’s Events at festivals like the PCA (“PokerStars treated us like queens”) to entire events like next week’s Women’s Winter Festival in London, Jenkins hopes even more will be done to bring women into the game.
“Women can be at home, still attending to their domestic responsibilities, and have a chance to chill out and play online, while having the exciting possibility of a live package,” she says. “These women will win a wave of interest when their friends see them travelling.
“It’s not about guarantees. It’s not about meeting famous players. It’s about getting out of the house, escaping the day-to-day tedium. It’s about living the dream. I know this is true because I am living the dream.”
Jenkins tried her luck in an All-In Shootout at UKIPT Nottingham
SOCIAL CAPITAL IS WORTH FAR MORE
She continues: “When it comes down to it, people play poker for three different reasons: For revenue, if they’re playing for their income stream. For ego, if they’re a business person. Then there’s the greater number of us who play for social capital. Social capital has more value than money because if you have that kind of connection with people, it’s worth far more than a couple of hundred bucks.”
Next up for Jenkins? A trip to see a Canadian friend who lives 40 minutes up the road from Nottingham. Then it’s down to London and the Hippodrome Casino for the Women’s Winter Festival, where she’ll meet up with Jan Combes and dozens of women she’s grown close to over years of playing, from the chat rooms online to meet-ups at events around the world.
We look forward to hearing the stories from that event the next time we see her.
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