A Seat at the Table: How Jen Shahade’s Initiatives Have Helped Women Excel in Poker
Hear from Women in Poker Hall of Fame nominee Jen Shahade about her pioneering efforts to help women worldwide get into poker.
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In her decade and a half in the industry, Jen Shahade has done more for women in poker than most can claim.
From pioneering a PokerStars Women initiative to facilitating women’s boot camps and winning a GPI award for a poignant piece about secondary infertility and poker, it is no surprise to see the poker and chess pro among the eight nominees for the Women in Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2024, including Kristen Foxen, Liv Boeree, Annette Obrestad, Jamie Kerstetter and others.
PokerNews spoke with Shahade to get her reaction to being nominated and discuss her extensive poker career, which has seen her help countless women get into the game.
Reaction to Being Nominated
It was Kerstetter who first told Shahade she was being considered for the Hall of Fame alongside bracelet winners, high-stakes crushers and other pioneering players. “When she texted me to say that she and I had both gotten nominated, it was definitely an exciting surprise,” Shahade told PokerNews.
“It’s sensational because I’m always looking to showcase the positive side of poker, and I think that every woman on the list is really exemplary of that.”
As a top competitor in multiple mind sports, Shahade recognizes the legitimacy that the WiPOF and Poker Hall of Fame both bring to the game. “Because we always are struggling to be seen for what we love about poker: the community, the mind sport and the constant challenge.”
“A Seat at the Table Requires Money”
Coming from a family that loved games, Shahade found an instant connection with poker and “immediately loved the culture because the idea of traveling to play a game and to connect with an intellectually like-minded community is something that I grew up with.”
Shahade started playing online but “immediately loved the live environment as well.” However, she struggled to travel to big events because “a lot of the events I wanted to play were beyond my budget at the time.”
“And so I see that as a definite difficulty for a lot of women who are trying to get into the game. That, of course, can apply to all genders. But seeing that there’s a wealth gap and a wage gap, obviously it affects women more. So I’ve always been really conscious of that and I think that poker is kind of a metaphor for the way in which women can excel and become so great and make such great contributions, but they need to have a seat at the table. And sometimes, a seat at the table requires money.”
Women’s Initiatives Over the Years
Before Black Friday, Shahade was part of a PokerStars Women initiative that enabled her to travel to her first big live stops in places like the Bahamas and London. She reflected on this initiative as a “precedent” to many of the women’s initiatives seen in the poker world today.
A decade and a half later, Shahade is now an ambassador for PokerStars and still looking for ways to help women get into poker.
Last year, the site partnered with Poker Power (who Shahade is also an ambassador for) on Women’s Bootcamps that saw Shahade and fellow ambassadors Lali Tournier and Georgina “GJReggie” James mentor the participants and the winners earning trips to European Poker Tour (EPT) Prague and Cyprus.
“So many of the women who have played in those are still really serious about poker and they are going on the tour to different EPTS,” Shahade said. “It’s really exciting to watch.”
Those participants include Chess Master Sabrina Chevannes and Judy Whitlow, who discovered poker in her 70s.
“So it’s really great to see people who have this kind of latent interest and talent for poker,” said Shahade.
Shahade has also been a vocal advocate for women in chess. In September 2023, she resigned as the woman’s program director at the U.S. Chess Federation due to hostility she faced in her role after coming forward with allegations of sexual assault against a Grand Master.
Trending Upward
Shahade has had a hand in upcoming initiatives. The NAPT Las Vegas festival’s Ladies Event offers a guaranteed prize pool of $30,000 and November’s inaugural PokerStars Women’s Winter Festival in London will feature a £1,100 buy-in High Roller event.
It may be the first women-only high roller event Shahade has seen on a festival schedule, “But it’s not going to be the last.”
“I’m sure of it,” she said. “I’m sure that’s going to be a trend now as well.”
There have been other high points for women in poker over the years. Shahade pointed out that though both Loose Cannons on last year’s season of The Big Game on Tour were women, their gender was hardly the show’s focus.
“I really liked that. And I feel like that’s a trend, too, that when women at the table being great becomes more normal, the fact that they’re women isn’t necessarily the main thing that’s highlighted. And I definitely think that’s a good sign that we see that happening more and more often.”
Getting Personal
Shahade’s contributions to poker over the years have earned her two Global Poker Awards. The first came in 2019 in the Best Podcast category, but it is her 2022 award for Best Media Content: Written that she holds closest to her heart.
To win that award, she penned a deeply personal essay in The Wall Street Journal about poker and secondary infertility, which she noted was written “from a very feminist viewpoint” to describe “the way that poker can teach us lessons about risk and the role of luck in life.”
“I felt like that one was really meaningful to me, getting that award and also just getting a chance to write that article, because it really kind of showed what poker has taught me, not only as a player but also as an advocate for women.”
Voting is open for the Women in Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2024 until midnight PST on October 30, 2024
Connor Richards is an Editor & Live Reporter for PokerNews and host of the Life Outside Poker podcast. Connor has been nominated for two Global Poker Awards for his writing.
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