Many couples experience natural difficulties when they balance married life with their separate careers, trying to find financial security and job satisfaction while taking the time to nurture the complexities and nuances of love. What happens when they throw a poker career into the mix and both people in the relationship have that same job? What ensues is an interesting situation, to say the least.

Poker, in and of itself, is a difficult sport and an even more challenging career. When a person chooses to commit himself or herself to playing poker for a living, the demands are more complex than many other professions. Besides the fluctuating periods of financial stability or lack thereof, there is no healthcare and few 40-hour weeks with weekends off. Moreover, tournament play requires a great deal of travel, which means additional expenses and time away from home. The benefits, however, are many according to the players. With unlimited freedom and control over their schedules and finances, combined with the world’s increasing respect for poker players and the business opportunities that coincide, this is the ideal career. And to have a partner that understands and shares those experiences, life is good.

Players on the World Poker Tour all come into your living rooms with their share of interesting and unique family stories, but only a few come with a significant other who shares their profession. Though the couples generally don’t view their situations with much exception, they all consider themselves lucky and enjoy sharing poker with their partners. As the saying goes, those who play together, stay together. The stories that follow contain wisdom about life, love, and poker that only these unique couples can provide. Some of the individuals are the biggest names on the World Poker Tour, and some are their significant others, but by the end of the WPT’s exciting fourth season, you may not be able to tell the difference.

The Jetts
You might call them two peas in a pod. Karina and Chip Jett, both now 31 years old, seemed made for each other from their first meeting, which was arranged five years ago by a mutual friend in Tunica, Mississippi. Both playing poker at the Gold Coast, they were introduced and agreed to go to a strip club called Platinum Plus to get acquainted. This was a unique first date for two unique individuals. At that time, Karina had been playing poker for 10 years. She was raised in a Vietnamese household in Las Vegas, where a poker game can be found around almost every corner. Her parents loved card games and taught her to play poker at a young age. “I used to sit at the dinner table and listen to their bad beat stories,” she recalls. “Poker was always in my life.”

Similarly, Chip had been playing poker for almost 12 years. Though his parents didn’t exactly encourage a career in the gaming industry, they supported their son in all of his endeavors. When he decided to use his skills at the poker table to build a career, Chip found strength in his family’s approval. With a smile he says, “They always thought it was neat when I was playing for a living, even when I wasn’t making very much money at all.”

Karina and Chip hit it off immediately and were married within a year. Chip moved from Arizona to Karina’s hometown of Las Vegas, and they began to travel the world playing poker. While Chip specialized in tournaments, Karina spent her time at casinos around the globe playing the cash games. Between the two of them, the poker world was being double-teamed by the Jetts. Though much of their lives revolve around poker, the true center of their universe is a little girl named Athena. When Karina took a short break from poker to give birth to their daughter two years ago, a life change may have seemed in order for the Jett family. However, after a few months, Athena simply began traveling with her parents, adding Karina’s mother to the caravan to help with babysitting. “It’s pretty much all she’s ever known,” says Karina, referring to her daughter’s life on the road. And while some may suggest that the effect a child can have on a poker player’s level of concentration and focus is negative, Chip and Karina have found the opposite result. “She’s a positive influence on us,” Karina says. “She puts things in perspective for us. When we do lose a lot of money or we are down, we come home to this baby who knows nothing about what happened. We realize that poker isn’t the end of the world. It’s about her.”

Future plans for the Jetts include less travel for tournament play when their daughter begins to attend school, especially for Karina. Since most of her livelihood consists of cash games, staying home in Vegas will still allow her to work regularly and allow stability for Athena. Chip may continue to play tournaments in various locations, but he plans to reduce his time away from home. In the interim, this dynamic duo of poker continues to maintain a hectic travel schedule. Chip aggressively pursues more championship titles to add to his already impressive resume. Though he has placed numerous times at the World Series of Poker and been featured at two World Poker Tour final tables, he fervently seeks the ever-elusive WSOP bracelet and WPT champion title. And Karina is usually content with her winning ways in live poker games around the world, although she is always prepared to secure some prize money in tournament play as well. Meanwhile, Karina and Chip Jett combine their poker careers with parenting and maintaining a successful five-year marriage, making it look all too simple. They admit that they’ve had to overcome obstacles, but they are lucky to have each other.
“It’s great having someone who really understands the highs and lows of poker, that has been there and is able to understand when I talk about a hand or why I get upset if I get knocked out of a big tournament,” Chip says.

Mr. and Mrs. Grinder
Young love is refreshing, and that’s what strikes you about Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi and his fiancée, Aidilay (Lily) Elviro. Both in their early 20s, they’ve been together for two years and are planning a spring 2006 wedding. When asked if the date is set, Michael responds, “Supposedly, it’s May 7th.” Lily smirks saying, “May 7th is the date.” Thus, the loving banter that takes place between this couple. They met at the Seminole Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Though Michael had been a highly successful online poker player since his late teens, he deemed it necessary to hold a legitimately-paying job for tax purposes and took a job as a poker dealer. As he walked across the casino during a break, he saw Lily at another table. Michael recalls, “I was like, ‘Wow, look at that beautiful girl dealing.’”

He started a conversation with her and discovered a true mutual interest in poker. They began dating. Once the love connection took place, Michael and Lily were inseparable. Michael, though, was getting restless — in the poker world, that is. He had mastered online poker and was making a substantial living but wanted to take his game to the next level. A trip to Las Vegas in the summer of 2004 made it clear that tournament poker was his new calling. At the same time, Lily was staying home in Florida, pregnant with their first child. Although Michael was traveling to some tournaments alone during those months, he was home for the birth of their son, Paul William, in the fall of 2004. Their deep love, their biggest motivation for making a good living from poker, and their greatest link to each other took the form of that baby boy. As Michael set out on the road again to pursue tournament wins, the miles between them were rough.

“When I can’t be with him,” Lily says, “we miss each other. That’s the hardest part.” But Michael was determined not to let poker keep him from his family. When he won the World Poker Tour’s L.A. Poker Classic $1.8 million, he immediately purchased a luxurious tour bus with his winnings so Lily and their baby could travel around the country with him. The only thing that could have made Michael and Lily closer in love and life was to share a profession, which came about by chance, or fate, as some might have called it.

When in Reno in early 2005 for a WPT tournament, Lily recalls, “It was spontaneous. He told me to play a single table satellite, and I won it.” After battling down to 27th place in that event, she knew that this was only the beginning of her career alongside Michael. Lily gained such a reputation for skilled play in her first few months on the tournament circuit that the WPT invited her to play at the final table of its Ladies Night in the summer of 2005. She made it to heads-up action against Jennifer Tilly, and with the tables turned, Michael sat in the audience cheering her on. Though he is Lily’s biggest fan, Michael had some tough, if not transparently sarcastic, words regarding heads-up play between him and his fiancé. “She can’t win.” The basis for this poker couple’s energetic and playful relationship consists of a mutual interest in poker, love for family, and personalities that click in an endearing way.

With a second baby due in several months and a wedding being planned, Michael and Lily are well on their way to showing the world that love and poker are the keys to happiness.

Jennifer & Marco
Love at first sight, they claimed it was. In the parking lot of the Bellagio in Las Vegas, a handsome Italian man sees a beautiful, petite woman and asks her to spend time with him at a nightclub. That was the beginning of a romantic, albeit short courtship between superstar poker player Jennifer Harman and world-renowned hairdresser Marco Traniello. They were married less than two months later. When Jennifer met Marco, there was instant chemistry.
Despite the fact that she had just lost $50,000 in a poker game at the Bellagio and it was two o’clock in the morning, she was drawn to him in that parking garage. “He was really charming.” she recalls. With her instincts in gear, she spent the wee hours of that morning at a nightclub with him, followed by a week of dating. Within weeks, he asked her to marry him over dinner, and they were wed that same evening. “I got married in jeans and a black shirt,” she says with a smile. “And we have Polaroids!”

Five years later, Jennifer’s instincts, the same instincts that have elevated her to the upper echelon of poker players, remain in tact as is obvious by her enduring marriage to Marco. Their closeness is clear to anyone who sees or speaks to them. The only issue that ever posed a problem in their relationship was Jennifer’s career as a poker player. Though Marco was well aware of her profession from the first moment they met, his understanding of the game and its intricacies took time. “When I was on a losing streak, that’s probably the only time we ever argued,” she thinks for a moment. “Not argued, fought.”

However, with the help of her friends like Daniel Negreanu and Howard Lederer, Marco listened to explanations of the ups and downs of the poker business and came to understand. And it was an obstacle no more. Marco’s interest in poker soon moved to the next phase. Though he spent a great deal of time managing and working at his own hair salon in Las Vegas, he watched Jennifer play poker as much as possible. “He watched me in the big game forever,” she says. “The first week that he watched me, I knew he had talent.” His comments about other players and hands were surprising in their accuracy, and she knew that he had the talent to play. At the 2005 World Series of Poker, Marco spoke up. Jennifer recalls, “He said, ‘Ya know what? I think I’m ready to play. I want to play all of the Hold ‘em events at the Series.’ And I said, ‘Go for it!’”

They both played in a number of tournaments, resulting in Jennifer placing in the money at five events and Marco in seven. “I was so excited that he was doing well, that I was doing well, too!” Jennifer explains. “It might have taken a little bit away from [my concentration], but who cares? It was just so exciting.” And a new phase of their marriage began. Marco recently sold his hair salon in order to concentrate more on playing poker, and Jennifer couldn’t be more pleased with the freedom that comes with his decision. Besides being thrilled for her husband’s new career choice and all of the promise that it holds, she looks forward to “the ability to do what we want, spend more time together when we want, and go on vacation.”

Furthermore, she plans on helping him through his career. “I’ve been through the pain [of losing streaks], and he’ll go through it. He’s very intense, and I know the right things to tell him.” For those who say that there is no luck in poker, the only other word for Jennifer and Marco’s relationship is fate. From a chance meeting in a casino garage to a mutual admiration for the game of poker, they seemed to be made for each other. “[We] have such a good relationship,” she says with a wide smile. “We’re best friends.”

Juan Carlos Mortensen & Cecelia Reyes
Sometimes, two people are fortunate to find true love at an early age and watch it grow over the years. Juan Carlos Mortensen and Cecelia Reyes are those two individuals, and their relationship- turned-marriage has a likeness to a fairy tale in its depth and perseverance. They have grown and matured together, making gainful careers for themselves in the unconventional world of poker. When they met in their late teens in Madrid, Spain, their plans for the future never included becoming one of the premier couples of poker. Juan Carlos met Cecelia after having moved to Spain from his country of birth, Ecuador. He finished high school and enrolled in college while working several jobs to pay for the house that he shared with Cecelia. One of those mundane jobs was bartending, though it turned out to be a means to an end; the bar was where he was introduced to poker. In less than a week, he was taken with the game.

With the support of his wife, Cecelia, Juan Carlos ventured into a life of poker, playing cash games wherever possible and building a reasonable bankroll. Since poker was technically illegal in Spain at the time, he took his winnings and periodically traveled to the United States to play. Finally, with skill and passion on his side, he and Cecelia moved to Las Vegas in order for him to pursue a full- time poker career. Though a somewhat risky decision, his confidence and support system, namely his wife, inspired him. Juan Carlos and Cecelia had a difficult time when they first arrived in America, considering their inability to speak English and their fluctuating finances. However, Carlos soon made his mark on the American tournament circuit, placing seventh at the World Series of Poker in 2000, then winning the bracelet at the main championship event the following year. One of the most prominent wins for Carlos came at the World Poker Tour’s Doyle Brunson North American Championship in 2004, an internationally televised event.

Throughout Juan Carlos’ rise, Cecelia was watching. Beyond simply supporting her husband, she was paying attention to the cards, the strategy, and the tells. With some added coaching from Juan Carlos, she began to master the game in her own right. By 2002, she was playing in the WSOP and capturing her first title in 2003 at the Jack Binion World Poker Open. She went on to acquit herself admirably in the WPT’s Ladies Night III. This young, energetic poker duo has become known in the poker world for their class, as well as their expertise. Though they each like to be known for their own talents, there is no avoiding the fact that Juan Carlos and Cecelia support each other without fail. When one is playing at a final table, the other is there to applaud their good plays and lament over bad beats.

Marsha Waggoner &  Kenna James
A difference in age? “I’d like to keep you guessing a bit,” Marsha taunts. Varying experience in the poker world? Only about 20 years. Children from other relationships? One has two sons under 15 years old, and the other has three adult children and several grandchildren. Varying backgrounds? One was born and raised in Australia, and the other in Chicago. Though the two people may sound worlds apart in many respects, love transcends society’s boundaries. The marriage of Marsha Waggoner and Kenna James, two highly-respected poker players, couldn’t be more natural or appropriate. What Marsha and Kenna do share, most obviously, is a love for the game of poker. “We met playing poker, actually,” Marsha shares, “at the Hollywood Park Casino.” Marsha, who had been playing on a professional level for 25 years at the time, met Kenna at the Los Angeles cardroom where he was working as a tournament director. He was ready to make the switch to full-time play, and Marsha gave him the support he needed to complete the transition. Almost immediately, Kenna made an impact on the tournament circuit by placing in a number of events and winning tournaments in Los Angeles by 2002.

At the same time, Marsha began to experience health problems, specifically a brain aneurysm that required major surgery and a significant recovery period. “It took me awhile to fully recover from that,” Marsha recalls. “So, I slowed down a lot as far as my playing went.” Kenna continued to play tournaments, though mostly in or near the L.A. area to stay close to Marsha. Together, surviving those difficult times, it only seemed to strengthen their bond. Four years into their relationship, they married. What has been the secret to their successful years together? Lessons from their careers in poker that turn out to be universal in purpose. Marsha clarifies, “It looks like you have an easy living [in poker], but it’s a tough job. You have to weather a lot of storms. You have to keep a calmness in your life.” The key to keeping that calmness in their lives is family. Marsha’s adult children are not only proud of their mother, but of her successful career, as well. Kenna’s two young children, seven- and 13-year old boys from a prior marriage, are also a huge part of their lives. With this couple’s cheering section including children, grandchildren, and even Kenna’s ex-in-laws, support and love are not lacking in any way. A mutual passion for poker and each other brought these extraordinary players together, and a unique outlook on life keeps their marriage strong.

Phil Laak & Jennifer Tilly
He is known for wearing dark sunglasses and a hooded sweatshirt — a look strikingly similar to the Unabomber, a well-known felon imprisoned for his unspeakable crimes. He is also known as a poker champion with a very unique style and innate skills that separate him from other players. His name is Phil Laak. She is known for her acting roles in such high profile movies as Bullets Over Broadway, for which she won an Oscar nomination, The Fabulous Baker Boys and Liar Liar, as well as B-movies like Bride of Chucky and a variety of television roles and appearances, including the CBS show Out of Practice. She is also known as a burgeoning poker star who has surprised the gaming world with her adeptness and passion for poker. Her name is Jennifer Tilly.

Together, Phil and Jennifer have become one of the most famous couples in poker today. Both with very unique and distinctly recognizable personalities, their different lifestyles and backgrounds seemed to blend rather easily. They compliment and feed off of each other in ways that are interesting to watch, to say the least. Prior to their meeting, Phil had been playing card games since childhood. His high level of intelligence and analytical abilities drew him to games of skill throughout his life, the first being backgammon where he became a world-class player. But the discovery of poker, with all of its logic and complexities, drew him immediately and provided a natural career choice. He began winning tournaments in 2002, and he has been on a non-stop course ever since.

Jennifer, on the other hand, had played poker for about 15 years as a form of entertainment with friends. She never considered playing in tournaments or learning the intricacies of the game, that is until she met Phil. When the World Poker Tour chose their list of invited players for the 2004 Invitational tournament, Jennifer was chosen as she had participated in the WPT’s Hollywood Home Game earlier in the year. Her efforts at the event showed much more than a casual interest in the game, as her competitiveness became obvious to those who watched her play. One of those who took notice was another invited player, Phil, who actually won the event. They began a conversation there that led to a friendship and subsequent love connection. Whether it was Jennifer’s experience at the Invitational or conversations with Phil, or a combination thereof, she was on a mission to learn the ins and outs of poker. Seeking the advice of Phil, she found he was reluctant to guide her on specifics. “I directed her to read poker books and gave her maybe one piece of advice each week,” Phil says. As she learned, he would quiz her on odds, strategy, and tells. Then, “I knew she was finally ready to play tournament poker when it only took her about 14 seconds to come back with the right answer.” Jennifer came out of the gate running. She entered the 2005 World Series of Poker Ladies Championship event, played the most intense poker of her life to that point, and beat 600 other women to win the bracelet. Several months later, the WPT invited her to play in a Ladies Night tournament against a very strong field of female poker players, including Isabelle Mercier and Marsha Waggoner. Again, she emerged victorious. With a WPT championship title to compliment her WSOP bracelet, Jennifer already has an extraordinary poker resume.

In large part, Jennifer credits herself with the discipline and dedication to hone her skills and learn the game, but she does give praise to her partner in life and love. She admits that the best advice she received was from Phil. “He told me to play my own game and that you have to do what feels right.”

The Feduniaks
Solid education, successful careers, and strength of family were quite enough for this proper English couple to lead an enjoyable life. Nevertheless, Bob and Maureen Feduniak discovered a mutual interest in the game of poker and somewhat unknowingly, turned their source of weekend entertainment into a lucrative pastime complete with name recognition and respect from poker players around the globe.

The Feduniaks never considered themselves professional poker players, though their individual tournament track records tell a different story. Bob and Maureen have certainly become well-known in the poker world for their proficiency in a variety of games, as well as the incomparable class and sophistication with which they conduct themselves in tournament play. Bob was the first to claim an interest in poker. When he met Maureen in 1990, Bob was an investment banker by trade, but enjoyed a fair amount of poker in his spare time. His years of playing cash games sparked an interest in tournament events, which he soon began to enter. His skills prevailed and transformed into prize money when he placed in his first tournament in 1992. Though always concentrating appropriate time in the banking business, poker turned into a profitable side job. Maureen’s job in hotel management kept her quite busy, but she found herself taking an interest in her beau’s recreational activities. Watching Bob play in the World Series of Poker and being taken by the atmosphere and excitement of it all, Maureen asked Bob to teach her to play. “It seemed to be a pastime that we could enjoy together,” Bob recalls. So, as Maureen is not known for giving anything less than a hundred percent of her efforts, she also arranged for the couple’s friend, T.J. Cloutier, to mentor her as she perfected her skills. She took her time, and finally joined Bob on the tournament circuit in 2001.

Amidst the climb to poker recognition and success over the last 15 years, Bob and Maureen, both in their 50s, also found time to wed in the late 1990s. Today, both retired, they are able to enjoy poker on a more regular basis, mostly in the form of cash games near their home in Las Vegas. They also spend time at their second home in Pebble Beach, and center everything around their four children and five grandchildren. They lead a well-rounded life, indeed. Though Bob and Maureen each only have one tournament win to their credit thus far, they have cashed in a combination of 37 tournaments, many of those being WSOP events. Among the highlights of their part-time poker careers, Maureen was featured at the World Poker Tour’s Ladies’ Night event in 2003, a tournament in which she placed fourth, and Bob placed 11th at the WPT World Championship event that same year.

And when asked which one would win in a heads-up match between the two, Bob replied, “Each of us thinks the other would win. That’s one secret of a happy poker marriage.” Through it all, the Feduniaks consider themselves very fortunate to have created success for themselves at work and play, meanwhile finding happiness with each other, their children and grandchildren, and friends, all of whom appreciate the enjoyment that Bob and Maureen receive through poker. Atop everything else positive in their lives, the game of poker seems to have been a rewarding bonus for this couple and will continue to be for years to come.