Reyna, a female poker player known as Rocket Reyna to her two million Instagram followers, has revealed how she uses a simple trick to win money from male opponents. She says men often assume she does not understand the game, and she turns that assumption to her advantage.
From accidental start to top-ranked player
Reyna never intended to become one of the world's top-ranked female poker players. She first started learning the game at age 20, when she could not legally play in casinos in America, and only picked it up because she and her boyfriend at the time "had absolutely nothing in common." Now 58, she has spoken about how poker changed her life and how she continues to surprise men.
Born in Seattle, Washington, Reyna spent her first year studying the game, reading books and running simulations in her head before sitting down at a table. "Once I turned 21, I wandered into the Excalibur in Vegas and doubled up my money in about 15 minutes while he [her boyfriend at the time] lost all of his," she said. "It's been a passion ever since."
Reading people and staying calm
Reyna said she was "enamoured with the game almost immediately, even before I really started playing well. It taught me so much, on and off the felt, about reading people and staying calm under pressure." She added that she did not think she actually got good until about three years in, when she started taking tournaments seriously.
Her biggest tournament cash came in at over $96,000 (over £70,000), and she has earned over half a million dollars in total between cash games and tournaments.
Using assumptions to her advantage
Asked if men ever feel threatened by her talents, Reyna claimed they are "more dismissive than threatened," at least in her experience. "When I had my biggest win, the guys would assume I got lucky or that it was a soft, easy tournament," she said. "You're usually the only woman at the table, sometimes the only woman in the whole tournament."
She explained that people get confused playing against her because, as a woman, they assume she does not understand the game, is waiting for her pro-poker-player boyfriend, and is easy money. Being Asian on top of that, she said people assume she is either super conservative and not profitable, or a total loose cannon bluffing every hand. "I use both assumptions to my advantage," she said. "I'll bluff the players who think I'm tight, and I'll play dumb and bet an absurd amount against the guys who don't think I know what I'm doing."
A changing 'boys club'
Reyna said poker has always been a bit of a "boys club" built on "decades of exclusion," but she believes this is slowly changing one seat at a time and is happy to see more women playing. These days, poker is more of a hobby for her, as her main focus is her OnlyFans platform, which she says is her priority at the moment.
Poker is considered a game of luck by many but, when money is involved, you can lose big. If gambling is causing you or someone else distress, visit GambleAware for assistance and support.
