International Poker Personality
Wendeen sidled up to her first poker game, as a lark on her fortieth birthday. The next spring she made a splash at the newly created high stakes "No Limit" game, at the fabled Mayfair Club. She took down a monster pot amid gasps from pros who saw her as nothing but a minnow in shark-infested waters.
A year later she was fully committed to conquering the competition, noting that businessmen like her beau and their friend Lyle Berman were standout players.
On day three of the 1986 World Series of Poker Main Event, Wendeen found herself in contention for prize money at the WSOP tables. Terry Rogers, a famous odds maker in attendance, had booked long shot bets on her cashing, but she was the front runner on a bet to place last!
Wendeen put it to him, taking the long-shot odds bet. She landed a windfall in an historic finish as the first woman in poker history to cash at The Big Dance."
Wendeen has since racked up 10 record-setting performances for a woman in major competitions. She is an active leader in the industry and a leading ambassador for the game in the United States and abroad.
She represents gaming clients in Europe, and Asia as well as the United States, writes about gaming issues with significant global impact has been a leader in anti-smoking campaigns that effectively took cigarettes. pipes and cigars out of major poker rooms around the world.
Staying power!
- Hall of Fame 6th place (1988)
- Winner, European Open (1990)
- Winner (High Stakes Invitational) 2000
- WPT Bellagio 5 Star Cash (2003)
- US Poker Championship Cash (2004)
- 7 WSOP cashes (1986-2009)
- Player Poker Night in America--CBS Sports (2015/16)
The media has been intrigued by Wendeen's combined experience in business politics and gaming. She is frequently featured in print and broadcast segments about the gaming world.
Media Magnet
- Court TV
- A & E Biography
- GQ Magazine
- New York Times
- LV Review Journal, May 21,1986
- Travel Channel-Bellagio WPT Championship (VHS)
- ABC News-Cyberspace
- PNIA CBS Sports
Groundbreaking Activist
Wendeen was a significant force in persuading Donald Trump's Taj Mahal poker room to go non-smoking and a key advocate for poker room smoking bans from Atlantic City, to Las Vegas and the best known casino in Paris.
As the Chairman of Caesars WSOP International Players Advisory Council and CEO of the player-driven World Poker Association, and an ongoing contributor to the poker world, Wendeen has been a strong proponent of abuse-free conduct and respectful sportsmanship in competition at the tables, worldwide.
She is a frequent keynote speaker for charitable and corporate poker events and supports numerous poker tournaments that include a charitable component. Wendeen donates a portion of her winnings from participation in arity events.
Unique Poker Personality
Wendeen frequently breaks new ground, not only at the poker tables, and as an industry leader but also as a print and broadcast journalist.
- First female poker player to commentate for WSOP (ESPN, 1987).
- Director/anchor of the first live poker tournament podcast (USPC, 1999).
- Co-anchor of filmed TOC, a pilot for the WPT (2001).
- Last woman standing in the WPT inaugural championship. (2003)
- Celebrity Player WPT Ladies Night II Travel Channel (2004).
- WPT Inaugural Professional Poker Tour-elected and sponsored- (2004)
- Internet broadcast, last WSOP event (Binion's Horseshoe, 2005).
- Poker Royale Invitational GSN TV points leader (2005).
- Poker Night in America Invitational CBS Sports Network (2015,2016,2017)
- Sponsored for Queens of Heart team at the WSOP