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Linda Johnson Profile
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LINDA JOHNSON PRINCIPAL IN CARD PLAYER CRUISES AND HOSTESS,
PARTYPOKER.COM MILLION III
Linda Johnson is considered the First Lady of Poker.
Pro player, publisher, promoter and entrepreneur, Johnson has
become one of the most preeminent figures in the game regardless
of gender. She stands out as a force in the poker room and in
the boardroom. Her long and illustrious history is a roadmap for
women achievers, and has also earned the respect of the toughest
men in the hard- bitten poker world.
Johnson learned to play cards from her father, a career Air Force
officer, while in her 20s, but when she showed a real aptitude
for poker, he suggested she start studying instructional books
and playing regularly. Working as a postal clerk in Long Beach
at the time, her co-workers became her most frequent poker companions
- until she became so proficient they threw her out of the game!
Johnson then graduated to the Southern California card clubs and
Las Vegas on weekends.
"I vowed that if I ever did well enough to make the final
table in the World Series of Poker, I'd quit the post office and
make a full time career playing poker," says Johnson.
And that's exactly what she did. Coming in 5th in the women's
division of the 1980 World Series of Poker, Johnson shucked her
job and moved to Las Vegas. For the next 13 years, Johnson made
her living solely as a professional poker player, one of the few
women at the top of the game.
In 1992, she attended a poker cruise sponsored by Card Player
Cruises and had so much fun that it would change her life. Inquiring
how she and some of her friends might help Card Player Magazine
grow (insuring another cruise for the next year), the owners suggested
she and her partners buy the publication - it was up for sale.
So they did!
Johnson assumed the mantle of publisher and changed the small
newsprint magazine into a mainstream glossy, growing it into the
most influential magazine in the industry. For 8 years, Johnson
devoted herself primarily to publishing, but still managed to
play a few hands of poker. In 1997, she broke through and won
a World Series of Poker event (men and women players) in razz,
a version of seven-card stud. She was only the second woman in
30 years to win a World Series bracelet at that time. Over the
years, she has tallied a third, fourth and fifth in World Series
events, in addition to her 1997 victory.
Two years ago, Johnson sold her interest in Card Player Magazine,
but purchased the magazine's cruise division. She and a group
of partners now operate it, chartering cruises for poker enthusiasts.
It is her company that is chartering Holland America's Ryndam
for PartyPoker.com and the PartyPoker.com Million III, and equipping
the ship to facilitate more than 500 poker players.
Never idle, Johnson founded and currently stages two major seminars
in the poker world, The World Poker Players Conference, annually
held in Las Vegas, for competitors who wish to improve their game;
and the bi-annual World Poker Industry Conference, bringing together
poker room executives to learn about the newest trends in poker
management. She also created the Tournament Directors Association,
which brings its members together once annually to help standardize
the rules for poker tournaments. Poker Digest has called her one
of the Top 50 Movers and Shakers in the Poker Industry.
Johnson is on the road 14 weeks a year with The World Poker Tour,
where she acts as the onstage announcer, helping the audience
to gauge the action on the table. But she always takes time out
to play in some of the nation's top poker tournaments, specializing
in her current favorite version of poker - Omaha 8 or Better.
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