It's hard to imagine a more unlikely path to professional poker than Esther Taylor's life story.
The remarkable journey that shaped her life also became one of the inspirations behind the upcoming launch of Taylor’s coaching site, Her Edge Academy.
“I have a pretty unique story myself,” shared Taylor on PokerOrg’s ‘The Interview’ podcast. “A passerby had found me wandering around as a baby at a train station in Seoul, South Korea.”
“Eventually, I was taken to an orphanage. Within a year, I was adopted by a family in Portland, Oregon, where I was raised. I've had a very blessed life. So I am really somebody who loves to get to know somebody and hear their stories.”
Her Edge Academy's origins
One of the reasons Esther Taylor loves poker is that every table comes with a new cast of characters. She truly enjoys learning about the people she battles with on the felt.
That passion for life’s stories became the foundation of Her Edge Academy's first initiative: giving away five seats to the WSOP Ladies Championship. “I’m somebody who loves to get to know somebody and hear their stories. I had the women submit their stories to me.”
PokerOrg caught up with Taylor to discuss the launch of Her Edge Academy, and how she ultimately selected the five winners.
What was your inspiration to create the contest?
The driving force behind it is the launch of my new training academy website. That's something that I have had in the works for a while. And I’ve always felt a need to give back to our industry.
Poker can be extremely self-serving. We do a lot of good things, but we're not like nurses, teachers, or doctors. So, it's been very important to me to find ways to give back in my own way.
Can you share more about Her Edge Academy's mission?
The academy is specifically targeted towards women. It's kind of a for-her-by-her-type training, which hasn't really been out there. I know this from experience. I was looking for these things while I was coming up in poker.
I think there's a specific need for women to have a comfortable space (kind of like a ladies' event) and a place to go for coaching, training, and learning more about the game.
How did you choose the five winners?
I asked women to submit their stories to me on why they got into poker or why they should have a seat in the women's events. I read every single one of them.
I had about 75 submissions, which was really cool.
Who were the final five?
The five Ladies Event entry winners were: Maria Huete, Juli Keene, Nicole White, Candy Nhoybouakong, and Janine Gentry.
Marie’s wife is playing in Las Vegas, and now Marie gets to play too. Her story got me.
Juli packed up her life, moved to Vegas, and has been grinding ever since.
Nicole is a teacher in New Hampshire and packs in poker study sessions after work.
Candy first saw poker on TV in 2007, and bought into a family home game that summer and never looked back.
And Janine has been a poker dealer for 20 years and has never played in the Ladies Event herself.
Was it hard to pick?
It was. Every woman's story deserved to win a seat, because everybody's story meant something to me. So, ladies. If you're hearing or reading this, they really did.
In the end, I tried to go with people who might not have the opportunity to play in the ladies' event this year.
It's was an exciting time and a fun opportunity to work with these five women. I told them, you're going to lose a hand, there's going to be bad beats, and there's going to be bluffs gone wrong. It’s most important to be in the moment.
It honestly gave me a lot of joy and excitement to see these women have that opportunity to play in a WSOP Ladies Championship.
Visit Esther Taylor’s Her Edge Academy website for more info and follow on IG. Follow Taylor on X.
