Christina Gollins, also known as ‘baby shark’, won her first WSOP Circuit ring back in 2021 and followed it up with a final table appearance at the WSOP Ladies’ event in 2022, winning $73K.
She’s since grown her profile in events including the 2022 Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza (4th, $83K) and the 2024 Nevada State Ladies Poker Championship (1st, $13K), not to mention a deep run in the recent $5K Champions Reunion at the WSOP (13th, $18K). She also captured the poker world’s attention with an epic fold at the WSOP Circuit Commerce last month.
What’s one bit of essential prep you do before a big tournament or cashgame session?
Sleep.
Between bagging in the wee hours of the morning, getting home, and eating some sort of makeshift dinner, usually consisting of chips and pickles, then getting to bed at a decent time to wake up early for a Day 2 is ROUGH!
If there’s no Day 2 the next day, and I get to start fresh for Day 1, I usually try to go to bed as early as my body will let me. Staying sharp and alert is so important in this marathon of a game.
I would also have to include my favorite top four songs to listen to while playing poker. #1 – Ecstasy of Gold, #2 My Heart Will Go On, #3 Gangsters Paradise, and #4 Drop the World.
What piece of strategy advice did you get when you first started playing that you wish you had ignored?
That correct play is greater than gut reads. Sorry, no.
Player dependency, live reads, and body language will now influence my decisions more than what any solver will tell me. I now go with my gut more often than not; if I had gone with the solver, AK would’ve been the last hand I played in the Commerce Casino WSOP $600 ring event, and I would’ve ended up getting third place.
What's the dumbest thing you've ever seen or done at the poker table?
The dumbest thing may have just happened at my WSOP table.
A guy at my table explains how the players in the #1 seat and #9 seat are in the best seats. Why? You can watch for the dealer's shuffle and memorize where the cards are in the deck, especially if you have a less experienced dealer and they are shuffling high.
What?!?
What's your most memorable hand?
It was the final table of the WSOP Ladies bracelet event two years ago.
I’m the chip leader, and it is one of the first three hands at the start of Day 4. The early position player opens, and the tight Asian lady to my right three-bets. I look down at 
.
Normally, I would happily place a 4-bet here, especially with the chip lead, but my ‘Spidey senses’ kicked in, and I knew the three-bettor was very strong. I had been playing with her a full day before the final table and saw her limping big pairs up to 
a few times. So, a three-bet from her set off alarms for me.
I tanked for a little and folded the jacks. The live stream chat went crazy, but not in a good way. I found out that the conspiracy trolls came out, and I was labeled a cheater. “How could she fold jacks when only facing a 3-bet when she is the chip leader?! She must have been tipped off, or someone definitely texted her,” and so on.
There was an hour delay for the live stream. Even if someone had texted me, which they did an hour later, it would not have influenced the hand at that very moment. I was told the lady had 
. The hand never played out, as she won it preflop. We will never know if my jacks could have been the winning hand. I was definitely okay with the fold, though.
What is your best piece of advice for players?
If you are a woman, go with your gut and built-in intuition. If you are a guy, use the solver for help.
Just kidding… a little bit! But honestly, if you have strong intuition, use it! And practice using it because you can only unlock it and get better at it.
I truly believe women have a slight advantage at the game because we are human lie-detectors and can easily tell when men try to deceive us. Some men have it too. It often needs to be learned, but with women, it comes naturally. Sorry, fellas.
If you owned a poker room, who's the first player you'd want to sign as an ambassador and why?
Kevin from The Office. If you know, you know.
