You may not know the name but most will remember the face of Debbie Burkhead. if you are a keen poker player and follow the circuit you might have even played against her, and most likely lost.
Debbie moved to Las Vegas in 1995 to try and become a professional at poker, particularly stud poker. She already knew she was good enough to make a living from playing. Her game was stud poker and her place was the Mirage Casino where her bankroll grew and grew from $15/30 7-card. She then played at the Bellagio and kept on winning but the day to day play was starting to feel more like a job than fun.
She took a cab driving job to make her income until Poker Digest offered her a job as assistant editor. Poker Digest was eventually bought out by Barry Shulman and Debbie became a sales rep and writer for Poker Player Magazine; she continues to work for this magazine today.
Now, job secured, Debbie went back to the poker table, this time without the pressure of having to win for an income.
Debbie has played in the WSOP Main Event five times, her closest position 33rd out of 350 players in 1998, where Scotty Nguyen won the bracelet. If this was today Debbie would have been very close to winning close to a million with the huge main event prize pools available.
Debbie’s lifetime earnings amount to over $150,000; mainly from tournaments with buy-ins under $1000, winning her seat mainly through satellites. Some of Debbie's most recent wins include the 2007 Orleans Open Ladies event sponsored by the LIPSTour. Debbie became the LIPSTour Grand Champion of 2007 and took the 1st place prize of just under $23,000. In March of 2007 Debbie played in Reno at the Peppermill Spring Tournament. She finished 1st in the HORSE event, 1st in the NL main event and 2nd in the Omaha Eight-or-Better event; winning over $20,000.
Debbie plans to win The World Series of Poker and get the bracelet before she finishes her career and the way she’s been going she’s bound to make it soon enough.
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