Women in The Gaming World

To this day, there may still be people who believe that gambling and casinos are a "man's game". To break down this prejudice and prove that gambling is a woman's business, let's look at the history of some of the women in the casino world.

[image: pexels by pixabay]

Lottie Deno

Let's start with the oldest and most famous poker player of all time: Carlotta J. Thompkins, born in the mid-19th century in Kentucky, USA. Carlotta was the daughter of a wealthy racehorse breeder and card player. Her father always took her on trips and reportedly taught Carlotta the secrets of winning at cards in various casinos.

With the Civil War, Carlotta lost her father and travelled to Detroit searching for marriage. Unfortunately, the new city ends up absorbing all her savings. Carlotta is then forced to look for resources from other sources and sees her solution in cards.

She moved again, but this time to Texas, where she began to gain fame as a gambler under the name of Lottie Deno. She was considered the best in poker at the end of the 19th century.

Judy Bayley

Judith Florence Belk was born in Dallas in 1916 and, at the age of 20, married Warren Bayley, a travel writer. With his travel and lodging experience, Warren embarked on the hotel business in the California region. In 1956 they opened their first lodge in Las Vegas and began working in the gaming area.

Warren Bayley died in 1964, leaving Judy with responsibility for the business as she came to be known. Judy soon took the reins and achieved great success through advertising, diversification of the company, and innovative ideas. 

Among her strategies, she created her airline to bring players to her casino and offered the USD 16 suite with USD 10 in chips to play with.

She was also a great philanthropist with her prestige, and the National University of Las Vegas theatre today bears her name. Because of her success and recognition, Judy was affectionately known as "The First Lady of Gaming". 

Cheung Yin "Kelly" Sun

In the early 2010s, casinos were surprised by a phenomenal female gambler, Cheung Yin. This Chinese woman, who was recognised as the greatest baccarat player of all time, was born in 1976 in northern China and was the daughter of a businessman in the banking sector, so she was able to study in Shanghai.

Sun was already playing poker with cash stakes by the age of fifteen and often embarked on gambling cruises using a fake ID. His baptism of fire was in Macau, where he managed to turn USD 1500 into USD 150 000 in one baccarat session.

At 18, she went to Paris to study fashion design but decided that cards appealed to her more than clothes. 

When she was arrested for signing a USD 100 000 chip without paying, she used the time to develop an ingenious card identification technique known as edge sorting. This technique allowed her to clean out many American and European casinos until it was discovered and banned.

The female universe has always permeated the casino world. Women show their great skill in all games, as they are gamblers, casino owners or even developers of impressive techniques. Be like these phenomenal women and believe in your ability; you will always find a suitable game for you here!