Interview with Jennifer "Jennicide" Leigh

  Any male poker player who isn't aware of Jennifer "Jennicide" Leigh by now probably is the sort of guy who makes their own clothes and considers the world of hair and makeup a legitimate career option.  Jennifer has not only made her mark on the poker world with an impressive online record as well as cashing in some of the biggest tournaments in the world, but she has also made a splash in magazines like FHM and Playboy. Most recently she has appeared as Hefner's feature model in the April 4th issue of the popular men's magazine. It would be a mistake to think that she is nothing more than the sum of the parts that the camera has so beautifully captured. We found out that this young lady has much more to offer when we got the opportunity to speak with her recently.LaunchPoker: In a recent WPT Magazine article, you commented on the type of player who uses the "all in" bet as an offensive weapon. You tried it - it worked for you, and you trashed the strategy anyway as bad for poker. Can you expand on that?Jennifer Leigh: I'm the type of girl who likes strategy. I used to play video games when I was three, and I still do play them all the time, and when I see somebody shove their stack in for, like, a hundred dollar pot, I'm like "this isn't a game".LP: By the way, when doing our research, we did notice you were heavily into World of Warcraft.JL: Thats a whole other eight hour conversation.LP:Along with the Warcraft stuff, we also noticed some other very interesting bits of your background. Keep in mind, when we say this, me mean it in the best and most loving way: you're a bad girl.JL: How?LP: You were involved in "Beige Boxing" for a while.JL: Oh God. See, it's not a "bad girl", that's the thing. I'm just a bored girl, I guess you could say. I don't think "bad". The beige boxing thing is completely obsolete now. I used to participate in teleconferences and other things, and we were phreaking stuff. Today that stuff is offered to you for free, but back in the 90's that was just our glory: being able to use certain systems to communicate. We knew certain technologies were there, and we knew we could use it.LP:You have gotten a lot of attention in the last year or so. When you started playing poker, was this what you expected?JL: Never.LP: Are you a little overwhelmed by it?JL: No, I'm used to it now, I guess. A lot of the attention comes from being a female in any type of small subculture, and I guess the fact that I am a really social person. I mean if somebody wants to talk to me, I usually talk to them back. I feel that I owe that to them, I guess. Sometimes it gets to my head a little bit, especially when I'm running really good, but I have a really good relationship with my parents and my dad tells me to stay grounded whatever I do.LP: How do your parents feel about the whole poker thing?JL: They're my biggest support team, actually. They know that I'll probably never be involved in anything traditional: I was just never a traditional girl. I would fight with anybody about everything, I guess. I love debating and I love a nice little heated argument every once in a while. I guess you could say I have a flair for drama , I don't know.LP: As far as heated arguments go, have you ever encountered someone who at the end of the discussion couldn't just shake hands and call it a day?JL: That usually happens when it doesn't work out in a friendship or a relationship; when they just don't understand the way that I work. If somebody doesn't want to have a discussion back, or they are just kind of blah, that's probably bad wording, but that's someone who just doesn't challenge me.LP: So you have met a lot of people in your life who have not been intellectually challenging to you?JL: exactly. I like to have fun, but my fun isn't just going out. My fun is a stimulating, nerdy conversation instead of people looking at me and saying, "What are you talking about". It's fun walking away from a conversation and knowing that I have gotten something out of it, and feeling a little, maybe, humbled, or maybe "Wow, this was a really good conversation. Thank you for having it with me." Sometimes that is really hard to find.LP: Back in the days before you were a poker player, what did you want to do with your life?JL: I wanted to be a civil rights corporate law attorney. I am a bit of a fighter and I felt that maybe my true fight might be in a courtroom somewhere. There are a lot of people who just sorta accept things; they accept "this is how it is, so this is how I'm going to do it". Well, I don't believe it. There is always some way of standing up for what you believe in, and I always thought that regardless of where you are or what you are doing you should never settle.LP: Your interest in law from a civil right perspective brings up a very contentious issue. What are your views on the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that has been forced on players in the United States?JL: To my mind, it's violating our constitutional rights. The way that I look at it, it's almost what they did with alcohol. I don't know the exact history regarding that. I'm not very familiar with American history. If you were to quiz me about King Arthur or any type of really, really old Euro/Medieval history, that's my cup of tea, but the way that I feel is that online poker is there. Poker is an American tradition and we are just doing it in the privacy of our own home. Ultimately poker is not something that they're going to be able to take away from us. So they're just going to have to accept it as just being there. I think a lot of the younger players do think, and I'm just doing a generalization, they don't have to abide by their lovely Uncle Sam, so they don't really care. If there is a chance that poker's not going to be here, or it is something that you can be state or federally prosecuted for, then maybe you should start caring.LP: Just to add a little more context, online poker is treated very harshly in the state of Washington.JL: It's a class C felony right?LP: You know your stuff, yes it is prosecuted on par with such crimes as child abuse.JL: Isn't that terrible, I mean c'mon! In the state of Delaware, and this is kind of contradictory actually, gambling laws are unclear so you can't really tag them for having home games and having their own type of, I guess you could say, underground gaming in their nice homes. So they had to do more of a moral background. So in one case a woman was a dancer at a strip club, and of course it comes down to the moral issue of it, so the only thing they can possibly charge these people with are child endangerment. Then a few days later, our state troopers, the wonderful protectors of the law, rob a country club game. Where is the real corruption? Is it in your own home? Is it something you're actually doing? Or is it something larger? I'm a strong, hopeful type of person. Our country and the economy would both benefit. I think they should start looking at that instead of trying to look at the morals behind it. Everybody has their own social standards and everybody has their own beliefs. If we are doing this in the privacy of our own home, just give us a way to do this so that we are protected.LP: So what is coming up for you in the near future?JL: There're a lot of really cool things coming up. Of course there is the Playboy charity tournament at the mansion for the UHI, which is a pretty cool foundation that drops off medical equipment for any type of disaster. It was founded by a medical doctor. Everything comes in hand with civil rights. Fortunately, poker really gives me that edge to get involved.LP: Speaking of Playboy, obviously there was a reason they wanted for a photo spread. You are not only one of the most attractive women in the sport, but a lot of Hollywood starlet types probably turn several shades of green just looking at you. Do you find your looks give you any sort of advantage at the poker table?JL: I don't see it as an advantage really. I mean, when I was doing the Playboy shoot, the photographer - oh I love him, Arny, he's done so much for Playboy and he is just wonderful - he said to me, "Maybe after this is done you can do t-shirts of your... um, and you can wear them." LP: That would be a distraction at the table.JL: But, I mean, it's interesting. Before it would be like, "Oh, she would never be in Playboy unless she played poker". Okay, I don't think I would do it unless I was involved in poker. I think I'm the only 24 year old girl that has, I guess you can call them balls, to do it. So what if I don't workout all the time, cool, I play poker.  We thank Jennifer for her time and willingness to speak with us. We wish her luck in her career!