Mrs. Donkey Bomber Blowin' Up!
Published by: Ed Sevillano
Posted In: WSOP Blog, Tournament Trail
Julie Schneider has been playing poker since she was 17 or 18 years old. Somewhere along the way, she met Tom Schneider and the two married. Tom would eventually make a name for himself in the poker world by winning multiple WSOP bracelets as well as Player of the Year in 2007, but today it might be Julie's turn to shine.
She is at the final table of the $2,500 Deuce-to-Seven Triple Draw event. It just happens to be her favorite game and she's proving that she has the skills to compete at the highest level.
Julie has been having a better Series than Tom this year. This will be her second cash so far. We caught up to Tom while he sat on the rail showing support for his wife.
"I have one [cash], and I've played a lot more than she has this year," he laughed.
Julie has been around the poker community for a very long time both as a player and a dealer. She dealt poker for about 17 years and has been playing even longer. Tom taught her Deuce to Seven. He used to let her sweat him while he played in the $400/$800 Mixed game.
"That's when she really started to love the game a lot."
One might think that being married to a multiple-WSOP-bracelet winner is like having a wealth of information right at your finger tips but Julie has her own game plan.
"She doesn't want to hear any of my ideas about poker. She has her own ideas about deuce to seven. It's her favorite game and she plays online all the time."
Tom reluctantly answered who he thought was better, himself or Julie.
"I think she is maybe slightly better than I am now."
The two have played in many tournaments before and even started this Deuce to Seven event at the same table.
"We asked them to move us because we didn't want to be at the same table. I think husbands and wives at the same table is a bad idea. It just doesn't look good."
Tom said there were upsides and downsides to being in a relationship where both partners play poker.
"It can be good, it can be bad. It's nice to have a wife who plays poker. If I play until six in the morning she doesn't think anything of it. That's very nice. A lot of women wouldn't tolerate a poker player's life, but she does and I would do the same for her."
Just like any relationship, you have to take the good with the bad.
"Bad beat stories can get a little old for both us," he laughed.
Check back to PokerListings.com often for the latest and greatest news from the 2009 World Series of Poker.

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Comments (1)
Johnny Vegas
Jul 9, 2009
Go Julie! Well, we finally figured out the real secret to Tom's success (and who the real poker genius is!) Good luck to you both! -JV