Lauren Kling is a success at the poker table and away from it. She graduated from a top university, beat the online poker games, and then made a move to play professionally.
Kling has been featured player on the World Poker Tour and she is being recognized for her talents. She works on her game and lifestyle at the same time and has recently discovered a new approach: Hypnotherapy.
Kling graduated from Cal Berkeley in 2008 and began her poker career. She was already an online success playing under the name “locoenlacabeza” where she amassed more than $1 million career earnings.
Kling moved to Las Vegas to concentrate on live poker and had early success with a WSOPC final table. She used her analytical skills to improve but has found other ways to help her game.
Bad WSOP Start Leads to Hypnotherapy
Kling’s 2014 WSOP got off to a bad start but then she was introduced to Elliot Roe in the Rio hallways. Roe specializes in hypnotherapy to “identify root causes of negative behavior at the table”.
“I hadn’t even really made a dinner break,” Kling said. “I thought that I had picked up a bad energy because really strange things were happening.”
“I had just busted and he (Roe) was standing there. Someone introduced me and asked if I’d be hypnotized before."
“I said ‘Can you get rid of bad energy?’ It was kind of like a joke because he said ‘I don’t really do energy but I can help you feel better at the table’.”
Kling didn’t know what to expect from her hypnosis session. She went in with an open mind and found the help she needed at the table.
“It’s really interesting because I had no idea. Basically, it’s a higher form of meditation,” Kling said.
“You’re in a state of mediation however you’re going through different experiences and reprogramming whatever beliefs you’ve had. I realized I was holding onto certain beliefs and I just let them go.”
Kling Gains Immediate Poker Boost
Kling saw an immediate difference in her game and went deep in a $1,500 and $5,000 No Limit Hold’em events. She finished in the top 40 for each tournament and gives some credit to her sessions with Roe.
“We did a session and next day I was chipleader in the $2.5k at dinner break and made Day 2,” Kling said. “Then the same thing in the $1,500 and it’s really allowed me to go back in my subconscious and reprogram certain feelings or negative belief patterns that I’ve had.
“It’s been extremely helpful. I had several blocks in my mind that I wasn’t even aware of that were self-sabotage,” Kling explained. “Once I released those blocks then I feel I can just final table and win everything now.”
Kling believes the work she is doing with Roe will translate both on and off the poker table. She plans to have a session for the rest of the WSOP and continue afterwards.
“I think there are different levels. Everyone at their core, in my personal belief, is a really authentic, kind, caring, loving person,” Kling commented. “But throughout life certain experiences can chip away at that.
“Some people turn to drugs and alcohol, some people self-sabotage. Everyone has different ways of dealing with things.
“For me personally, I want to uncover all the layers from the past. Just go through and get to that child-like state that I think everyone has the capability to be at. Hypnosis is just icing on the cake, helping me get there even faster.
Kling Encourages People to Try and Find a Positive Outlook
Hypnotherapy isn’t her first method of self-help. She has used several methods to improving herself and Roe is just one of those options.
“I’ve done pretty much everything; I’ve done life coaching, I’ve done therapy, I’ve done Choice Center. You name it and I’ve done it,” Kling said. “From my experience, each thing provides different value.”
“Whatever the means of getting that positive outlook, whether it’s hypnosis or life coaching or whatever it may be,” Kling continued. “I think it’s all extremely valuable and for me personally it has helped me become a better person, on and off the table.”
Kling’s interests extend beyond the poker table and recently moved to New York City to kick off new ventures in the food industry.
“I moved to NYC recently started a raw-vegan protein bar company,” Kling said. “I’m also working with a famous chef on a water company.”
“I’m interested in the food industry because I’m an extremely big health nut,” she continued. “I want to find a way for people who travel a lot, who have really busy lifestyles, to have the ability to eat really healthy while on the go.”
Even with her success, Kling doesn’t necessarily see herself as a role model for women in the game, though she does hope to make positive improvements.
“I would love to be someone that women and men in general would want to look up to in the industry,” Kling said.
“I feel as a young, successful, educated, intelligent woman in life that I would like to be someone like an ambassador or a paradigm shifter for the industry.”
