She Had No Business Going Pro…And Did It Anyway.

Esther “E-Tay” Taylor did not take the normal road to poker.She was born in South Korea, found as a baby, adopted into a strict Christian family in Portland, and raised with two older brothers who made sure she was tough enough for whatever came next.Game nights.Sports.Church five days a week.A real job at Wells Fargo.A future in private banking.Then poker showed up.At first, they weren’t even playing with chips.They were playing with dried beans and macaroni.A few years later?E-Tay quit her good job, moved to Vegas with almost no money, learned mixed games online for $26 at a time, took five years off to become a mom, came back to final table a WPT, and eventually became one of the most respected mixed-game players in poker.In this episode of The Table 1 Podcast, E-Tay joins Art Parmann and Justin Young to talk about the whole ride:♠️ Being adopted from South Korea and growing up in Portland♥️ Her strict Christian upbringing and her dad’s support♦️ Quitting Wells Fargo to chase poker♣️ Learning mixed games the cheap way online♠️ Taking five years away from poker for motherhood♥️ Coming back with a WPT final table at Borgata♦️ Jumping into the $25K PLO and finishing 3rd♣️ Her $50K Poker Players Championship run♠️ Why mixed games are so hard to learn now♥️ Representing women in poker the right way♦️ Launching Her Edge Academy to help more women get into mixed gamesWe also get into golf, motherhood, old-school online poker, PLO confidence, why she never studied from charts, and why poker needs more humans instead of robots.This one is funny, honest, and a really good look at what it takes to build a poker career without following anybody else’s playbook.👇 Drop a comment:What poker game should every Hold’em player learn next?Show Notes00:00 — Intro + why “E-Tay”01:48 — Born in South Korea / adoption story07:16 — Strict Christian home + her dad’s support09:59 — Game nights, brothers, and competitiveness17:28 — Wells Fargo and the “real job” path19:02 — First poker games with beans and macaroni23:10 — Quitting her job and moving to Vegas24:34 — Learning mixed games online32:48 — Taking five years off for motherhood35:03 — Returning with a WPT final table41:58 — Parks Casino ambassador chapter47:04 — Finding PLO and mixed games49:20 — Jumping into the $25K PLO56:20 — How her mindset changed over time1:11:00 — Women in poker and ladies events1:17:12 — Recent heater + full WSOP schedule1:19:34 — Deciding to play the $50K PPC1:22:26 — The $50K PPC run1:31:58 — E-Tay Poker + Her Edge AcademyE-Tay’s Links:Website: https://etaypoker.comHer Edge Academy: https://heredgeacademy.comInstagram: https://instagram.com/__etay__Follow us:X - https://x.com/table1vegasIG - https://instagram.com/table1vegas