Jeanne David: A true Poker Hall of Famer

When you read about Kristen Foxen and Jeanne David being inducted into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame, you may have said something like, “Ya, Kristen is an absolute crusher. Who’s Jeanne David?”

This is understandable since Foxen is an easily recognizable superstar on the tournament circuit. Jeanne David is the behind-the-scenes superstar equal of Kristen Foxen, and I’m tickled to write a paean to her contributions to the poker world.

A poker O.G. 

Jeanne and I first met in New York City in 2004 at a PokerStars event (the particular species of which has long been forgotten). Game knows game – I spotted a fellow poker lifer immediately. She would drive from her home on Long Island up to Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods to play Omaha/8 all weekend, then drive back home to her job. Which was managing an in-patient drug treatment facility – Jeanne has a master’s degree in social work. 

Which is why her name popped into my head when Isai Scheinberg, the founder and leader of PokerStars, was looking for somebody to start and head a ‘Responsible Gaming’ department. Isai wanted PokerStars to be licensed in regulated markets, many of which had specific requirements for responsible gaming protocols by operators. 

One thing led to another, and in November of 2006, Jeanne was hired to be the Responsible Gaming Manager at PokerStars, a title she would hold for 14 years. She created dozens of responsible gaming protocols at PokerStars, many of which were copied at other sites, as PokerStars was ‘first to market’ with most of them. 

Remember the 24-hour self-exclusion?

In 2007, PokerStars software added a feature allowing a player to exclude themselves from playing for a period of time. You could also permanently ban yourself from playing, but that required contacting customer support. The shorter self-exclusions could be done simply by ticking a box, clicking ‘Confirm,’ and you were locked out of the software for that period. And no, emails to customer support couldn’t shorten that (not that we didn’t get a few thousand). 

Initially, the shortest time period you could self-exclude was for a week. Pretty quickly, Jeanne went to Isai and said, “We need a 24-hour self-exclusion.”

“That makes no sense. Who would self-exclude for 24 hours?”

But see, that’s where Jeanne, being a dyed-in-the-felt poker player, could shine. She had been talking to other players and knew exactly what was going on. When you got ready to go out on Friday night, you wanted to ensure that you wouldn’t come home drunk at 3am and dust off your bankroll in a $25/$50 NLHE game (not that that ever actually happened). But crucially, you needed to have access turned back on by Sunday for the Sunday major tournament grind. 

Jeanne got what the players needed and thus was born the 24-hour (aka ‘Friday night’) self-exclusion.

Representing responsible gaming at its best

For 14 years at PokerStars, Jeanne managed the Responsible Gaming team and ultimately wrote the book on how poker sites could keep guard rails on players’ gambling. She traveled the world speaking to politicians and regulatory bodies about how PokerStars did responsible gaming, and why state bodies could be confident in PokerStars’ safely managing potential problem gambling.

Jeanne played an integral role in getting PokerStars licensed in multiple American jurisdictions, and that’s why you are able to play regulated online poker in them. 

Once a poker player…

In 2020, Jeanne retired from PokerStars. By then, she was already living in Las Vegas, having completed a five-year tour of duty at PokerStars headquarters on the Isle of Man. This allowed her to go back to her first love, playing poker games where you get more than two cards, preferably with a split pot. But even if the entire pot gets pushed in one direction, Jeanne does a good job of getting it pushed her way. She’s racked up dozens of tournament cashes, including a final table in the $1500 Razz event at the WSOP in 2018. This by a woman whose first Hendon Mob entry is from 2007. 

Jeanne is also a veteran poker cruiser, a first lieutenant in the Linda Johnson/Jan Fisher Cruising Conspiracy. This is a motley band of folks, who should know better, bouncing from foreign port to foreign port getting into mild hi-jinx, and playing poker in between ports. For more information about becoming part of that band, read Jeanne’s piece about poker cruising on Ask The Org.

Jeanne is also a global ambassador for every kind of poker game not called hold’em, and was in Malta earlier this year teaching people that true poker joy starts when the dealer pitches you third street.

A second career of service to poker

It’s easy to say, “Kristen Foxen has over $8 million in poker winnings, what a beast.” True enough. But if you live in, for instance, Michigan, you likely wouldn’t be playing on PokerStars were it not for Jeanne David and her clear, articulate advocacy for regulated and responsible online poker. Let’s all be grateful she gave up the career in social work to join the poker industry.

By way of transparency, Jeanne is a dear friend, and it’s easy for me to write good things about her. But she’s made enormous contributions to poker and richly deserves her new spot in the Women in Poker Hall of Fame.