Poker Alice – A Name Engraved in the History of Poker

Playing poker has been into practice since a time immemorial. Some play it for coping up with the gambling trend, some play it with passion. Some make history after excelling in the world of poker. One such poker player is Alice Ivers, better known as Poker Alice. She has been a dazzling star among all the popular women poker players. Although men poker players are more, when brought into comparison, Alice Ivers was among the few women poker players, who made it to the top with virtue of their poker-playing capabilities. Going back in history, we find that Alice Ivers was born on 17^th of February, 1851. Her father was a conservative schoolmaster. Alice had moved to Virginia, United States with her family when she was 12. Alice did her schooling from USA in an influential boarding school. When she grew up, she shifted to Leadville, Colorado. There, she met Frank Duffield, a mining engineer and married him. It is said that Frank was the person who got Alice interested in poker. Frank himself used to be one of the enthusiastic men poker players. He used to visit several gambling centres in Leadville. After meeting Alice, he used to taker her along in all those gambling destinations. Like an ardent observer, Alice used to observe the game of poker. It is said that Alice did not take much time to pick up proficiency in the game of poker.

Life became different for Alice when Frank was killed in a mining explosion. Left with no support, Alice had to decide something to earn a living. Leadville had a flourishing mining camp, but had no schools. None of the available jobs attracted Alice. Soon after the death of Frank, Alice made the decision of entering the world of gambling. She always gave preference to the game of poker. However, she also used to indulge in the game of faro. Her proficiency in the gambling world rose to a great level and soon enough, she was in great demand – both as a dealer and a player. Alice is said to be a beautiful lady with a height of 5’4”, lush brown mane and blue eyes. She was at the zenith of gambling and one of the rare women poker players in the history. She made a mark with the virtue of her gambling skills. Even the so-called men poker players had to bow down to her incredible poker strategies. Very soon, Alice started hopping from one mine camp to the other and eventually, she earned the title of ‘Poker Alice’. She used to serve as a dealer, apart from playing the game. She made a name all over Colorado, especially in the cities of Georgetown, Trinidad, Central City and Alamosa. Alice was known for her extravagant lifestyle. She used to splurge over fashionable dresses and had a reputation for keeping herself up-to-date with the latest fashion trends.

Around 1890, Alice was involved in dealing at Bedrock’s Tom’s salon, somewhere in Deadwood, South Dakota. There, she had saved her fellow dealer, Warren Tubbs from the attack of a drunken miner. This incident lead to a romantic relationship between Tubbs and Alice and the duo tied the knot soon after. Poker Alice is reported to have 4 sons and 3 daughters with Tubbs. Alice and her husband were not enthusiastic with the idea of their children getting involved in the world of poker. That is why they had shifted to South Dakota. Tubbs used to paint houses, as a side profession. Speculations reveal that the profession of house-painting triggered tuberculosis in Tubbs and he died in 1910. It is said that Alice had to sell off her wedding ring to pay for Tubbs’s funeral. She joined back the world of poker soon after that. George Huckert was the third husband of Alice. They were together for a while until shortly afterwards Huckert passed away. Fanatic about NOT gambling on Sundays, Poker Alice was one of the legendary women poker players. $250,000, which in today’s world, would be worth an enviable 3 million dollars, is said to be the highest amount that Alice had won in poker.