Alexa Fisher, from Texas, looks and talks like any other 8-year old girl. However, she has a skill that is most unusual for girls her age. She can play poker fabulously well. In fact, Alexa is so good at poker that she can take on card sharks seven times her age. She was introduced to playing cards at the age of three by her father Justin, a 35 year old poker enthusiast. He says he taught her the game to help improve her Math skills.
Justin began by having ESPN and other poker game shows on TV playing in the background all the time. He also used playing cards as a way to teach her to count and learn math skills before she began school. And his efforts payed off. Alexa slowly began to understand which cards were higher and recognized poker terminology, like a flush, a pair and three of a kind. He then went on to get her poker chips. By the age of four, when other kids are barely able to hold an entire pack of cards in their tiny hands, Alexa was could shuffle, deal and also knew the basic strategies of bluffing. When she reached five, she could play No-Limit Texas Holde’m like a pro. She slowly began to learn more games like Badugi, Double Flop Hold’em, and many other WSOP (World Series of Poker Tournaments) games.
Alexa has played poker for charity events. At her first live tournament in 2009, she set an age record by outlasting well over half the field, including her father. She says she loves playing poker and the neat thing about it is that there are a lot of games to choose from and they are easy to learn and play. She hopes to become a professional player when she grows up and inspire other women to play poker too. Choosing a trip to Vegas over Disneyland last year, Alexa attended the WSOP to meet her idol, professional poker player Greg Raymer. His signed autograph to her reads, “See you in 2024!”, which is when she will be legally eligible to enter the tournament herself.
