There was good-natured marital rivalry at the Irish Open today as Jen Frankenstein and hubby Brian Harris both made it through to the final day of the inaugural Kings and Queens tournament.
Keen recreational players from Florida, it was the first time the couple have taken part in any kind of men v women event. Brian outlasted Jen; she was tenth (for €500) while Brian finished fifth for €1,512.
But this is NOT a story about a poker tournament, it’s a story about LOVE.
Love at first showdown
How Jen and Brian met is a deeply romantic story, especially if you think that bringing poker chips and cards to your third date is the way to woo a woman.
Some 15 years ago, Jen, newly divorced and feeling just a little fragile, dropped her kids off at school in Orlando, Florida and headed to a nearby Starbucks. She’d been hoping for a drive-through but, as luck would have it, this particular Starbucks didn’t have one.
Slightly irritated, Jen went inside and, while grabbing her latte, spotted her kids’ paediatrician sitting at one of the tables. It seemed a good opportunity to ask Dr Harris if he had any advice for a newly single parent. Dr Harris invited her to sit down. She did … and they started chatting.
Seven hours later …
Seven hours later, Jen and Brian were STILL sitting in the Starbucks chatting. Date #2 was in the offing (at The Cheesecake Factory, a movie) and they kissed for the first time.
But it was Date #3 that really counts. Brian turned up with some poker chips and cards. This was a bit like a keen angler taking his new girlfriend to his favourite fishing spot – love me, love my hobby.
Jen said: “I hadn’t the first clue about poker and there was Brian trying to teach me. On our third date! But I just couldn’t get my head around it – how can two pair, which is FOUR cards, be worse than three of a kind which has only THREE cards? Nevertheless I was interested … “
Jen started watching poker on TV as well as going along to Brian’s regular Wednesday guys-get-together poker game. She said: “I played my first tournament a year after we met and three months after that, we went to Vegas together for the first time.”
Once Jen was hooked on poker, the couple wasted no time turning the game into a family affair. All four of their children – Brian’s daughters Alexa and Amanda, Jen’s kids Kate and Robert – are now keen players. The day after Thanksgiving, they always play a family tournament (complete with a trophy that they bought on Amazon.)
At the time, Jen owned a highly successful holiday home rental company, but after selling up and eventually leaving the business altogether, she was looking for an activity she could really get into. In December 2024, she reached out to GTO Lab coach Jonathan Jaffe, and he hooked her up with poker coach Hunter Cichy. It was a game-changer for Jen. She said: “My game really improved. I was studying all the time – reading, listening to podcasts, watching poker on TV. All of it. I made 10 final tables in six months including two WSOPC final tables in 24 hours.”
Brian and Jen now travel for poker a LOT and came to the Irish Open for the first time last year. Jen said: “Friends told us how great it is and we love it – the atmosphere, the people. It’s an amazing event.”
After Dublin, the couple are embarking on an epic poker tour taking in Hard Rock Hollywood in Florida, the Cherokee in North Carolina, the Playground in Montreal and then Vegas for five weeks.
She said: “Yes, we do love our poker holidays! And the Irish Open is one we’ll definitely be coming back to. It’s in our calendar now and we’ll be back every year!” And with that, Jen jumped straight into the €350 NLH 6-Max Championship.
