Whether she’s playing, coaching, or advocating for change, AJ Rudolph is a powerful force in the world of poker.
In this edition of Inside the Poker Circles, drawn from the pages of Between the Blinds: Introducing Poker Professionals by Sara O’Connor (coming this fall), we highlight a leader who brings passion, purpose, and a people-first mindset to every corner of the game.
As a player, Rudolph competes with skill and grit. As a coach and industry advocate, she’s made it her mission to help others grow—both in strategy and in confidence.
Her work to make poker more inclusive has opened doors for countless players, and her influence continues to ripple throughout the community.
In this interview, AJ shares the path that brought her to the felt, the challenges she’s faced, and the impact she hopes to leave on the game she loves. This is Inside the Poker Circles.
Do you remember your first time playing? If so, what was it like?
I do. I have played cards for a long time. In high school, we would go to coffee shops and play Euchre. I loved playing cards; it was a constant in my life. I played Hearts and Spades too, but not poker. I don’t remember if poker wasn’t suggested; it just was never part of my life back then.
I dated my husband long distance, and during one of my visits, his brother (now my brother-in-law) was having a Saturday night poker game. I said I didn’t know how to play, but there were other wives and girlfriends there, which made it feel more comfortable. It was a welcoming environment.
They were playing all kinds of poker games; it depends on what game the dealer called out to play. Even though I didn’t know how to play, I sat down and had a ton of fun. I loved it.
Together, my husband and I moved to Chicago. We found a bar league and started playing there. In Chicago, the gaming laws are weird. There are so many laws around poker; it varies state to state. Here, you can have a license for a charity poker game, or you can play at a casino.
So, this bar league I played at was for free poker. Then, the game got shut down, which wasn’t fun. I don’t know if they didn’t do licensing properly or what, but they were shut down.
We had met some people through that bar league who said, “We have a house game; come play with us.” So, we went. It was called Poker at Guy’s, because that’s whose house we’d play at. And we played for years.
Sadly, Guy passed away, but he brought us together. The players from that game are still close with us to this day. Now, we mostly play home games online.
As the women from the group had children, they stopped playing. Some people moved. Most of the guys kept showing up, but the women were dwindling. I didn’t stop playing, though.
We’d bring out kids over and they’d go to sleep in a bedroom while we played with our friends. My husband still plays with friends, but he has no interest in playing at the level I play now.
In 2019, I went out to Vegas by myself with the goal of playing poker for 4-5 days. I wanted to be successful at the game, not as a job per se, but I did want it to be my full focus for this trip.
I decided specific events to play, usually tournaments with buy-ins from $200-$500. I was decent, but had not studied at the time.
I went to play an event at the Venetian and folded all my hands for one rotation of the table. Then, I got pocket jacks. I misplayed them. I hit a flush and went all-in on the river.
Unfortunately, my opponent had a straight flush. This was to be my big tournament of the trip, and I was devastated to be out of the tournament on my first hand.
So, I decided to suck it up, and I went to play the afternoon tournament at Planet Hollywood. There, I chopped for first place. Poker is humbling, especially when you think you’re going to play and win a big one. Poker will cut you off at the knees. But it can also be very rewarding.
Where do you see yourself in five to ten years?
I have no idea! I’m definitely one of those people who rides the wave where life takes me, which is weird because I’m also a planner. But my career has changed so much. It’s kind of hard to say.
I hope I still have a love for poker and am still traveling to play tournaments. I hope I’m still involved with poker and the community.
I do some tech jobs with my background, so I assume I’ll still be working unless I win the Main Event next year. One of my kids will be out of the house and one will be in high school, so we’ll see.
Any favorite moments when playing?
Probably one of my favorite moments was a year ago in December when I won the Women in Poker Hall of Fame tournament. We went to the awards ceremony where they were inducting women.
We then all went to Resorts World to play a bounty event, and the Hall of Famers were playing and were bounties I was playing and my husband was in town, so he was able to come this time.
I won that tournament with my husband there, and it was just wonderful. It felt really good to win that one, especially with him there.
Almost no one talks about this, and I’m fascinated by it, but when you’re winning a poker tournament, almost no one is there. There are a few people playing cash games, but everyone has gone home so you’re celebrating alone most of the time. My rail of one was very nice.
What advice would you give to players about table etiquette and interacting with dealers and players?
One of them is easy – just be polite; don’t be rude. Understand you’re at a table with a ton of other people. Sneeze into your elbow instead of into your hand when you’re touching chips and cards.
There are other pieces of etiquette specific to poker that people don’t know. The basics: don’t fold out of turn; place big chips on top; and showering is good. You’re sharing the space with nine other people for some time, so act like it.
Do you have any pre- or post-game rituals you practice?
I want to have more of them. I try to get myself Zen before I play; for whatever reason, it always feels like I’m rushing to get there. I’m always squeezing something into my busy life.
I’d love to get there thirty minutes early to meditate, but I usually only end up arriving two minutes before starting the tournament.
Do you do anything to help bring more women into the game? If so, what?
Where does the list start? (laughs) I used to work at Poker Power, which is specifically designed to teach beginning women players how to play. I was the Vice President of the Women’s Poker Association (WPA) and have just recently become its President. I’ve been on the board for four years.
I’m continuously doing activities with the WPA to raise awareness and make sure there are Ladies Events. As an aside, I kind of wish they were called Women’s Events, but the name has stuck.
People need to be educated as to why there needs to be Ladies’ Events. People can be jerks. Really the entire reason these events exist is because since poker began, women were excluded and told they can’t play poker. Women just don’t think about it, because they were told they shouldn’t.
But when you tell them that there’s an event and it’s just for women, that seems more comfortable for them. It would be a great thing if for every series, we have one event to bring women to the game. Why anyone would complain about that is silly. We need to grow the game of poker however we can.
With Kristen Foxen, that brought people out of the woodwork. She was criticized greatly. Guys will joke about women playing, and that boggles my mind. I was playing a game and had just made a final table.
I said, “If she wins, it’ll bring so many women to join poker because representation matters.” I said, “If she won, it would be the Moneymaker boom all over again.” This guy was like, “Well, who’s going to stay home and watch the children?!” And I thought, you gotta be kidding me.
Can you tell me about the Women’s Poker Association and what it’s like being their Vice President?
First, the organization has been around for about 10 years or less. It was founded by Lupe Soto, who is an incredible person in poker. She does incredible things for this game, including bringing women to the game.
I was connected to the organization because of Poker Power. I always want to do more in a field I’m in, so it was a natural parlay to start working with this organization as well.
Our goal is to celebrate women at final tables. We send these trophies for Ladies’ Events to make them more special. All the women get swag for making the final table, and we have advocates who bring these things to the events.
We provide information to make sure people know about the women’s events. We do giveaways for seats for bigger events.
There’s not as much“staking”(i.e., when a backer (investor) provides a player (horse) with money to play in cash games or tournaments in exchange for a share of the winnings)for the women, so that’s why I don’t play the giant events. I don’t have staking.
You have to play within your means, your bankroll. We want to give opportunities to ladies to play those larger events.
Finding male allies is important. Our Raise It Up program has certified rooms that say bad behavior will be handled. You know if you’re going to go there, if there’s an issue, there will be people to handle things.
It’s a great organization; I enjoy being the VP. It’s an entirely volunteer organization; we put in a lot of hours of our time.
One of the biggest things that happened last year was that a lot of circuit events cut Ladies Events. We have a relationship with the WSOP, and we had conversations with them, and the situation was resolved. Now, they actively encourage having a Ladies Event at every stop.
Have you ever experienced sexism when playing the game?
Yes. There are definitely men who will play differently against me as a woman. There are two types of men:
- I will see them play super aggressive against me thinking they can just make me fold, which is an error, or
- Because I’m an aggressive player, they’ll play scared against me.
I’ll bet a lot of hands and play them aggressively. This guy donk betted all-in to me on the flop, and I folded. He was like, “If I didn’t do that, you were just going to bet again!” And he was right (laughs).
I had a guy play so passively against me. And I thought, you can play back a little bit! But he didn’t; he checked out the whole hand until I bet and won!
The good thing is, I have never had someone be absolutely awful to me at a table, though I’ve seen it. Once a guy got super pissed when he got busted, so he threw his tournament ticket in the dealer’s face. Fortunately, he ended up getting banned.
When I busted certain guys, I’ve had people slam their fists on the table, glare at me, etc., but that’s about it.
Unfortunately, there’s some awful stories that happen to women, and some men get mad when they lose to a woman. I get hit on all the time at the table. But I haven’t had a really abusive situation to deal with.
Can you tell me about your experiences as a poker commentator?
Interestingly enough, I used to work in radio. One of my Poker Power coworkers was working at the World Poker Tour (WPT) at the time. They needed someone last minute, and she said I could do it based on my background.
When you teach, you’re kind of commentating, so I had good practice. So, I was able to do virtual commentating for WPT and some commentating in person last December. I really liked it. You usually have a co-host with you. It’s fun watching the action from that point of view.
How do you balance motherhood with playing?
It’s tough, because there are things I have to do to be there for my kids. I make some tough decisions sometimes; they have sports and are young and need their mom.
If I was a professional, this would be a different conversation. But baseball season goes all spring, and I didn’t know when I was showing up in Vegas based on his schedule. I’d never miss his championship, even if I had no sleep.
My kids aren’t going to be young forever, so I try to balance it out. At the same time, I can’t just live just for my children. Poker is important and fun for me, so it’s about finding balance.
