Confidence, charisma, and a relentless competitive spirit—Christina Gollins is bringing it all to the poker world. In this edition of Inside the Poker Circles, drawn from Between the Blinds: Interviewing Poker Professionals by Sara O’Connor (coming this fall), we feature a rising star whose bold presence and fearless play are making a serious impact both at the tables and via her mentoring program.
With an aggressive style and a deep passion for the game, Gollins is carving out her space in an ever-competitive landscape. Her approach is unapologetic and authentic, fueled by ambition and a hunger to keep learning, evolving, and winning.
In this interview, she opens up about the grind, the growth, and the goals still ahead—sharing what drives her and why she’s just getting started.
Do you remember your first time playing? If so, what was it like?
Yes, and it was horrifying! My very first time playing was nine years ago. My best friend and I, along with some of our girlfriends, went to Planet Hollywood back when they still held tournaments, and we bought in for $80.
We were in heels and tiny dresses. We looked like straight fish. I just felt so out of place, and I felt even worse because I was dressed up for a club and not a poker tournament.
Now when I see women dressed up, I assume it’s probably one of their first five times playing. I feel so bad for them, thinking, “Oh no! You were just out doing Vegas things and decided on a whim to come and play poker.”
Anyways, my friends and I lasted for about 10 minutes, and I never did that again. From that point forward, I decided I was only gonna wear grungy clothes from then on out.
What’s it like excelling in both cash games and tournaments? Which is your favorite and why?
Well, I gotta be honest… I do not excel in cash games!
I started in cash games for probably the first six or seven years in my career. That’s how I learned the game. I didn’t become a winning player until I transitioned to tournaments, so I definitely prefer tournaments.
As for tournaments, they involve more strategy and that is what enticed me to make the switch. When I played cash, I never studied strategy under 75 big blinds because you can just reload. There was a whole new world when I entered the tournament scene. Now I get to study between 5-50 big blinds mostly, and I threw out most of what I knew playing cash.
Studying for tournaments is when I really dove down into poker and realized, “OK, it’s not just about reading people anymore. It’s not just about watching body language to see if they’re lying to me; it’s about a lot more strategy.” That was fun for me to learn a different aspect of poker; it was truly like a completely different game.
What’s your personality like on the felt?
I’m really reserved in general on and off the felt, but I’m like an extroverted introvert. I go home and refill my tank by hanging out with my dogs and my boyfriend. If someone is chatting me up on the table, I definitely converse and shoot the shit. I feel like I’m approachable, because I’m not shy at all.
However, when I’m by myself, I don’t need to talk to anybody. I could be alone forever and never feel lonely. I’m never rude or standoff-ish on the table unless I’m on my period. This is probably the only time you can catch me in a bad mood.
When you go on a losing period, do you begin to question if you still have an edge? What do you do to re-prepare yourself for next time?
I feel like I retire every night and then unretire every morning.
I force myself to play with the best all the time. I want to practice with the best and I want to play with the best. In order to do that, I don’t want to follow tours per se, where everyone is a low or micro-stakes player.
I moved to Vegas because I wanted to better myself and force myself to play with people who are considered to be pros, and not just recreational players.
My scores aren’t as good as they could be if I played in lower or micro-stakes, because I’m normally playing mid-stakes games. I’m practicing and playing at a higher level. I’m okay with that, because I’m still trying to learn. I do not consider myself a pro yet.
What’s your least and most favorite thing about playing the game?
I hate how many hours we have to put in in a day. Our bodies aren’t meant to sit for that long. Sometimes, I literally feel my body deteriorating sitting there while playing a tournament. I wish we could wrap it up in an eight-hour day like a normal workday, but our workdays are around a day and a half long.
You have to have a strong mental game and enough endurance in order to last through the wee hours of the morning, and still keep a focused and sharp mind. That’s a huge part of the game, which people don’t really realize.
I’m lucky, because I’m young. I feel so bad for these older players who usually go to bed at 9 PM; then all of a sudden you have a stubborn pro who doesn’t want to chop, and before you know it, they are up until 2 AM and falling asleep at the table.
I love being a human lie detector and using this ability to take money from men three times my size. I always say that I truly feel like women actually have an edge in poker, because we are definitely human lie detectors against men in particular. We just have this built-in ability to sense deception. Sorry, guys.
Any favorite moments when playing?
I don’t know about a particular moment, but I always know I’m doing something right when I just wreck a guy, and they end up screaming at me. I love getting a grown-ass man to yell at this tiny girl at the table.
It actually just happened at the Commerce Series, where Jamie Gold did that to me. I was like, “Hell yeah, I just got under your skin and now you feel stupid taking off the veil of being the ‘nice guy’.” Poker gets the best of people, and a lot of times, their true colors come out on the table.
As a player, how, if at all, do you handle disputes at the table?
I’ve had to stand up for myself a lot at the table, surprisingly. Men don’t like to be beaten by a woman; let’s just start there. Especially a small, innocent-looking one.
If there is a guy who is being rude and saying off-the-wall remarks to me, it’s never been my personality to let that slide, so I just kind of bite back. I’ve gotten into scuffles at the table, which usually consist of the man yelling at me, and me giggling and egging him on in a calm demeanor.
I don’t scream back; I’m very mellow. I let them look like an idiot, and then I’ll say something else that makes them even more mad so that when the floor comes by, he’s the one who gets a penalty for being the aggressor. It works every time.
What advice would you give to players about table etiquette and interacting with dealers and players?
Dealers have a special place in my heart. Sometimes super nice people, even my friends, can be rude to dealers, and I just don’t stand for that. I definitely think that people’s true colors come out on the table, and I’ve been shocked and taken aback too many times.
Do you or did you ever play differently against women and what do you think are the benefits of having Women’s Only poker events?
Hell yeah! I play way differently against women. For example, I try not to bluff. My strategy is 100% opposite than what I normally play. I’m not aggressive pre-flop, because everybody calls any three or four bet anyways.
So, I just let it go freaking six ways to a flop because you can’t raise enough to get anyone to fold or narrow anyone’s hand range down. I just pray the flop hits me.
To be honest, I think the only benefit to Women’s Only poker events is that they feel more comfortable, and they get their feet wet with little judgment and no staredowns.
There is an unspoken culture in Ladies Events, where women play very patiently knowing that there are a lot of people there to “‘play for fun,” not money. They understand there are a lot more recs in this field, and no one is going to roll their eyes or get antsy if someone is asking, “Is it my turn to go first?”
There are some women who only play women’s tournaments for this reason. I understand that, because I think that that’s their comfort zone; however, that comes with the responsibility of understanding that this is not how conventional poker is played.
The biggest reason for this is that normally ladies’ tournaments are an extremely low buy-in, normally between $150-$300. I could be wrong, but I believe the WSOP provides the highest buy-in for a Ladies Event– at a cost of $1,000.
That being said, even in this WSOP event, you get first-time players, and tons of off-book and unconventional play. I always joke that navigating these landmine fields is harder than winning a 10k tournament.
How did you celebrate one of your first or most memorable wins?
I’m so boring. My celebrations involve eating ice cream and hanging out with my dogs. But think about it – do you celebrate when you get a paycheck at your job? Hopefully not.
You are expected to make a return here and there as a full-time poker player. It’s a mistake to look at a win as a “celebration.” You’ll go broke quick.
Have you ever been involved in a prop bet or know of any good ones?
I have! My boyfriend and I have been doing prop bets between the two of us for three years now. Really high-stakes prop bets, too. A lot of them are certainly embarrassing or hurt the wallet, but we’ve been doing them to keep each other on our toes and to make the game extra fun.
The worst was when I had to work at McDonalds for a day because I lost a bet; I lasted probably only three hours. The worst for him was that he had to go all-in blind at the Wynn’s Championship 10K event (which only had one re-entry), the very first hand.
He was first to act, and went all in for a million big blinds and certainly got crazy looks at the table. I was behind him watching and giggling.
It actually folded around until it got to the big blind, who, of course, woke up with KK. He got snap-called, of course, and turned over J9 off, which was actually a pretty live hand.H e lost though, and had to re-enter and make that bullet last.
Tell me about your nickname, Baby Shark.
It was coined through a group of friends when I first started because I was small and could bite back. And I think they played it during a WSOP final table during a final women’s event every time I won a hand. Since then, the name stuck.
Where do you see yourself in five to ten years?
I see myself probably still playing poker, but at a higher level. I don’t go past $10,000 buy-ins at the moment, because I’m not at that level yet. I do believe that it’s a different type of play and I haven’t studied for that level yet. I want to master mid-staked games before moving up a level. I think five to ten years is enough time to do that.
