Poker pro Daiva Byrne started the FLIP Facebook page more than four years ago. FLIP stands for Fantastic Ladies in Poker, and she created it as a space for women in poker to share their accomplishments and concerns, to receive support and find community.
The group has grown through the years but never at a rate as in the past year. Byrne told us that her Facebook page membership grew 35% in the past year. It now exceeds 4,150 members, having surpassed the 4K mark in just the past week.
Byrne lives up to her professed goal of building a solid online poker community for women. While the group supports women in all areas of poker, Byrne is particularly keen on encouraging more women to play live poker. Eventually, women should be able to walk into events and sign up for tournaments and recognize each other, expanding that sense of community.
Covid-19 put a buffer on those plans for the better part of the past year, but group members simply switched their focus to online poker in whatever form the game was available to them during the pandemic. A scroll through the page reveals women posting about both live and online poker.
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The growth of FLIP prompted Byrne to do something often reserved for online poker operators. She announced that three women from the group recently became FLIP ambassadors.
Three FLIP Ambassadors
The goal of naming ambassadors is to highlight women who will represent FLIP in live events and in the Facebook community. They will also focus on the countries in which they live, welcoming new women to the games and supporting them in their local languages and settings.
Byrne told us she’s been wanting to name ambassadors for some time. As she kept her eyes peeled for the right women, she chose three of them who have been strong advocates of women in poker in general but especially supportive in the FLIP group.
She told us a little about Ann-Roos Callens, Emilia Riot, and Suzie Williamson.
“The well-respected Belgian player Ann-Roos Callens is already expanding our presence there, while the approachable Emilia Riot allows us to harness the growing interest in poker that Poland is experiencing in 2021. The UK has the highest number of FLIP members, so bringing on board an inspiring ambassador specifically for this region, especially ones who loves live poker, means we are delighted to have the fabulous Suzie Williamson on the team.“With live poker festivals starting up once again across Europe, it will be great to have FLIP ambassadors at selected events to offer local support to other women attending and increase the community’s visibility.”
Not only do the new FLIP ambassadors represent different countries, they each bring unique qualities to the tables. They range in age from 36 to 47 and have varying levels of experience. Two of them have played poker for more than 10 years, with the other nearing 10 years, in the poker world. Two of the three are married, two have children, and all three have solid business careers.
All of them play poker for fun…but they take the game seriously. And all of them have very strong feelings about bringing more women to the tables.
The women of the FLIP community congratulated all of them warmly.
Byrne called the ambassadorships an exciting milestone for FLIP. She also noted that this is just the beginning. “There is much more to come,” she said. “GGPoker continues to be a brilliant partner in supporting our initiatives. FLIP remains as dedicated as ever to promoting and supporting women across all areas of poker.”
In addition to the three ambassadors, several women represent FLIP in the world of Twitch online poker streaming. They are known on Twitter as @chechiing (Canada), @callmelija (Europe), @hmcconnel7 (Helena McConnel from the UK), and @pamelabalzano (also known as Pamsi from Brazil). Their Twitter handles include their Twitch channels and links.
Joining FLIP
The Facebook group is open to women who enjoy poker. Members can invite others to join, but any woman is welcome to visit the FB page and request to join.
While there are no specific rules for participating in the community, there are unspoken rules to be kind, celebrate accomplishments no matter size or scope, and contribute constructively to conversations. Members of the group feel a sense of community because of the environment that Daiva made sure to foster as FLIP has grown.
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