Jen Harman woke up from a kidney transplant. Her husband told her Andy Beal was back in town.
“Are we in?”
Ten days earlier, she’d been playing the billionaire while in kidney failure. She says she won and lost $6 million in 20 minutes. Now she was recovering in a hospital bed—with a piece of the next game.
Jen joins Art Parmann and Justin Young to take us inside the Corporation: the group of poker legends who pooled their money to play Andy Beal. The stakes kept climbing. The bankroll ran out. Doyle Brunson made a phone call, and $2 million showed up at Bellagio.
And somehow, that’s only part of her story.
Before the biggest games in Vegas, there was a fake ID in Reno, cocktail waitressing, and acting classes in LA. Then she left poker for love, bought a coal truck, and ended up so broke she couldn’t replace a windshield.
Going back to poker worked out considerably better.
We get into beating Sam Grizzle twice, her long friendship with Daniel Negreanu, and winning a WSOP bracelet the first time she played no-limit 2–7. There’s also the Chip Reese prank that sent her flying home from Italy, the rise and collapse of Full Tilt, and what changed when she became a mom.
Now she’s writing a memoir—and figuring out how much of a life spent keeping a strong front she’s ready to put on the page.
👇 Jen needs a title for her book. What would you call it? Put your best suggestion in the comments.
SHOW NOTES
00:00 “Are We In?”
00:28 Meet Jen Harman
01:32 Growing Up Competitive in Reno
15:41 Losing Her Mom and Facing Kidney Failure
23:23 A Fake ID and Poker as an Escape
33:26 Moving to LA, Acting Classes, and the Bicycle Club
42:10 Beating Sam Grizzle Twice
48:23 Love, a Coal Truck, and Starting Over in Vegas
57:20 Meeting Daniel Negreanu
1:05:00 Tournament Lessons and Her First WSOP Bracelet
1:15:10 Andy Beal and the Corporation
1:20:24 “We’re Broke”—Doyle Makes a Phone Call
1:29:34 A Kidney Transplant and a Piece of the Game
1:34:38 Chip Reese’s Prank and a $130,000 Win
1:36:02 Full Tilt: The Boom and the Collapse
1:43:32 Family, Her Twin Boys, and Life Away From the Table
1:48:40 The Poker Hall of Fame
1:52:00 Homeschooling During COVID
1:56:33 Tournament Comebacks and What She Plays Now
2:00:29 Writing the Memoir
JEN’S LINKS
X: https://x.com/RealJenHarman
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realjenharman
TABLE 1 LINKS
Play with us in Vegas:
https://table1.vegas
Phenom Poker:
https://play.phenompoker.com/register?r=Table1
Justin’s live cash game course:
https://pokercoaching.com/table1
Mako travel bags:
https://safetravelsbag.com
Follow Table 1:
X: https://x.com/table1vegas
Instagram: https://instagram.com/table1vegas
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