Revealing Clothing Really Helps: Pro Celina Lin Explains
7 years ago
27 May
They are weapons which very few (well, only one that I know of) male players can wield, but for Celina Lin, her breasts are most definitely part of her poker strategy!
Revealing that she uses her sex appeal to gain an advantage on the felt, Lin stated recently:
I tend to wear lower cut tops the deeper I go in tournaments.â
Well, quite, but itâs not often a well-known female pro is so forthright in her views!
The recent BBC podcast âThe Conversationâ saw fan favourite, Lin, join up with Cat Hulbert to discuss things which wouldnât feature in your average poker show. Lin, consistently in the top 10 sexiest female pros lists can hardly be described as average though.
With $611,981in tournament earnings, including a $110,077 scoop at the Red Dragon Macau Poker Cup back in 2012, Celina Lin has been around the poker scene for almost a decade now, and as team manager for the Hong Kong Stars GPL team and a Team PokerStars pro, she has had plenty of opportunity to test out her âbreast is bestâ theory at the tables.
I like to dress nicely â I like to set that standard for myselfâŚ.but not everyone does that,â says Lin, having just described some of her poker experiences as âthere are people who sat next to me who stink horribly! They smell like they have not had a shower for a week!â
Very stylish,â says Cat Hubert â a career blackjack and poker pro - of her dress sense at the tables. âI always wanted to give the appearance of being more affluent, because men really canât stand a woman with money!â
Linâs use of cleavage as a poker weapon is hardly new, of course. Jennifer Tilly, the Canadian-American actress of Liar, Liar fame and who has been with Phil Laak for more than a decade, is often to be seen with her two biggest assets on display at the table.
As Lin stated, when informed about the headline describing her as âthe sexiest female poker player in Asiaâ, âto be honest, as a woman, if youâve got it I donât see why you canât use it to your advantage!â
"Some women say there are so many guys at the table I just want to put myself in a hoodie,â says Lin, but she herself takes the opposite approach, intended to make the guys feel uncomfortable instead.
Research shows that men cannot think as well under situations where blood may be going elsewhere!â she jokes about flashing more of her cleavage the longer she remains in a tournament, âespecially as we get towards the final table. I do whatever I can to distract them, and if it gets me further in a tournament, winning the trophy, I think there is nothing wrong with that.â
Not all of Linâs colleagues in the poker world agree, however.
Jessica Dawley thinks Linâs approach is âone of the biggest letdowns".
I feel, as a female, we've come so far,â she told philly.com last summer, adding âand yet we set ourselves back so far by trying to use our sexuality to get ahead in life. If we want to be treated as equals, then try to use ammunition men would [use]."
The 32-year-old military veteran, who spent six years with the Kentucky Air National Guard, serving in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, explained:
I really hope to empower women to be independent and rely upon themselves, and to break through all the barriers, and to use their knowledge and intellect more than their sexuality."
Along with fellow pros Marsha Wolak and Natasha Barbour, they have developed a website, Epicpokertraining.com, with a section titled "Femme Fatale," which is a ladies-only tutorial, the idea being to attract more women to the game.
Dawley explains:
I'm trying to get casinos to be more female-friendly, to not have the sexualized cocktail waitresses or sexualized massage therapists."
She agrees with Hulbertâs statement from âThe Conversationâ:
I donât think women are as good as male players, I think they are better than male players,â saying, "I think they can be every bit as prominent as men, and more." she insisted. They don't have the leaks like guys do. You don't see them tipping the cocktail waitresses $200, because we have no intentions with the cocktail waitresses. You don't see us getting drunk and stupid and falling over at the table. We just take it a lot more seriously."
So for every Celina Lin, Jennifer Tilly, or Liv Boeree using their natural assets to aid their game, there is a Vanessa Selbst, Jessica Dawley, and Annette Obrestad content to let their cards do the talking.
So what do you think readers? Do big boobs put you off your game? Is Linâs approach perfectly acceptable? Let us know in the comments section!
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