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Karina Jett

Even though she grew up in Las Vegas, NV, and both of her parents seemed smitten by the poker craze, Karina Jett never gave a thought to becoming a professional poker player.

She was born in Saigon, Vietnam on August 16, 1974, and after a short stay in St. Petersburg, Florida, her father—a colonel in the Air Force—was transferred to Nellis Air Force Base, just outside of Las Vegas. As a youngster she would often tag along with her parents to the Mirage and other card rooms, entertaining herself at the arcades while her parents played poker.

Karina began dabbling in poker prior to her enrollment in college, where she planned to get a degree in political science, but when her mother needed help running the family business—a restaurant and jewelry store—strong family ties led her back home to help.

She rekindled friendship with some old poker pals and started making new acquaints, one in particular was Charles “Chip” Jett, and five weeks later they were married—they now have two children, daughter Athena and son Apollo.

Karina started her poker career playing low limit Seven-Card-Stud, but soon progressed to higher limits and varied games; including No Limit Hold’em, and by 1996 she was playing poker full-time. She prefers playing live games, but with more than 20 cashes and nearly $200,000 in prize money, she is no novice to tournament play.

Jett placed 4th in the 2003 and 2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP) $1K Ladies Hold’em events, and she made the final table in the Poker Royale: Battle of the Sexes, finishing in 5th place.

Karina, who was voted “Miss Photogenic” in the Miss World Nevada pageant, has made several appearances on televised poker events and she and her husband Chip write a column for Card Player and other poker magazines answering reader’s questions in a “he said—she said” format.

Karina and Chip live in Las Vegas and when they are not playing live or tournament poker, they operate Jett Poker Inc., a company they designed that offers decks of collectible playing cards, marketed as “Poker’s Most Wanted,” featuring images of past and current poker legends on the face of the cards. They are both professional players representing Full Tilt Poker and the couple made history in 2005 at the London Open, “Battle of the Sexes” at Billingsgate Market by being the first husband and wife to make the final table in such a high dollar tournament—a $10,000 buy-in event. Players beware if you find yourself sitting at the same table with both of them—they are a super “Poker Duo.”

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Karina Jett

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Karina Jett

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