Jennifer Harman

Jennifer Harman Biography
by Chad Holloway of Predictem.com

Jennifer Harman, also known as Jennifer Harman-Traniello, was born on November 29, 1964 in Reno, Nevada. At the age of eight, Harman began sitting with her father during his home poker games. This was her first exposure to poker. During her teenage years, Harman acquired a fake I.D. which allowed her to frequent various card rooms. When she was seventeen, Harman's mother passed away from complications with her kidneys. Eventually, Harman decided to try her hand at college, pursuing a degree in biology at the University of Nevada-Reno while working as a cocktail waitress. After graduating, she made the choice to pursue poker instead of taking a corporate job. This decision ultimately caused her to be estranged from her father for a number of years, though they have since reconciled.

Harman had problems with her kidneys, the same that had plagued her mother and sister, since she was a child. In 2004, Harman took a year off from poker in order to have her second kidney transplant. During her time off, Harman wrote a chapter on Limit hold'em for Super System 2. When she returned to poker, Harman made an immediate impact by finishing fourth in the World Poker Tour's Five-Diamond World Poker Classic, fifth in the inaugural Professional Poker Tour event, and second in the World Series of Poker Circuit championship event at the Rio.

Harman has two W.S.O.P. bracelets, one for her victory in the 2000 deuce-to-seven draw event and the other for the $5,000 limit hold'em tournament in 2002. She was also part of the group of poker professionals, called "The Corporation," who banded together to play banker Andy Beal heads up. She was personally responsible for winning $9 million from the banker. Her other poker accomplishments include placing third at the Aruba Poker Classic during season one of the WPT, winning $330,000 for taking third at the 2008 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star event, appearing on both GSN's High Stakes Poker and NBC's Poker After Dark, and playing four nights a week against the best poker professionals at the "Big Game" at the Bellagio. Harman described playing against the toughest competition in the world during her time at the World Series of Poker Europe, "You just have to be good at playing in all situations. You play with good players and sometimes you play with great players. That's just how poker is. You just have to focus, not play horribly and there's a chance you can do well."

Harman is married to fellow poker pro Marco Traniello, with whom she has two twin boys. She is a member of Team Full Tilt and donates time to raising money for the CODA (Creating Organ Donor Awareness) and the SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). She is also close friends with fellow poker professional Daniel Negreanu. Though she is best at cash games, Harman is also a successful tournament player, amassing lifetime tournament earnings totaling more than $2.1 million. Harman currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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