10 Questions with PLON member Melinda Morgan Hipp

First, tell us a bit about yourself

I live in San Antonio and am a Native Texan.  I grew up in Odessa, went to undergraduate school at Texas Tech, and got my MBA and MA from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

I have had four distinctive careers, first as a music educator, second as a professional Symphony Orchestra Manager, and third as a golf equipment/apparel wholesale salesperson. I made my biggest career move into the mortgage Industry in 1998 and decided to focus solely on the reverse mortgage product in 2020.  As a sales leader with Mutual of Omaha, I will probably continue working until I am at least 70 and then play a lot more poker and golf.

I spend a lot of time on the golf course and enjoy volunteering as a Golf Rules Official with the USGA, Texas Golf Association, and many local high school, college and amateur tournaments. 

My husband of 41 years, Lee, is a professional musician and plays tuba in the San Antonio Symphony.  I also love my two mini Dachshunds, Tristan and Sigfried.

1. What is your PokerStars name and why did you choose it? 

    My PokerStars Name is SA_Star76.   SA means San Antonio, where I live, Star because I want to be a Poker STAR, and 76 is the year I graduated from high school in Odessa, TX.

2. What is your favorite poker memory?

     There are two.  The first one is learning how fun it was to play online poker when it first got big from a friend of mine who played while he was working.  I always chastised him, but he is the vice president of a large mortgage company now!  I got hooked and eventually played some live poker in Las Vegas.  I was very sad when online poker got shut down in Texas. 

    My second-greatest memory was not that long ago when we got card rooms here in Texas and were able to play live anytime we wanted.

3. What do you think might help or needs to change to gain more women in poker?

    We need more opportunities to meet each other face to face.  Some places in Texas do that well, but not here in San Antonio. 

    I would love to have some kind of Executive Women’s Poker club where businesswomen learn how much strategy they could develop by playing the game.  We need more “women-friendly” women also.  Some of the things I hear women say in our poker room would not be allowed on TV, and the clubs and dealers need to do a better job of shutting down both the loud and obnoxious women and men.  We cannot act like those obnoxious men.  There should be safe and calm places where women can be competitive also.

4. What are your thoughts about tournaments still being split by gender?

    I am all for it, mostly due to my comments above.  While there are certainly assertive women players, usually women still make other women feel more comfortable at the table versus the uber aggressive bettors, usually in mixed tournaments, who stare down women and make them feel small.  We will never continue to grow the game until we get more women into the women ’s-only only events. We still play golf, softball, and tennis in genders, so poker should always continue to offer those options.  Maybe even have some men’s only tournaments to make them feel special too! 🙂

5. Do you prefer online or live poker?

    I prefer live poker, and prefer to do it anywhere it’s available.  If traveling (when we get to do more), I will seek out poker rooms or casinos with good tournament action. I used to play more cash games, but it’s gotten a little over the top for me, and I love the patience and strategy it takes to play a long tournament.

    I don’t mind online, but playing the free games is ridiculous with everyone going all-in every hand.  I need strategy to be able to enjoy the action.  I very much enjoy the PLON games!

6. Who are your favorite poker opponents and why?

     I have my favorites at Rounders in San Antonio, maybe about four of them.  It’s usually because I know how they play and can read them.  I also know who owes me and whom I owe.  I also really love to have the dealers playing at my table as I know their personalities and their games well.  In PLON games, I love playing with Chloeis, ninjaminer and RozzyQ.  All the women are fun to play with and have different personalities. Then some change their playing personality on a dime and freak me out! 😊

7. What is your favorite preflop hand that you always play? Is there a story behind it?

    While I somehow have fallen in love with AQ suited, even though many hate it, I have to say that I really don’t just beg for a certain hand to come.  However, I can tell you that my least favorite and scary hand is pocket 10s.  I got this hand in position in my first WSOP Women’s Satellite in Las Vegas many years ago.  It was early in the tournament, and I did not push until a player out of position raised, another called and I, unfortunately, could not get away from it.  The person out of position ended up with trips, and I was out. I played penny slots for the next two hours 😊

8. Do you have any poker-related collections?

    I have star jewelry and owls and stars for card protectors that I wear and carry for good luck.

9. What is your biggest pet peeve about poker?

    As you can probably tell, folks who are loud, obnoxious, and only know four-letter words and the dealers do nothing about them.

10. What is your favorite Las Vegas casino poker room and why?

    For years my favorite place to play was Harrah’s, but that poker room is closed now, maybe forever. It’s where I learned to play live and would win quite often. Recently I won a tourney at The Venetian, so that may become my new favorite! 

    Outside of Las Vegas, I love Rounders here in San Antonio and also love the Sycuan Resort Casino in San Diego and the Talking Stick Casino in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Check back soon for another installment: 10 Questions with PLON Ambassador Kathleen Twomey!