Gloria Jackson Leads Family Charge on Day 3 at Borgata

By Sean Chaffin

The WPT brings people together. And in the case of David and Gloria Jackson (pictured), that meant a marriage and five children. The Jacksons, both originally from Atlanta, met four years ago playing poker at bestbet in Jacksonville, FL. It was a match made in poker heaven, and the two have been playing the WPT Borgata Poker Open this week.

Unfortunately, David busted just before the dinner break on Day 2, but Gloria is doing quite well with 476,000 to start Day 3. Despite their competitiveness on the felt, the couple doesn’t look for bragging rights with each other.

“I just hope she does well because I’ve already fired two bullets today,” David says with a laugh.

The Family That Plays Together, Stays Together

Poker has been good to the Jacksons. David, age 31, has more than $1.5 million in tournament earnings including winning a WSOP Circuit ring and $39,938 in North Carolina in November. He also has numerous other cashes and final tables. His biggest win came in June 2014 in a 794-entry Planet Hollywood event, where he took home $84,000.

Some other nice wins came at the Venetian’s DeepStack Extravaganza in Las Vegas. In a $600 event in May 2016, David topped a field of 600 entries and took home $59,210. Almost a year later in June 2017, he won $56,038 in a $1,100 event that featured 309 entries.

For her part, Gloria is no slouch either and has $374,092 in live tournament winnings. Her best cash came here at the Borgata in November of 2016 where she finished third in a $ 2,700 No Limit Hold’em Championship as part of the Borgata Fall Poker Open.

Gloria, age 36, has one win at a $300 tournament at the Wynn in Las Vegas in 2014 for $9,000 as well as numerous other deep finishes and final tables.

Before they turned pro, David worked in sales and Gloria had a cleaning business. While it may not be always easy, the Jacksons have made it work as a professional poker-playing couple.

“We take care of our family,” she says, “and play poker. That’s about it.”

Poker and Pregnancy

Gloria was really trying to hold out. It was the type of run a player dreams about last October. She was deep in the WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble Main Event. Fresh off two fourth-place finishes in preliminary events, there was one more thing she faced beyond her other opponents at the table – her baby was due.

And soon.

Gloria kept playing – eventually taking 19th for $14,755. The celebration for the deep run was certainly short-lived.

“I was in labor and had the baby right after I busted,” she says. “I cashed, went to the hospital, and had the baby.”

The baby boy was healthy and the couple is back at the tables looking for more cashes like that.

One thing’s for sure, the Jacksons from Jacksonville will be back at it next month when the WPT heads to their hometown for another big event at the bestbet. This one should be a little smoother for the family – Gloria says there’s no pregnancy to worry about this time.

Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer in Crandall, Texas, and host of the True Gambling Stories podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @PokerTraditions.