WPT Step 2 Winner – Austin –

May, 2021

Esther Fedorkevich

Texas Card House Austin sat down with WPT STEP 2 Winner, Esther Fedorkevich to talk about her upbringing around the poker community. 

Esther is originally from New Jersey and moved to Austin 11 years ago to be closer to family, since 3 of her 5 brothers were already living here in Austin. She’s the founder and CEO of The Fedd Agency, a literary and entertainment agency that represents authors. 

From a very young age, about 7 or 8 years old, Esther started playing poker with quarters at home with her brothers. This is what first got her into the game. In her mid-twenties, she started playing in tournaments. Her first poker tournament in 2008 was a ladies’ event at the Borgata Open. She ended up winning and it got her hooked to the game. 

Esther prefers playing tournaments over cash games because of the chance to win big with a single buy-in. She usually plays two or three tournaments a year, between here (Austin) and Las Vegas. Her favorite casinos to go to in Las Vegas are The Venetian and Borgata. However, when talking about cash games, Pot Limit Omaha is what she prefers to play. 

The word got out about the WPT Steps Tournaments being hosted at Texas Card House Austin. Esther heard about them by being a regular player at TCH. It caught her attention because of the guarantee ($20K), enough money for the time commitment it takes to play it. 

In the past, Esther won the Venetian Deep Stack Tournament once and came in second on the next one. She won the Borgata Open WPT Event and participated in the World Series of Poker. She’s cashed out from 50% of the tournaments she’s played, which she considers to be “pretty crazy”. Her goal is always to get to the final table. 

She’s very into the strategy and odds of the game. She is good with math and she watches her favorite poker player, Daniel Negreanu, on his videos and listens to his podcast as well. 

Esther’s theory in poker is to “avoid being unlucky, don’t get involved in the hands where all your chips are at stake, always be the one making the move and not calling, at least so that you have fold equity.”