Chinese poker queen Celina Lin overcomes cultural barriers to drive game to new levels of ‘glamour and prestige’
Having convinced her family of the values of poker, the 35-year-old is now inspiring a new generation
She’s China’s most successful female poker player and is idolised throughout Asia, but for Celina Lin Peifei the first step to stardom was convincing her family of the game’s values.
For Lin, who was born in Shanghai before moving to Melbourne at the age of nine, it was a hard sell when she decided to leave Australia for Macau in 2007 to become part of PokerStars’ professional team.
“Culturally, it is something that is frowned upon, that was one of the hurdles,” the 35-year-old says.
“My parents did not understand the game and they felt like it was very similar to playing blackjack and baccarat.
“Because poker tournaments are organised inside a casino, people relate it to all the other games. I had to say to them ‘No, you do realise we play against other players, we are not playing against the house? We make decisions after we’re given information’.
“It ended up taking almost three months to turn my dad around and when he did he was really proud.
“He displays all my trophies in the living room for everyone to see. It’s been a journey for my family and me.”