In 2004, Harman took a year away from poker to have her second kidney transplant. Problems with her kidneys – shared by her sister and mother, who died from the same illness when Harman was 17 – had plagued her since her childhood.[6] Since her return to the poker tournament circuit, Harman has finished 4th at the World Poker Tour Five-Diamond World Poker Classic, 5th in the inaugural Professional Poker Tour event, and 2nd in the WSOP Circuit Championship Event at the Rio.[7][8][9]
Harman authored the limit hold'em chapter for Super System II.[10] Harman is the only woman who is a regular player in the "Big Game" at Bobby's Room, the high-stakes cash game at the Bellagio. She was also an active participant in "The Corporation", a group of high-stakes poker players who played Andy Beal for limits of up to $100,000/$200,000.[4]
As of 2021, her total live tournament winnings exceed $2,700,000.[13] $1,502,859 of her total winnings have come from cashes at the WSOP.[1] Although Harman has had success in tournament poker, most of her wealth and prestige has come from playing in high stakes cash games.[14]
In 2004, Harman took a year off from poker to have her second kidney transplant. She then founded Creating Organ Donation Awareness (CODA), a non-profit organization to raise money for the cause.[18]
Harman is a frequent charity poker tournament host. In March 2009, she organized a number of poker celebrities including ESPN analyst Lon McEachern and Howard Lederer in a two-day event that raised $111,000 for the National Kidney Foundation with the help of Curtis and Co Watches and Dream Team Poker.[19]
Harman is also an active fundraiser for the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA), for which she has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars through live tournaments and online tournaments at Full Tilt.[20] In April 2009, she hosted the 3rd annual Jennifer Harman Charity Poker Tournament at the Venetian poker room in Las Vegas. The tournament has raised over half a million dollars and, in the past, has featured prizes such as a seat at the World Series of Poker Main Event, and dinner with Jennifer and Pete Rose.[20]
^ abCraig, Michael (2006). The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time. New York: Warner Books. p. 63. ISBN978-0-446-69497-1.
