Cat Hulbert

{{Infobox person

| name = Cathy Hulbert

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| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1950}}

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| death_date = {{Death date|2022|09|20}}

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| nationality = American

| other_names =

| occupation = Professional gambler

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Cathy "Cat" Hulbert (1950 – 2022) was an American professional gambler.{{cite web|url=https://www.lolblackjack.com/blackjack/professionals/cathy-hulbert/|title=Cathy "Cat" Hulbert – Professional Blackjack and Poker Profile|publisher=|access-date=December 8, 2016|archive-date=December 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220071949/https://www.lolblackjack.com/blackjack/professionals/cathy-hulbert/|url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03tknqh |title=The Conversation –Professional Gamblers: Cat Hulbert and Celina Lin |publisher=BBC World Service |date=May 10, 2016 |type=audio |access-date=December 8, 2016 |archive-date=December 9, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161209184243/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03tknqh |url-status=live }} She was one of the world's first professional female card counters. Card Player magazine named her one of the top seven-card stud players in the world in 1996.

Life

Hulbert was born in 1950, one of six children of a truck driver and a nurse. She left school at 15 and put herself through college. She first developed an interest in gambling when investigating the industry as an assistant to the minority leader of the New York State Senate, took a course in blackjack dealing, and in 1977, at the age of 25, moved to Las Vegas.{{Cite book |last=Munchkin |first=Richard W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MbZU4OatoSMC&dq=Cathy+Hulbert+%22Card+Player%22&pg=PA191 |title=Gambling Wizards: Conversations with the World's Greatest Gamblers |publisher=Huntington |year=2002 |isbn=9780929712055 |location=Las Vegas |pages=191–238 |via=Google Books |access-date=April 14, 2024 |archive-date=January 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240103181210/https://books.google.com/books?id=MbZU4OatoSMC&dq=Cathy+Hulbert+%22Card+Player%22&pg=PA191#v=onepage&q=Cathy%20Hulbert%20%22Card%20Player%22&f=false |url-status=live }}

Hulbert became one of the first professional female card counters, a member of the Czechoslovakia team, and a companion to Ken Uston.{{Cite web |title=Blackjack Players that are Female |url=http://www.countingedge.com/blackjack-players/female-blakjack-players/ |website=Counting Edge |access-date=December 8, 2016 |archive-date=July 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701054720/http://www.countingedge.com/blackjack-players/female-blakjack-players/ |url-status=live }} She then moved on to 7-card stud and dated David Heyden. In 1996, Card Player magazine named her one of the top 7-card stud players in the world, the only woman on the list.{{Cite news|url=http://www.cardplayer.com/cardplayer-poker-magazines|title=Poker News {{!}} Poker Magazine|newspaper=Card Player|date=1996|access-date=December 8, 2016|archive-date=July 31, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731202634/https://www.cardplayer.com/cardplayer-poker-magazines|url-status=live}} The Game Show Network called her "the best female gambler on Earth". She taught poker classes for women.

At one time, Hulbert employed people over the age of seventy to play casino slot machines for her.

In 2016, she was named as one of BBC's 100 Women.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-38012048 |title=BBC 100 Women 2016: Who is on the list? |publisher=BBC |date=November 21, 2016 |accessdate=December 8, 2016 |archive-date=June 17, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617170441/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-38012048 |url-status=live }}

Personal life

Hulbert was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1990.{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-38103674 |title=Cat Hulbert: How I Got Rich Beating Men at Their Own Game |last=Kremer |first=William |publisher=BBC |date=December 6, 2016 |access-date=June 21, 2018 |archive-date=November 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108115047/http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-38103674 |url-status=live }} She was married twice, both ending in divorce. Since a bout with cancer, she had retired as a gambler and worked as an online casino consultant. She died on September 20, 2022 from cancer.

References

External links

[https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=27940 Hendon Mob profile]
[https://www.wsop.com/players/profile/?playerid=17608 WSOP profile]

Category:1950 births

Category:2022 deaths

Category:American blackjack players

Category:American poker players

Category:People with bipolar disorder

Category:Place of birth missing