David Botfeld always loved to watch poker on television. He was such a big fan that his family bought him a poker table for his birthday. The game was a big part of his life in his younger days, but then a family, a job, and the responsibilities of adulthood took over and poker took a back seat.
But that didn’t stop him from teaching his daughter Amanda the game.
“My dad gave me a handheld video poker game when I was 7 years old,” Botfeld recalls, “and I played it until the batteries died.”
She ended up loving poker just as much as he did, if not more. She took the game seriously, studying and playing in casinos while working hard to improve. The effort has paid off.
Now we know Amanda as the author of A Girl’s Guide to Poker. She’s also is an instructor for Poker Power, a group that uses poker to teach women life and business skills. And, of course, she’s been a contributor to the CardsChat community, sharing her excellent strategy articles.
She was already having a decent summer in Las Vegas, final tabling the Ladies event at the Wynn Fall Classic (5th place for $3,189) and a Rio Daily Deep Stack (7th place, $1,185) in mid-October. But it was in the WSOP Tag Team event, which concluded on Tuesday, where she experienced something special.
This is my dad teaching me how to play poker with lime green chips. 15 years later, we have made the final table together in the @wsop Tag Team Tournament.
Love you dad, and couldn't have done it without you. 💚 #fatherdaughter #poker @joinpokerpower pic.twitter.com/Mb04y3KaEJ
— Amanda Botfeld (@amandabotfeld) November 2, 2021
By the time they registered, Amanda had $14,697 in lifetime live tournament winnings, while her father had only $1,973. So it was clear who might have to carry the team.
The tournament, a $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em event in which two players share the same stack, drew 641 duos this year.
The Botfelds finished in third place, $24,756 for each of them, just two spots short of a gold bracelet. It was by far the biggest score ever for either of them — more than their lifetime winnings combined. But more important than the money was their shared experience. A father beaming with pride, and a daughter who couldn’t stop smiling, doing something they both love and having the time of their lives.
$1,000 Tag Team NLH Final Table Results
| Place | Team | Payout (team total) |
| 1 | Mike Ruter & Samy Dighlawi | $113,366 |
| 2 | Tomer Wolf & David Lander | $70.074 |
| 3 | Amanda Botfeld & David Botfeld | $49,512 |
| 4 | Robert Ormont & Michael Newman | $35,542 |
| 5 | Alfie Adam & Vidur Sethi | $25,928 |
| 6 | Benjamin Miner & Dmitriy Uskach | $19,226 |
| 7 | Holly Babbitt & Michael Babbitt | $14,494 |
| 8 | Zachary Erdwurm & Steven Jones | $11,114 |
| 9 | Scott Johnston & Bob Fisher | $8,670 |
| 10 | Mike Lutz & Matt Krebs | $6,882 |
“This was true father-daughter teamwork,” Botfeld says. “There was a hand where I was put to a crazy decision for all of our chips, and I thought about my dad. I knew he trusted me. So I made the hero call. Correctly. I couldn’t have done it without knowing he would back me up 100%.”
“Making the tag team final table together is any father’s dream come true,” David Botfeld said. “This is our first WSOP tournament, and neither of us has ever experienced the excitement of a final table run like that ever before. Little did I know how much my love of the game would be carried on through her.”
“We did it together,” Amanda insisted. “My dad has supported me through everything, and it feels so good to finally be able to give back to the best father in the world.”
The two were headed off for a celebratory dinner and a night on the town when we last saw them. Way to go Team Botfeld! The CardsChat community was rooting for them, for sure. We always knew Amanda would continue to climb the ladder in the poker world, we just didn’t know it would happen so soon. They just grow up so fast ya know?
