Marketing executive and poker strategist Ellen Leikind seeks to empower women and teach them to “think like a poker player” saying it will enhance all aspects of their lives. This weekend she is coming to The Westchester and everyone is invited.

All right then, you gotta play to win so read on….

Her new book is called “PokerWoman: How to Win at Love, Life, and Business Using the Principles of Poker.” It’s  from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Publishers in New Rochelle, a 30-year-old publisher usually known for science and technology books, but clearly is expanding into new territories and niche subjects.

Leikind, a native New Yorker,  worked for Fortune 500  companies, like Pfizer and L’Oreal. She founded POKERprimaDIVAS to teach women how to play poker and use their  skills for fun and to enhance their business skills, so she seems equally poised to offer some card playing tips and business/lifestyle advice.

She will be at The Westchester mall from noon to 5 p.m. this Saturday on Level 1, near the Salvatore Ferragamo boutique.  In the four hours she will  give free poker lessons, offer her poker wisdom  for women and sign copies of her 188-page hardcover book.

In advance we  took the opportunity to ask Leikind some questions about her book and why she wrote it. Here are some of her answers.

Q: What is the basic premise of your book?
A: The premise of PokerWoman is that there are valuable ‘life lessons’ to be learned from the game of poker, even if you’ve never shuffled a deck of cards!  Harnessing the psychological and strategic skills of a seasoned poker player can transform anyone into a more powerful person.

Q: What does it teach women about life?  And why is it directed towards women specifically?
A: The book is directed towards women because in poker, and in life,  women tend to play more passively —  they ‘play it safe.’  More often than not a woman will try to avoid losing rather than play to win.  Women need to project more bravado and be more proactive, whether it’s at the office or in personal relationships, and poker strategies can give them the confidence to do that.

Q: How did you come to put this book together and how did you connect with Westchester-based Liebert publishing?
A: After more than 15 years as a Fortune 500 marketing executive, I decided to take a year off to re-discover poker, which I had learned as a teenager.  During my ‘poker year’ I began to realize that the same strategies that were helping me win at the poker table could be translated into my professional career as well.  I also observed that poker had started to replace golf as an off-site ‘networking tool’ and women were routinely shut out of the game. So, I founded a company called POKERprimaDIVAS®, which provides corporate programs and entertainment to teach women how to play poker and apply the game’s principles to achieve success in all aspects of their lives.

I connected with Mary Ann Liebert at an event we both happened to attend at Harvard, hosted by the law school, regarding the value of poker in learning. The focus was how poker helps hone the critical thinking, money management and risk-taking strategies that people are not learning in school but which are essential for life.

Q: What games do you play for fun?
A: My favorite poker game is no-limit Texas Hold’em. I also love backgammon, which I have been playing since I was 10. I pretty much enjoy any card game whether it be blackjack or gin. I tried bridge, but it was very complex and takes a very long time to master.

Q: Have you gotten any responses from poker professionals?
A: The reaction from the poker community has been very positive and encouraging. In fact, Kathy Liebert, the nation’s top ranked woman tournament poker player, wrote the foreword to PokerWoman and has been very supportive.  Coincidentally, Kathy Liebert is a distant relative of my publisher, although they have never met!

Q: What else would you like readers to know about you or your book?
A: The key message I would like readers to take away from PokerWoman is that women have a natural propensity to many of the qualities that make great poker players: keen powers of observation, uncanny intuition, multi-tasking dexterity, and the willingness to assume risk. They just need to recognize them and use them strategically to their advantage.

Among my favorite poker-inspired tips for women are:

•Play to WIN, instead of playing not to lose.
•Learn to read “tells”  — the body language that reveals a person’s unspoken thoughts and feelings.
•Get in the game, be confident, and have no fear.
•Down doesn’t mean out, but rather to overcome obstacles and get back in the game.
•Use creative “bluffing” (know the difference between little white lies vs. deception).
•Perfect your poker face (with or without Botox!) – avoid looking desperate or needy.
•“Stop betting like a girl,” i.e., take a calculated risk and ‘go all in!’
•Don’t get distracted by “trash-talk.”
•Know when to fold’em — and get out of a dead-end job or relationship.
•Stop apologizing (you weaken your position!).