Long tournament days, late nights, casino floors and international travel already make professional poker a difficult lifestyle. Add pregnancy, breastfeeding or caring for a newborn and the practical challenges become considerably greater.
Yet female poker players have repeatedly shown that becoming a mother does not necessarily mean stepping away from the game.
The latest example is Caitlyn Arnwine, who has revealed how she pumped breast milk while playing at the 2026 World Series of Poker, including during her Main Event campaign.
Rather than hiding what she was doing or abandoning her poker schedule, Arnwine found a way to combine the realities of breastfeeding with playing some of the biggest tournaments of the year.
And the reaction from other players was not what she expected.
Caitlyn Arnwine Pumped Breast Milk at the WSOP Table
Arnwine gave birth to daughter Imani earlier this year after remarkably playing poker on her February 15 due date.
Six months later, she was back in Las Vegas competing at the WSOP and attending the Tournament Directors Association Summit.
There was one major logistical complication.
Arnwine was exclusively breastfeeding and needed to express milk regularly to maintain her supply while away from her daughter.
Her solution was simple, even if it was unusual for a major poker tournament: she pumped while sitting at the poker table.
Arnwine deliberately chose small and quiet wearable pumps and continued making her decisions at the table while expressing milk. The milk could then be taken back to the hotel where her daughter and nanny were staying.
In her original account of pumping breast milk while playing at the WSOP, Arnwine explained that she had expected the experience to attract complaints or uncomfortable reactions.
Instead, it started conversations.
Poker Players Were More Supportive Than She Expected
Arnwine said players at her tables became curious about the technology rather than objecting to what she was doing.
Some male players discussed their wives’ experiences with breastfeeding. Others talked about difficulties their families had experienced with milk supply and feeding.
There were questions too, giving Arnwine the opportunity to talk openly about breastfeeding while everyone continued playing poker.
Only one encounter appears to have crossed the line.
A player at another table asked Arnwine whether she had water inside her bra. After she explained that she was pumping milk for her four-month-old daughter, his attitude quickly changed.
For Arnwine, the overwhelmingly positive reaction became part of a much larger message: women should not automatically assume motherhood requires them to abandon their ambitions.
Pregnancy at the Poker Table Is Nothing New
Arnwine’s experience is particularly unusual because she was actively pumping during tournament play, but women have been combining pregnancy and motherhood with serious poker for years.
Natasha Mercier provided one of the most memorable WSOP examples in 2017.
Mercier played that year’s World Series while six months pregnant with her first child with Jason Mercier.
Far from limiting herself to occasional appearances, she continued playing tournaments and cash games, sometimes remaining at the casino until around 2 a.m.
Pregnancy created challenges that other players did not have to consider. Food cravings made finding suitable meals during long tournament sessions more difficult, while Mercier also spoke openly about finding it harder to control her emotions following frustrating hands.
Yet she continued playing because she still wanted to compete.
Maria Ho Quietly Combined Pregnancy With Her Poker Career
Maria Ho has also experienced the difficulty of combining pregnancy with life as one of poker’s most visible professionals.
Ho revealed in 2026 that the personal circumstances that had kept her away from the previous year’s WSOP were pregnancy.
Her experience highlights another side of the issue.
For professional players, poker is rarely just sitting at a table. The job can involve tournaments, commentary, sponsorship commitments, media appearances, content production and frequent international travel.
Pregnancy and the months following childbirth can therefore change far more than a tournament schedule.
For some women that means temporarily stepping away. Others adapt their workload or return when they are ready.
There is no single correct approach.
Poker Presents Some Unusual Problems for Breastfeeding Mothers
Poker’s structure can make breastfeeding and pumping particularly awkward.
A conventional workplace normally has scheduled hours and defined breaks. Poker tournaments do not.
A player could sit down at noon and still be competing after midnight. Leaving the table outside scheduled breaks means voluntarily missing hands, while a deep tournament run can continue for several consecutive days.
Casinos can also be noisy, crowded and overstimulating environments for babies.
Arnwine originally considered breastfeeding her daughter near the tournament area before deciding that pumping and sending milk back to her hotel was a more practical arrangement.
That required pumps, cleaning equipment, milk storage and somebody able to transport the milk, all while Arnwine remained focused on playing tournament poker.
It is an aspect of the professional poker lifestyle that most players never have to consider.
Motherhood Can Completely Change a Poker Schedule
The challenges do not disappear once breastfeeding ends.
Professional poker frequently involves unconventional sleeping patterns, long periods away from home and weeks spent travelling between tournament stops.
That freedom can be attractive before having children. Once a player becomes responsible for a baby, the same flexibility can become complicated.
Some players reduce their live schedules. Others shift towards online poker, where playing from home eliminates much of the travel.
Poker can therefore be both unusually difficult and unusually adaptable for mothers.
There is no boss requiring a professional player to return to work on a particular date. At the same time, there is no guaranteed salary or traditional maternity structure waiting for most professional players either.
Women Are Becoming More Visible Across Poker
Arnwine’s experience also arrives as the industry continues trying to increase female participation in a game that remains overwhelmingly male.
Players such as Maria Ho have spoken about the slow pace of change for women in poker, while organizations including Poker Power have concentrated on introducing more women to the game.
Poker Type creator Abby Merk has worked with Poker Power as part of that effort, combining her own playing and content career with poker education aimed particularly at women.
Greater participation also means the poker industry increasingly encounters issues that traditionally received little attention.
Pregnancy, breastfeeding and childcare are among them.
A woman pumping breast milk during the WSOP might once have been treated as an oddity. Arnwine’s experience suggests poker players may be considerably more accepting than some expect.
Poker Does Not Have to Stop With Motherhood
Perhaps the most important part of Arnwine’s story has little to do with the mechanics of pumping.
She wanted to continue playing poker after becoming a mother, found a practical way to do it and discovered that the people around her were largely supportive.
That does not make pregnancy, breastfeeding or raising children while pursuing a poker career easy.
It simply means motherhood does not have to represent the end of that career.
From Natasha Mercier playing the WSOP while heavily pregnant to Caitlyn Arnwine pumping milk while competing in the Main Event, women have increasingly demonstrated that the traditional image of what a poker professional looks like is changing.
Sometimes that means arriving at the table with chips, cards and a hoodie.
Sometimes it also means bringing a breast pump.
