At 30 Angie Hardy is a single mom with two daughters that she is raising in Colorado Spring, Colorado. Hardy is a stay at home mom and has not been known as a professional blackjack player for long. In the short time she has been on the scene she has earned herself the nickname of "Angie Moneymaker" by her opponents. This is because her aggressive style of play is very similar to the one of the poker champion Chris Moneymaker.
Hardy is a good player but since she hasn't been around the gambling scene for long one can hardly call her a full time professional gambler. She became known when she appeared on the World Series of Blackjack. The tournament that aired on GSN featured her twice. She also competed in the CBS elimination blackjack tournament Ultimate Blackjack Tour. In this she won the "Ladies' Night" tournament.
In the World Series of Blackjack, season three, Angie Hardy was seen competing against Erica Schoenberg another female blackjack star. It was the second and final Wild Card match that would pit four second place finishers against one other player that would qualify through the second chance drawing. But both Hardy and Schoenberg were eliminated thus making it a man's game. The final winner was John Payne and Jamie Roth won the second chance drawing. It was a tough game and even though she didn't come out a winner Hardy was recognized as a serious player.
Hardy was also seen in the World Series of Blackjack, season two. There she participated in round seven but was defeated by the winner Rick Jensen. In season three she was the runner up in the 3rd round where Jeff Bernstein won. Hardy sure made her name was seen during the tournament and it wouldn't come as a great surprise to see her in this media again.
The Ultimate Blackjack Tour is a televised series of elimination blackjack that had its opening show on September 16, 2006. The winner of each weekly tournament would qualify for the final Tournament of Champions. Angie Hardy participated in the "Ladies' Night" episode and could not qualify for the champions' tournament because the "Ladies' Night" and the "UBT Legends Tournament" weren't qualifiers for the Tournament of Champions.
Angie Hardy didn't emerge a great winner from this event either but her appearance did nevertheless bring her some publicity. Since the Ultimate Blackjack Tour was produced by actual professional poker players she rubbed shoulders with some of the best players in the world. The show was so popular that it aired again in the beginning of 2007 and a second season has been scheduled to appear on CBS. Perhaps we will see Hardy again in this or another publicized blackjack event. Whether or not she will advance and make it to the real league only time can tell.
Emma Green