Life leads people down a road that will shape their destiny for years to come. For Jena Delk, the road once held many twists and turns. Success is no stranger to Jena, but it seems the current path is paved with poker chips.

As a young woman growing up in Southern Indiana, Jena had a rough start. Her attitude on life was one of recklessness and disarray. After overcoming one challenge after another she decided to enroll in nursing school. After school, she would eventually meet her husband Mike, who worked at the same hospital with Jena.

After the couple moved to Orlando, Florida, Jena’s life would take another turn. Jena decided to take on a career as a certified public accountant. She entered college in 2001 and would eventually pass her CPA exam on the first attempt in 2004. Jena would then move on to work for Deloitte and Touche, LLP.

With her new career firmly in place, Jena would take her number-crunching abilities to the poker felt in early 2006, playing aboard the Sun Cruise Casino. As she began cashing more frequently in the tournaments aboard the Sun Cruise, Jena realized it was time to get more involved in the poker community as a player.

Jena spent the next year traveling to many of the biggest tournaments all over the Southeast where she began getting a little closer to the top prize. The experience she took from playing on Full Tilt as well as the live satellites, tournaments, and main events would finally pay off.

In January 2008, Jena cashed in on her first World Poker Tour event. Three months later she would make back-to-back final tables at the Imperial Palace Poker Classic. In May 2008, she took first prize in the Bayou Poker Classic in New Orleans that paid out $16,700.

Jena then set her sights on the World Series of Poker Ladies Main Event, where she would come in 13th and win another $10,000.

In August of the same year, Jena would make her way to the Gulf Coast Poker Championship in Biloxi, Miss., where she made another final table. But the biggest breakthrough of Jena’s young poker career was yet to come.

The Southern Poker Championship main event in January 2009 was Jena’s coming out party. After three grueling days, Jena would be taken out of the tournament in 11th place, earning $26,732. Even though it wasn’t the first place finish she’d hoped for, Jena realized that she had almost taken down one of the toughest fields of top-notch poker professionals.

In her spare time, Jena loves being at home with her husband Mike, their four kids, and their granddaughter. She has left the medical and accounting fields behind to lead the life of a homemaker so that she can devote more time to helping her loved ones. Jena’s best piece of simple advice: “Be nice to everybody, because you never know when you’ll need that person again!”

Now Jena looks to the future with a sense of determination. She plans on taking down a World Series of Poker – Circuit Main Event and finally getting the bracelet she’s always dreamed of. Jena has already had much success in her three short years as a poker player. Now Jena’s road leads directly to her future as an accomplished poker professional.