Wendeen H. Eolis

Wendeen H. Eolis (born October 13, 1944) is an American entrepreneur, a legal consultant, an experienced public official, and a government advisor. She also holds the distinction of being the first woman ever to cash in the main event of the World Series of Poker. As noted in The American Lawyer magazine, she is the "founder of EOLIS, the first search firm exclusively for attorneys”, the "inventor of the legal search industry”, and founder of the National Association of Legal Search Consultants (NALSC). Eolis is a recognized pioneer, innovator, and leader in her field. In addition to her business activities, Eolis also has devoted time to public service. A longtime friend and career consultant to Rudy Giuliani, she was part of his inner circle and a close advisor during his first year as Mayor. Thereafter, she served as the first assistant and senior advisor to New York Governor George Pataki, starting in 1995. Following her stint in the Pataki Administration, Eolis returned to her business. In 2002, Richard Parsons, then president of Time Warner, Inc. introduced her to then Secretary of State, Colin Powell. She was tapped to head Hope’s Champion Task Force, a post 9/11 initiative to assist the government with recommendations of lawyers, principally in the aftermath of terrorism events and other incidents of violence. She has been the chief operating officer and civilian commander of HCTF for more than 20 years. Her roots in the gaming industry began in the 1960s as a professional blackjack counter which led to her meeting executives at Caesars Palace and getting an early search assignment to find an in-house general counsel for the newly public Caesars World, Inc. Soon thereafter, Caesars also hired Eolis to recommend special counsel and then brought her on as a special advisor to the Caesars World Board of Directors. Her business has since included various casino clients. At 40, Eolis took up poker as a new hobby. A year later she became the first woman to cash in the main event of the World Series of Poker in 1986. Seven years later she became the first woman in the WSOP Main Event to cash for a second time. She was a celebrity poker player on televised poker programming from 1986- 2018. Eolis’ combined career in business, politics, and poker has attracted attention from varied media, with multiple profiles in the New York Times , a feature story in GQ Magazine, an appearance on Court TV as a guest commentator, an appearance on A&E Biography as a subject, and featured profiles in Poker News, the National Enquirer, Board Intelligence, and Bloomberg Law.