Stiletto Network

The Wafia

Holoubek was also front and center at Women Entrepreneurs Poker Night, an event at Heidi Messer’s Tribeca high-rise in June 2011. This group, which included a smattering of Field Guide gals and a multitude of others, was billed as another “grown-up” addition to women’s mixers that have been proliferating. Messer, who is in her early forties, had cleared furniture from her living room and pitched long tables covered in green felt. She greeted guests before ducking down a hallway to tuck her young children in bed, while her cohosts—fellow entrepreneurs and angel investors—invited ladies to partake of catered sushi and fillet. Poker chips were stacked in neat bundles, and customized cheat sheets showed a woman’s hands tipped by vampy red ...