Melissa Hayden was born in New York and grew up to follow her artistic interests, becoming a photojournalist. She became widely respected for her work, which included the cover photos for David Sedaris' books. In her leisure time, she played poker with fellow journalists and photographers. One of the players at the home game encouraged her to play at the Mayfair Club where she met many of today's most famous players, some of whom became her mentors at the time and coached her to be a better player.

Eventually, Melissa's love of photography meshed with her interest in poker, and she became a photographer at the biggest tournaments on the circuit. In addition, five years ago, one of her fellow Mayfair friends offered to back her in a World Series of Poker event. With a proven track record in tournaments she had been playing since the mid-1990's, including her first booked win at the Queens Poker Classic in 1995, the odds were good with her in any tournament. At her first WSOP in 2000, she finished in second place for $142,000 in the $5,000 limit hold'em tournament, and her poker resume would keep growing.

In subsequent years, Melissa has cashed numerous times at the WSOP, including final tables in the 2001 $5,000 limit hold'em and the 2002 $1,500 limit hold'em shootout, and she has accumulated victories in preliminary events at the U.S. Poker Championship, the Orleans Open, and the Legends of Poker. She also has several cashes at World Poker tour events, i.e. the UltimateBet Poker Classic in 2004, but more recently a 21st place finish at the 2006 WPT North American Poker Championship and a 80th place cash at the 2007 WPT World Championship. Most recently, her impressive record with the WPT earned her a seat at the 2007 Ladies Night tournament where she place fifth. She consistently travels the tournament circuit with friend Allen Cunningham, and with that kind of support, not to mention many years of poker training, a major tournament victory can't be far off the radar.