BLOG – Women – can’t live with ‘em; can’t bust ‘em out of poker tournaments
Monday, 21 June 2010
We’ve had the Year of the Amateur in 2003; the Year of the Pro in 2009; is 2010 to be the Year of the Woman? When Shaun Deeb and other male players entered the $1,000 Ladies’ Event there was a bit of a storm kicked up, albeit one contained to a poker-related teacup. Men aren’t technically disallowed from entering the event because of equality and discrimination laws, however most don’t for obvious reasons.
Daniel Negreanu and Dusty Schmidt both criticized Deeb for his play in drag – personally my only criticism is that his moobs were perversely impressive but he could have done with a push-up bra. Deeb claimed to have lost a bet and would be donating a portion of any winnings to charity, but both Schmidt and Negreanu questioned the motivations of a primo online tournament God entering a large, weak field in the Ladies’ Event.
Both Kid Poker and leatherass9 raised the same point – that the Ladies’ Event is great for poker as besides this where else do you see over a thousand women put up four figures to compete at the WSOP? It’s a valid point and encourages more women to play without feeling intimidated by a table full of men. Let’s face it, men are awful – if a woman who looks like Liv Boeree or Sandra Naujoks sits at the table then we’re all going to be having a bit of a perv. I’m sorry, brothers, to have revealed our wicked ways but I’m pretty sure the fairer sex were onto us anyway.
Some women, however, such as the aforementioned EPT champions, have evidently gotten used to it. I’ve been following the WSOP for a fair few years now and I don’t think that I’ve ever seen so many women make deep runs:
Event #4, $1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo: Sasha Rosewood comes seventh for $29,584
Event #9, $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold ‘em: JJ Liu comes third for $86,912
Event #15, $10,000 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo: Jennifer Harman comes third for $173,159
Event #15, $1,500 7-Card Stud: Christine Pietsch comes second for $86,756
Event #23, $2,500 Limit Hold ‘em 6-max: JJ Liu comes seventh for $21,991
Event #27, $1,500 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo: Karina Jett comes fourth for $60,588
Event #35, $10,000 NL Hold ‘em Heads-Up: Vanessa Rousso comes fifth for $92,580
Will we see a female bracelet winner this year? There’s as good a chance as any other year, if not better. Despite Annette Obrestad disappointing (I called it in the pre-WSOP issue of Bluff Europe, incidentally) the rest of the boob-bearing gender have been making up for it.
To conclude, dear readers, I agree with Negreanu and Schmidt. Shaun Deeb and the five other guys who entered the Ladies’ Event aren’t standing up for gender equality; aren’t making a proud and noble point – they’re dressing in drag and playing against girls. Honestly, my 10-year-old brother would laugh his ass off at you for that kind of nonsense.
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