Ladies Only Events Cancelled?
I was reading an article on pokernews about how the California gaming commission is giving ladies’ only events some heat for being discriminatory.
It seems like they are issuing a warning that they need to start accepting both men and women. I thought this was the way ladies only events always were. Phil Gordon, Rafe Furst and co. gained a lot of notoriety for playing in the ladies-only event in drag at the Bay 101 a few years ago (it’s a pretty funny story that’s detailed in their book “Tales from the Tiltboys) and I think I’ve heard of Jose Canseco doing the same in a couple of events. I don’t think they ever explicitly ban men from playing these things, it’s just kind of implied that we’re not supposed to.
Upon reading this, I was thinking if I would ever play in an event that was obviously supposed to be ladies-only. People talk about how there is a big overlay in these fields because of the quality of players, but have you ever played in a $500 or less live tourney? They’re all pretty brutal fields and I don’t think that ladies-only are any better/worse.
After seeing Phil Gordon dressed up as a woman, I don’t think I have the moxie to pull it off.
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Comments
The first competitive card game I played, long before poker, was tournament bridge. Back in the 80’s/early 90’s, some of the same issues were being contended with–there was a long-standing tradition of some events being open to any partnerships (you always play as an entry with a partner in bridge, like playing doubles in tennis), some where both partners had to be male, some where both had to be female, and some “mixed”, again just like a mixed doubles event in tennis (one of each gender).
Several female players wanted to prove a point, started to make some noise, and ended up getting TPTB to change the rules. Nowadays, US bridge tournaments have “Open Pair” events, in the same spot on the schedule where they previously held the “Men’s Pair” events–and they still run “Women’s Pair” events as well, directly opposite the formerly “Men’s Pair”, which are now merely referred to as “Open Pair” events.
This solution may not be perfect, but it seems to keep everybody happy. No top (even merely mediocre) male player wants to play in a Women’s Event. Some small number of women do play in the Open Pair events.
I don’t see any reason the same situation can’t exist in poker (except of course, that there’s money involved, and that always makes things more complicated). I like Phil and the Tiltboys and Canseco well enough, but I think they should accept reality. It’s hard enough to get women to play poker, for all kinds of reasons–nature, nurture, the competitive aspect, etc. If having a few women only tournament events here and there will help bring some new players into the game, I’m all for it, as well. There’s a lot of other fodder out there for the Tiltboys to make fun of–leave the women’s events alone, at least for awhile–see where we’re at five or ten years from now, after Annette_15 has won a few WSOP bracelets and such..by that time, maybe the need for the women’s only events will have long since been rendered moot.
Bring’em on I say. More money in the prize pool. The ladies event at the commerce this weekend only had 82 players. I like ladies events, but I also know there needs to be a minimum buy in and enough players to make it worth my while. This tourney had a good buy in, a great structure, but I would have loved just a few more players…men or women. A couple of the women I spoke with felt the same way.
While I don’t feel there is any advantage/disadvantage inherent to sex, race, etc., some women may find ladies events as a more comfortable way to get introduced to live tournaments. If it helps to promote the game, I’m all for it.