The schedule for the 2013 World Series of Poker was announced last week and with it came the usual commentary from the poker community about what has changed and what has stayed the same. One of the most interesting moves made by WSOP officials was the decision to jack the buy-in for the Ladies Event all the way up to $10,000 from $1,000 while at the same time giving women a $9,000 discount. This effectively made the tournament $1,000 like always for the thousands of women who enter it every year while putting up a major barrier to the handful of men who decide to crash the party.
I am one-hundred percent for this change. While I am in no way surprised when I see a man enter a ladies event, I am always disappointed. It is an event designed for women and men should respect that. We don’t see people younger than 50 enter the Seniors event…why is it different for the Ladies Event?
In my opinion, it is because many men still don’t respect women at the poker tables. The poker community has long been a “good old boys” club and for whatever reason, the outdated, chauvinistic attitude that women aren’t mentally strong enough to compete in a “man’s” game still exists. There are three reasons why men buy-in to women’s tournaments:
1) As a joke.
2) They consider the field to be weaker than the average tournament and therefore feel like their EV is greater than normal.
3) They are taking a stand against discrimination.
The first two reasons reflect a total lack of respect for women. Men who join as a joke or when they lose a prop bet (as David Sesso did in 2010) are basically telling the women in the tournament that their event is not as important as others, that it is but a trifle. “Screw it! Today’s my day off, I’ll just put on a dress and enter this silly tourney. I don’t give a ****.”
Those who think they are being noble by taking some sort of stand against discrimination, well, I don’t know what to tell them, really. Don’t take yourselves so seriously, maybe? Find something more important to worry about? The vast majority of people like that there is a ladies event. It doesn’t hurt anybody; there are a gajillion other tournaments for everybody. Just leave it alone.
“But, but…if there’s a women’s tournament, why isn’t there a men’s tournament?”
EVERY poker tournament is a men’s tournament.
I do find it sad, though, that the WSOP had to resort to such a tactic to try to keep men out of the Ladies Event. In a way, it makes it look like the women need to be protected, which, of course, is something simple-minded chauvinists would naturally think about women in the first place.
It’s really just mind boggling to me why anyone would care so much about the Ladies Event that they would either decide to play in it while sporting testicles or would be offended by it regardless of what equipment was fashioned between their legs. It’s a poker tournament. Let it be. Let women have some fun.
