Did you hear the one about the 65-year-old man who thought it would be a good idea to play in a ladies-only poker tournament? It turned out he won almost $21,000, so it was actually a very good idea.
As you may have read on this very website, this is not a joke. To recap, Abraham Korotki had been eliminated from a $1,000 buy-in preliminary event at the Borgata Poker Open in September. Jonesing for another chance to win, he entered the $300 Ladies Event that same day. Although the tournament is meant to be solely for women, it is against the law for a casino to discriminate against a player (provided the player is of age), so a man can play in a ladies tournament if he so chooses. Korotki made up for his earlier loss by winning the tournament and taking home $20,982. The woman he beat heads-up, Nicole Rowe, is unfortunately and coincidentally fighting an almost uniquely female disease, breast cancer. To be fair, Korotki did say he would donate a portion of his winnings to a breast cancer charity.
Since word of this broke, there have been many people who have cried foul. Not about Korotki, although there are plenty of people who are upset with him, but of the tournament. A ladies tournament is sexist, they say. It implies that women aren’t as good as men. There would never be a men’s-only tournament or a tournament just for players of a certain race now, would there?
To those complaints, I say, “Whatever.”
Or, as Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler would say on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update, “Really?”
You are a grown man and this is the tournament in which you chose to play? Really? You never thought to yourself, “Hmm…this might not look good if I’m the only dude playing.” Really?
And to those people who are all up in arms about women’s tourneys: Really? Out of all things in life, ladies events are what you decide to bitch about? Really? They are just so bad that they should not be allowed? Really? They are sexist? Really? Really?
I mean, come on. Let’s all get a little perspective. Ladies events, regardless of whether you love them or hate them, are just not that big a deal in the grand scheme of all things poker. Nor is any other tournament with a $300 buy-in. Is it so hard to understand that poker is a game that has long been dominated by men and that ladies tournaments are a good way to market the game to a demographic that is underrepresented in the poker community? There are tons of tournaments out there that are open to everybody. In fact, at the Borgata Poker Open, there are 20 other tournaments, all of which are open to anybody. How about leaving this one alone?
I know there are plenty of women out there, too, who loathe these events. Women are just as good as men, they say, and ladies events only serve to perpetuate the false notion that women are weaker and need to be treated differently. Again, come on. Get off your high horse. Women’s tournaments exist, in part, because women tend to enjoy playing poker exclusively against other women. Is that bad? And besides, it is true that in the past (and very possibly in the present), that some women, particularly those who are fairly new to the game, are a little intimidated having to sit amongst hundreds of men in a match overflowing with testosterone. Is this weird? I don’t think so. These women, along with those who just like the camaraderie of playing poker with other women, are the ones who enjoy ladies events.
I wonder if the people who whine about women’s poker tournaments also complain about senior citizen discounts. Or ladies nights at bars. Or kids eating free.
The idea of someone seriously getting upset about ladies-only tournaments is just so strange to me. Who has the time? And a man deciding that it would be a fantastic idea to play in one these events is just mind-boggling. Funny enough, I could actually understand if a man played as a sort of protest, however misguided that protest may be, but to play just because he wants to is just odd. Five of the “Tiltboys” (Phil Gordon, Rafe Furst, Perry Friedman, Bruce Hayek, and Michael Stern) actually did play in the Ladies Event at Bay 101 many years ago, but for the most part, that was done more as a joke than anything else. They dressed in drag and, while they did not like women’s tournaments, had fun with it, as did many of the women who played against them. Jose Canseco played in one once, too, but he’s just an attention whore.
So, for those of you who get all flustered at the idea of a ladies poker tournament, take a deep breath, relax, and realize that there are about a gajillion more poker tournaments out there. The few that are restricted to women, or seniors for that matter, are not going to hurt anybody. Get over yourselves.
