What was supposed to be a fun poker tournament for the women of the Atlantic City area turned into a source of controversy this past weekend when a man signed up to participate in the event. The mere presence of World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit winner Abraham Korotki in the $260 + $40 Ladies No Limit Hold’em event was enough to irritate some, but when Korotki went on to defeat a field of 269 women, the story struck a nerve and became a topic of national debate.
News first broke of the unusual entrant in Event #7 of the Borgata Poker Open when the casino’s blogging team reported that Korotki was in the field for the event and causing several stirs that brought floor people to the table to moderate. According to the Borgata Poker Blog, participants in the tournament grew increasingly irate as the field thinned and Korotki rose to the top of the chip counts.
In the end, it would come down to Korotki and Nicole Rowe of West Windsor, New York for the $20,982 first place prize and commemorative trophy. According to an interview Rowe gave to the Philadelphia Daily News, she offered to evenly chop the prize money with Korotki, but he refused, insisting he wanted to win the trophy. Rowe could have used the extra cash, as she was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and needed the additional poker winnings to help cover her medical expenses. Perhaps in an effort to pay homage to his competitor, Korotki told several media outlets he would be donating a portion of his winnings to charity, including some to a yet-to-be-named organization involving breast cancer.
Korotki is not the first man to participate in what is promoted to be a ladies-only poker tournament. Jose Canseco made poker news when he participated in a California ladies event and Phil Gordon, Rafe Furst, and their friends once dressed in drag to participate in an all-female event as well. However, Korotki’s story has arguably received the most press of all, even getting picked up by mainstream media organizations.
Legally, the poker room staff at Borgata was unable to prevent Korotki from entering because of anti-discrimination laws. Korotki told multiple media outlets he was motivated to participate in the ladies event after busting out of a $1,000 buy-in tournament earlier in the day. The Philadelphia Daily News reported that Korotki claimed he saw several other men in line to register, which the Borgata staff was unable to corroborate.
Ray Stefanelli, the Director of Poker Marketing for the Borgata, spoke to Poker News Daily about how the poker room staff handled the unusual circumstances: “Borgata offers specialty tournaments, such as the ladies event, as it has been our experience that these events are favored by certain segments of our customers. In the spirit of this event, it was our hope that only women would seek to participate, which has been the case in the past.” Stefanelli continued, “However, given both legal and regulatory requirements, we must allow anyone who is over the age of 21 the opportunity to participate in all of our events. As such, when Mr. Korotki insisted upon gaining entry into the tournament against our wishes, we had no option but to allow him to participate.”
Korotki has a long list of tournament cashes at the Borgata and other casinos in the Atlantic City area. His largest came in 2006 when he took down the Main Event of Harrah’s Atlantic City WSOP Circuit event for $433,008. Rowe has a fair share of impressive cashes herself, finishing second in the same Ladies Event in 2007 and also just missing the final table of a Harrah’s Poker Open No Limit Hold’em final table in May.
There is no word yet whether Korotki or Rowe will be participating in the upcoming Borgata Poker Open Main Event. The $3,500 buy-in tournament is part of Season VIII of the World Poker Tour and will also feature a $2 million guarantee. The event starts on Saturday, September 19th and runs through September 24th.
