Many people know about the World Series of Poker from the television coverage on ESPN. Mostly they just show the “Main Event” on TV.
Hoa Nguyen from worldseriesofpoker.com.The main event has a $10,000 buy-in and lasts for two weeks. Leading up to the main event, there are dozens of other tournaments, some of which are going on right now.
Last year my wife Jeannette played in the ladies event at the World Series of Poker. As I wandered around the poker room, I noticed a few of the contestants sported very un-ladylike goatees. On closer inspection, they were definitely men.
I asked around, and it turns out that the casino technically cannot exclude men from participating in the ladies event if they want to. Every year a few men enter.
Unless there is a case of mistaken identity, it looks like a man is threatening to win the ladies event at this year’s World Series of Poker. After one day of play, the starting field of over 1,000 has been whittled down to just 61 remaining players. Here are the chip leaders so far:
Shavonne Mitchell, 94,000
Alice Talbot, 92,700
Roslyn Quarto, 86,100
Olga Varkonyi, 83,800
Christine Priday, 82,900
Lisa Ahumada, 74,100
Hoa Nguyen, 71,800
When I click on Hoa Nguyen’s link, he doesn’t look much like a lady.
If you want to follow Hoa’s progress, live updates of chip counts are available online.
So here is my question. Which is more embarrassing, (a) the World Series of Poker running a ladies tournament and having a man win it, or (b) actually being the man who wins the event?
[Addendum: Reliable sources have confirmed that the Hoa Nguyen playing in the ladies event is a woman, so it is indeed a case of mistaken identity. I don't think you can say the same for this lady, or our friends Rafe Furst and Phil Gordon.]
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For sure B, a man entering and winning a ladies anything is just ridiculous.
Oh whatev. Breaking gender barriers goes both ways. And in a game such as poker there’s no particular gender advantage to men as there would be in, say, weight-lifting.
Plus, consider the possible motives for Mr. Nguyen’s participation in the event. I bet he’s meeting a bunch of women sharing his passion for poker.
B, I am sick and tired of people participating in things simply to show the world they won’t be excluded. It’s a ladies tournament and although I never thought poker to be one of those things that needed gender specific tournaments but a man participating in it just shows a lack of understanding for the spirit of the tournament.
At first glance I agree with gabber’s choice of B, but evolutionarily-speaking (and to the end of gender inequality), shouldn’t this become the norm? Men entering ‘women’s events and women entering ‘men’s events? At some point then hopefully, the humor (or embarrassment) in the opposite gender entering and winning another’s event goes away…
But…but…I don’t understand why poker has to separate women’s tournaments from men’s. If he does win, how can he be ridiculed without demeaning the abilities of the women playing? It’s not the same as bulked up high school guys playing on the girl’s field hockey team.
I’m thinking if he won then he wouldn’t have any embarrassment cashing that check.
And yes its ridiculous that you can’t legally have a women’s poker tournament. Its also ridiculous that you can’t legally have a men’s poker tournament.
C: Being the man who enters the ladies event expecting weak competition only to lose to a bunch of women.
Why in God’s name is there a Ladies’ League in poker anyway?
Separate consideration of genders makes sense for physical activities where gender differences in weight, strength, endurance, or balance are likely to be a factor.
But the only possible reason to separate women from men in poker is to prevent divorce when your wife goes all in against your pocket kings — not usually an issue in tournament play.