Sunday, July 03, 2005
Women and Poker - Gender Issues in the Game of Poker
I sometimes play poker with a buddy of mine named Dan. He goes by a female handle at Party Poker, and I won't blow his cover by posting his handle here, but it's something similar to hotsinglemom. He does this to give himself a particular table image based on people thinking that he's a woman. What I'm curious about is whether or not people actually play differently against a woman just because she's a woman.
I know I play differently against women, but I'm a big dork and I act differently around women in all situation, not just playing poker. But I get the feeling that a lot of men think that women can't play poker well, or that they're easily pushed around, or they're just not as smart as men. And while it's true that no woman has ever won the main event at the World Series of Poker, this doesn't prove a thing about a woman's innate ability to play poker. The fact is that there just aren't as many women playing poker. (Although there certainly seem to be a lot of them out there now.)
Last time I played in a live poker game with a woman, she tore my nut flush all to hell with her full house. No fun that, I'll tell you. And while I'm sure I'd enjoy meeting Clonie Gowen, Annie Duke, Shirley Rosario, and/or Jennifer Tilly, I'm not sure I'd want to sit down at a very high stakes game with them. I'm pretty sure any one of them would clean me out.
I know I play differently against women, but I'm a big dork and I act differently around women in all situation, not just playing poker. But I get the feeling that a lot of men think that women can't play poker well, or that they're easily pushed around, or they're just not as smart as men. And while it's true that no woman has ever won the main event at the World Series of Poker, this doesn't prove a thing about a woman's innate ability to play poker. The fact is that there just aren't as many women playing poker. (Although there certainly seem to be a lot of them out there now.)
Last time I played in a live poker game with a woman, she tore my nut flush all to hell with her full house. No fun that, I'll tell you. And while I'm sure I'd enjoy meeting Clonie Gowen, Annie Duke, Shirley Rosario, and/or Jennifer Tilly, I'm not sure I'd want to sit down at a very high stakes game with them. I'm pretty sure any one of them would clean me out.
Women and Poker - Gender Issues in the Game of Poker posted by Randy Ray @ Sunday, July 03, 2005 
