It was two years ago that I wrote my first opinion piece about the WSOP ladies-only tournament. After I received a sufficient amount of hate mail, I wrote a follow-up piece. I skipped the subject at the 2008 WSOP except for a few snarky comments, and now it slaps me in the face yet again as I sit on media row in front of a sea of women. In lieu of a rant or reiteration of my previously-stated feelings on the issue, I’ll just relay a few notes.
When your practice game isn’t at a casino but in a home game with your husband and your dad, you might be in trouble at the WSOP.
When your first instinct at the table is to introduce yourself to everyone and ask where they’re from instead of sizing them up and concentrating on your own strategy, you’re giving off a big tell.
If you have to apologize for knocking another player out of the tournament, you’re not cut out for tournament poker.
When the floor staff is openly yawning while observing the tables, the play is not exactly top-notch.
When tables full of women squeal at every mention of finishing a level or moving to a new table, this is clearly not a room full of pros.
When the tournament announcer says that another event’s restart will be in the other room to make room for all these beautiful ladies, they’re talking to you like you’re special people and you shouldn’t smile about that.
Media row is half empty today and will be until the 5pm start of the World Championship O8 tournament. And those of us who are here are praying for the men to arrive for other events so it evens out a bit. For me, add some women-tilt that came from a phone call attempting to convince me not to write anything negative about the Women in Poker Hall of Fame, and I\’m simply trying not to write something that will get me bitch-slapped I may regret later. I\’ll be staying out of the hallways on breaks, that\’s for sure.
