- This year’s European Poker Tour in Deauville offered a Ladies Event, with a low €220 buy-in—it was won by a man, Thierry Derkx, the Director of Sports Etudes De Paris (SEDP).
- Fully 24% of the entrants were male, in total 22 men entered the event and six of them cashed in the eleven paid places.
- In an interview with PokerNews, GPI owner Alex Dreyfus called the male entrants “bad boys.” He was right, they were bad boys behaving with bad manners.
This year’s European Poker Tour in Deauville offered a Ladies Event, with a low €220 buy-in—it was won by a man, Thierry Derkx, the Director of Sports Etudes De Paris (SEDP).
Fully 24% of the entrants were male, in total 22 men entered the event and six of them cashed in the eleven paid places.
In an interview with PokerNews, GPI owner Alex Dreyfus called the male entrants “bad boys.” He was right, they were bad boys behaving with bad manners.
It is widely known that the organizers in France can’t exclude men from a Ladies Only event—but men entering such events are not fighting for equality, or establishing their rights to compete on an equal basis, they are spoiling a tournament which is designed to encourage women to play poker.
Statistics from ARJEL indicate that only 11% of online poker players are women. From the table make-up at live events, that figure may be even lower in a major series such as the WSOP.
When a game like poker becomes dominated by men, it is understandable if women have a tendency to feel uncomfortable in such an aggressive environment. Ladies Events provide an opportunity for women who do feel uncomfortable to play in an environment that works better for them.
In an interview with Danielle “dmoongirl” Andersen on PokerUpdate, she illustrated what some women are up against while trying to play poker.
I was on a live stream the other day on Twitch. Poker players were broadcasting their play and I was in the chat because I was playing against one of them at the same time. The chat went nuts. It went insane. People were saying terrible things. They were writing about what they would do to me sexually; that I was a whore; telling rape jokes – awful things that you shouldn’t say to women.
There are clearly hurdles that must be cleared to get more women playing poker and to expand the game. Ladies events are meant to serve that purpose.
The male poker players who enter events restricted to women should realize that they are acting against the best interests of the game.
There isn’t a rational defense for their behavior it’s simply bad manners.
