Online Casino Sponsors Sexist High Heels Poker Tour
Posted on: September 4th, 2009 9:51 am | By: Ricky BauerIt is a glorious day for women and poker as the High Heels Poker Tour has been sponsored by PokerStars online casino. I say that in jest of course. Not that they haven’t been sponsored by the online casino giant, but I just finished reading their press release and it sure seems sexist to me. Don’t get me wrong, the fact that they were sponsored is not sexist. The press release itself is sexist.
“Founded in 2007, the HHPT was created to empower women who want to become champions in the growing world of poker.” Let’s examine that little gem from the High Heels Poker Tour press release. It essentially implies that women are empowered by giving them their own tournament, since apparently there is no way a woman can defeat a man in a game of strategy and luck. Sure, if this were a triathlon or a football or basketball league, it’s easy to see why women (forgive me) don’t stand a chance in hell against men. Women’s bodies at their peak of physical fitness are usually smaller and weaker than men in the same condition. That’s just the way humans are built. But when it comes to sitting at a table and holding cards, can’t women match men? Am I crazy or couldn’t a woman be equally as formidable an opponent as any other idiot guy in sunglasses and a hat? Or are they so overly emotional that they are incapable of holding a poker face and once they have a good hand call all of their friends to tell them about it and go shoe shopping to celebrate? That’s what the HHPT press release says to me.
“…the tour heads south to Florida for three outstanding events in Dania, Hollywood and Tampa, where the nation’s female champions of tomorrow will vie for not only a generous prize pool, but great friendships, camaraderie and competition at the tables.” Friendships and camaraderie? Is this a poker tour or The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants? If anybody out there can find me a press release for any casino, tour, online casino, anything to do with poker at all that emphasizes forming “friendships and camaraderie” I will eat a deck of cards. A whole deck. Why do they think women need to be with friends sipping herbal tea and confiding in each other about the secrets of their menstrual cycles? Maybe, just maybe they are there to win money and feel the excitement of winning a hand?
“PokerStars has all the attributes in an online partner that female players crave…in an environment where women can learn the game, develop their skills and truly become champions.” Women need a special environment to enjoy an online casino? Do they wager candles and Bath and Body Works gels that smell like sun-ripened raspberries? (BTW, does UIGEA prohibit against online gambling of shower gels? Just asking.) Women and men are different, but putting women in this box is demeaning and condescending.
Then there is the title of the tour: “High Heels” does not imply women empowerment. Do you know what it implies to me? Strippers. When I think of high heels, I don’t think of powerful intelligent women asserting themselves in a man’s world. I think of women swinging on a pole in high heels (preferably see-through) and nothing else. Maybe it’s because I’m just a classy guy and that’s how I’ve been brought up, but if a girl is wearing high heels, I’m not far behind with a handful of singles. Maybe I’m wrong and high heels are the calling card of many female CEOs and Olympic champions, but I’ve never seen them on a Wheaties box. Ultimately, this name is there not to appeal to women, but men. They hope that men will tune in or show up in hopes of finding strippers. Or at least finding hot women playing poker in a casino. I don’t know, perhaps that’s a fetish I haven’t heard about yet. While most professional women poker players are hot (which is no coincidence), they don’t play in bikinis or anything. They wear hats and sunglasses and t-shirts like the guys do. If they were going for accuracy, they might call it the “These Girls Dress Like Bums Poker Tour” or “This Is What They Look Like When They Wake Up In the Morning Poker Tour” or “Slightly Less Covered Up Than Muslim Women Poker Tour.” But somehow I don’t think that would be a huge draw.
Ladies, you have come a long way in society. So I write this for you, not because I am chiseled like a Greek God and can bench press a tank (Read: CALL ME), but because I respect your minds. Women should be treated as equals and they don’t need a special tour to become poker champions.
Tags: High Heels Poker Tour, online casino, online gambling, online poker, PokerStars, Sexist
September 4th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
You miss the point, sir. I am a woman poker player and actually never needed a ladies-only tournament to encourage my involvement in poker. However, women, in general, tend not to be as aggressive as men and many women are very intimidated at the thought of sitting at a poker table with mostly, if not all, men. Ladies events tend to have lower entry fees and allow women to build their skills and confidence in an atmosphere that is much less stressful and more friendly and supportive than a mixed event where women, sadly, make up only a small fraction of the participant pool.
I am all for such events because they encourage more women to get involved in the game so that eventually, and hopefully in the not-too-distant future, tournament fields will more accurately reflect the general population.
September 4th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
I totally agree…you missed the point! First of all I started playing the HHPT events because as a women I was intimadated playing with men. HHPT gave me the courage to sit at the felt and try my hand at poker. That was October 2007. Today, I am an accomplished player with a WSOP main event cash under my belt as well as many other cashes, both in female only tourneys and mixed tourneys. Don’t get me worng – you’re a writer trying to get readers. I get it! However, I don’t feel your article “reviewed” anything. It seems to me you bashed the HHPT and that’s not good poker!
The HHPT is not sexist. In fact – it’s far from it. It filled a much needed niche in poker. Do you think PokerStars would work with a sexist company? I think not! Do you think the WSOP is wrong having a Ladies-only event…which by the was started BECAUSE women weren’t allowd to play with the men way back when! I think not!
Listen, I’m way under the age of 55, so do you think I should write an article claiming that the WSOP seniors event is age discrimatory?
Listen, anytime you want to wear some red high heels, a bit of lipstick and a bra I’d love to see you at an HHPT event. But, until that day comes – deal with ladies only poker events and leave the strippers to dancing!
Happy Labor Day Weekend!!
September 5th, 2009 at 12:38 am
Ricky your article is right on the button. You have said out loud what very many of us women who play poker believe about these types of events.
Go back 4 or 5 years and its true there weren’t many women playing live poker – maybe 1 or 2 per the whole pokerroom versus the 1 or 2 per table you see now. And the female ratio online is even higher. The intimidation factor is not a valid excuse to make women believe that they should be playing on their own tournaments in a corner separate from the men. And guess what? Many women only play in these events and make friendly chit chat at the tables because they feel its an easy win for them – talk about morality crushing. We struggled a long time for gender equality and the poker table is one place where everyone has an equal opportunity no matter their gender, physical strength or age.
I too find it condescending that these promoters try make us believe they are doing this for the good of women – but you need to remember that this is their business and they want to be successful.
The only limits in poker are the ones you place yourself.