Thanks to a world where political correctness acts as a form of linguistic terrorism, there are a whole lot of things people can no longer say or do. For example, if you are an accountant with penchant for obscure adjectives, the word “Niggardly” should be removed from your vocabulary when you feel the need to describe a rather stingy client. Also, if you are in the work place, and one of your female co-workers is premiering an attractive new hairstyle, to comment on this without a signed consent form, or a note from Gloria Steinem would probably invite the wrath from the little pink mafia, or those scary biker types who make up the National Organization of Women. With that said, I am going to risk bodily harm from the type of women who wear leather jackets and have a chain attached to their wallets by saying that the female poker playing population may not be as good as the guys.
Is it fair for me to say that? Is there something about guys that gives them an advantage in the game of poker? Probably not, but I will bet that I have offended more than a few people by suggesting men are better at something then women. For those who have steam shooting out their ears at that politically incorrect notion (let’s hope it’s only the ears that the steam is shooting from), maybe you should also be upset with the World Series of Poker. By having a special event for the ladies, they are saying the exact same thing; they are just softening their statement by throwing a bracelet and a ton of cash at the winner of this event.
Every year I have the same debate about the ladies event, and nobody can give me a straight, common sense answer about why it exists. Poker is cerebral, not physical. If this were a bench press contest, of course the women should be separate; nobody will debate that men are naturally stronger. (Well if this were a bench press contest, the only fair thing would be to put Gus Hansen in the ladies division, where he would still be in the middle of the pack, but I digress.) By having a special ladies event, it is like saying they are too dumb to compete with the boys, and a special event needs to be created so that the women can have a champion. That is not just silly, it is insulting.
Women can compete with men, and as the sport becomes more popular among the XX chromosome set, there will be more women winning high profile tournaments. At some point politically correct poker event organizers are going to have to realize that by perusing a “separate but equal” doctrine, they are doing more harm then good.
