I know several very talented female poker players, but unfortunately, they are a rarity. Wherever I go, there’s seldom a woman at the table, and if there is, she’s up against 8 or 9 men. Even in the main event of the World Series Of Poker, women average only 3% of the field — and it’s been that way for as long as I can remember.
Interestingly, I’ve seen guys play differently when they’re in a hand with a woman. Maybe they don’t want to be perceived as a bully, or they want to show “the little lady” up, or they have mommy issues. The best female pros — Vanessa Selbst, Danielle Anderson, Maria Ho — know how to exploit those male character faults and take their chips, but it can be tough for an amateur to sit down and deal with the crap that’s on display from male poker players on a regular basis.
Why is that? As my friend Nolan Dalla explained in this interview with famed tournament director Matt Savage, the blame lies squarely in the laps of the idiot men who can’t even watch a televised poker game without expressing themselves in the most sexist terms you can imagine…