Dan e-mails, “Do all of these WSOP events restrict events by gender and not allow women to compete against the men? I don’t really understand why there has to be a Ladies event. Why can’t the women be allowed to compete against the men? There’s no great physical strength involved in poker, it’s a mental
game, yet every time I’m flipping through the channel and come across a poker game I notice that it’s always just the men. Why not give a chance for the women join ’em?”
Women are eligible to enter any WSOP event, and most of the big-name pros (e.g. Jennifer Harman, Annie Duke) won’t enter the Ladies Only event for exactly the reasons you stated — they want to be judged as poker players, not female poker players. Personally, I’m waiting for the WSOP tournament limited to bald, bearded guys named Paul Harris. I might have a chance of making it to that final table.