888Poker Ambassador Stirs Up Heated Words With Gender Commentary

(Photo: Pictures.zimbio.com)

Disclaimer alert. I am a guy. I therefore tread particularly carefully when discussing gender issues. I believe women should be at no disadvantage in society in terms of their opportunities at work, equal pay, or face disadvantages because of their gender in any other walk of life. It is a constant struggle in society for women, and in poker it is no different. In my recent article on Liv Boeree speaking at the Oxford Union, Liv discussed how only 2% of entrants into high stakes poker tournaments are women, which is far too low.

Enter Jessica Dawley 888 Poker Pro and Seminole Hard Rock Poker Ambassador.

Jessica tweeted the following tweet on 29th June 2016. It caused quite a stir.

With no preamble to explain her position, Jessica’s tweet achieved the likely intention which was to stir some debate about reality television and poker. It was a tongue-in-cheek comment that was later clarified after she received some criticism from other Twitter users.

Mandy22Baker, a professional poker player and professional Mario Kart player according to her twitter profile, replied with a question/criticism, clearly incensed at Jennifer’s inference that any women would sleep her way to the top in an effort to obtain fame. Jessica asked Mandy what she meant and Mandy offered this clarification.

@CateHall had also entered the debate and criticised Jessica too. Cate is a well-known poker player. But Jessica was not backing down and stuck to her view. Her next tweet clarified her concern and she said she was frustrated that women so often played up to stereotypes in the media. Celina Lin, for example, recently admitted that playing up her sexuality has helped her tournament play by distracting attracted opponents.

I understand where she is coming from. I also understand the concerns of Cate and Mandy, two respected players who will have faced gender stereotyping before, themselves. Some women (and men don’t forget) just want to be famous, and reality TV shows like MTV search for good-looking women (sex does sell and that’s a fact) to participate in these programs. Perhaps this does not sit comfortably with women like Cate, Mandy, and Jessica. Despite their heated words, I think they largely agree with one another.

In the United Kingdom we have Big Brother, where the novel concept of placing “normal” people into a house for 10 weeks and recording their interactions gained massive viewing figures in the early 2000’s. Unfortunately, in recent years, only a certain type of young person gets selected to go into the house. They are all very preened and easy on the eyes, usually models and very vain. It is not necessarily representative of the wider public and I think this is why Jessica expressed frustration at poker TV shows heading in a similar direction.

The good news is that we have women like the three mentioned above flying the flag for women in poker. It’s in safe hands. It is acceptable to view these women as attractive providing we are respectful and acknowledge their intelligence and abilities as poker players as well as their looks. We should all promote gender equality in poker and celebrate able women players who promote themselves in the public eye wherever we find them. We need to attract more women into poker and make it a welcome environment for them.

What I think myself, Jessica, Mandy, and Cate would agree on is there is more to female poker players than the fact they are female. They can take your chips and if you underestimate them, they are very likely to do so.

Unfortunately since this story hit the media, the tweets have been deleted. But the sentiments they expressed are ones worth bearing in mind and make a valid and important point to all of us.