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An Open Letter
To: Seth Plansky, Howard Greenbaum, Ty Stewart, and Jack Effel
G
entlemen,
First, I want to commend you on how great the 2010 WSOP is. I was so delighted to see that, at last, the poker players rated the entire convention area—no more tents! The Food Kitchen is great, as is the Pavilion and the Amazon Rooms. The process for one to find their table (room, color, table number, etc.) was a stroke of genius. Everything seems so well organized, so much more so than in years past.
My first and only HUGE disappointment this year was that Harrah’s allowed men to play in the most prestigious and most important ladies event in the world. There absolutely is no excuse any of these men could give me to make it alright with me. I don’t care if they lost the biggest prop bet of their life (one excuse I heard) or they plan to give every penny of their winnings to charity (just write your charity a check). I believe it is so sad that they did exactly what they set out to do—show the world that they could beat a gigantic corporation like Harrah’s.
 Seth, this is a quote from Card Player’s Web site:
“Palansky said tournament organizers couldn’t legally prevent any men from entering the event. They have discouraged men from doing so in the past, and discouraged entries again this year. Men have participated in ladies events at the World Series in past years, but never to this magnitude.”
I sincerely thought that a casino could refuse service to anyone for any reason; I guess I was wrong. Also, I have been playing the ladies event of the WSOP since 1989 and never once has a man gained entry.
There are several reasons I am so upset: I began playing poker in $15 ladies-only events in Las Vegas in 1986. I would never have entered a poker arena were it not for those events. I got my feet wet, got comfortable in the game and then played in mixed-field events.
I know that women come from all over the world for this ladies world championship. If a man takes even one of their chips away, I find that sinful. If one of the males started at my table, I would have requested a refund. There are so many ways around this; have a men’s only event. I’ll bet not one woman would complain. Just say, NO! I’ve heard you were worried about lawsuits. Please, these jerks haven’t a prayer against the mighty Harrah’s organization. These guys are trouble-making jerks who have no respect for women, why else would they have insisted on crashing this event? Don’t you have rules against trouble-making jerks?
I know that penalties were given to several of the men. One when he passed Midol around the table and used a Tampax for a card protector. Another when one went running and screaming around the tournament area after his aces were cracked. I would be willing to bet my bankroll that not one penalty was given to a lady during the entire three-days of the ladies event. The one lone male who won money, won money that should have gone to a lady.
I heard one story about a women who had been eliminated from the competition. She asked a masseur to go to one of the guys and tell him that she wanted to buy him a massage to show no hard feelings, (don’t know if he was the one who knocked her out of action as this is second-hand). He went dancing over to her for an open-armed hug of gratitude. When he reached her, she slapped him hard. I would never do this just because of an attempt to keep my reputation in tact, but I can certainly applaud her for her less-than-lady-like attack. My Mama used to say, “Some people need killing,” on the subject of convicted murderers and child molesters. My parallel is not that these guys need killing, but I’ll agree that they needed a good slapping!
If males entering the ladies world championship is an attempt from the few who want to see you do away with the ladies and the Seniors events, I pray it is unsuccessful. My hope is that they will not be allowed to make a mockery of this prestigious and famous competition again next year.
Do you plan to allow the young guns, who insist and scream discrimination, to play the Seniors? So they can make their point, whatever that is.
There are trouble makers and stinkers in all walks of life, I sincerely hope they won’t be allowed to play in either of these events next year.
Susie Isaacs
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Copyright © Susie Isaacs and used with permission.
Susie Isaacs is the most published female author on the subject of poker and she has a new novel out White Knight, Black Nights, (destined to be a best seller!) Visit her Web site for full descriptions on all of her books: www.susieisaacsbooks.com.
The above article is the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of Vegas Community Online, its editors/publishers, and/or other Vegas Community Online columnists. VCO respects the right of each author to express their opinion. If you have an opposing viewpoint or would like to send feedback on any article, please send email to feedback@vegascommunityonline.com; state the title of the article and your comments. VCO reserves the right to add any submissions to its feedback page.
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