Women Thriving and Finding Support in Poker
It’s a topic typically covered when something controversial happens or on International Women’s Day: women in poker. While I will continue to do those types of articles, I also decided to highlight women’s poker events and groups on a more regular basis.
There are numerous groups on Facebook that regularly highlight women’s accomplishments in poker and give them the space to post, ask questions, and celebrate. There has also been news from PokerStars and FLIP’s association with GGPoker.
Let’s get into it with news first.
FLIP on GGPoker
Daiva Byrne has been working hard to expand the scope of her partnership with GGPoker to highlight her Fantastic Ladies in Poker (FLIP) group. She puts together regular events on the site, but there is a big one coming up next weekend.
As a part of the World Series of Poker’s partnership with GGPoker, the site has been running WSOP Circuit events throughout the month of May. The series will wrap this weekend. And as a part of the celebration, Byrne put together a Flip Celebration tournament.
–When? Saturday, May 29 at 18:30 UTC
–How much? $10 buy-in for a $20K prize pool guarantee
–Chances? Unlimited reentries allowed
Anyone is welcome to play, but the top-finishing FLIP member in the tournament will win a gold Tiffany ring worth $1,500.
There will be special celebrity guests to be confirmed this week. There will also be FLIP members livestreaming their action, also to be announced this week.
Women’s Sunday on PokerStars
At the point of International Women’s Day this year, PokerStars launched Our Voices, a new initiative through which to communicate with female players in the poker community. Feedback received through this platform influenced PokerStars’ decision to permanently change the buy-in for the weekly Women’s Sunday tournament.
–Buy-in: $22
–Satellites: as low as $0.22
–When: Every Sunday at 14:40 ET (1.5 hours late registration)
–Who: All players with gender assignments as female via “settings”
Evidence and players’ voices determined that the $55 buy-in was too high for players to compete regularly, so they lowered it. PokerStars Associate Director of Consumer Engagement and Public Relations Rebecca McAdam Willetts noted that the company continues to listen to women. She encouraged women to sign up on the Our Voices site to “get involved so we can continue to shape the space for women in poker together.”
As a side note, players with questions related to the gender assignment setting should contact PokerStars Support.
Facebook Groups
Say what you will about Facebook, but its ability to connect people through groups is unique and valuable. There are a number of women’s groups centered on poker and gaming. Some of them provide information about women-only tournaments, others a space to post about women’s opportunities and roles in the larger gaming world, but most to provide a community of support and celebrate poker-related accomplishments.
In some cases, people identifying as male are permitted to join the groups, but all posts are closely monitored to maintain a safe and welcoming environment for people identifying as women.
–Women’s Poker Association (WPA): Women sharing poker wins and final tables and information about women-only tournaments around the world.
Ladies International Poker Series (LIPS): Women sharing events from online home games to women-only live tournaments. At this time, there is a focus on LIPS events scheduled for Ladies Poker Week in Las Vegas during the last week of June 2021.
Fantastic Ladies in Poker (FLIP): The fastest-growing FB group of poker women is headed up by Daiva Byrne, who promotes events on GGPoker. The page is also an international hub for women to celebrate their own and others’ poker accomplishments and even ask poker questions.
Globetrotting Poker Ladies: Maureen Bloechlinger established one of the newest FB groups for women in poker to put a focus on international events and travel. This also focuses on women-only events and tournament winners, as well as more general topics pertinent to women in poker.
Women in Gaming: This is a very new and broad group to connect women in gaming. It helps highlight the women in the industry, provide a networking platform, and find out about job opportunities.
Women in Poker: June 2021
Heading into June, there are several items to highlight.
The aforementioned LIPS is organizing the annual Ladies Poker Week for the last week in June in Las Vegas. This year may be tougher to organize because the World Series of Poker will not be happening at that time. The lagging effects of the pandemic prompted the WSOP to schedule its Vegas series for October-November this year.
Even so, many women will trek to Sin City for the week because of the numerous events lined up (and to be announced for) casinos like South Point, Sahara, and Caesar’s Palace. LIPS is updating the Ladies Poker Week schedule on its website as information becomes confirmed and/or available.
Poker Powher is continuing to promote the crossover benefits of the poker and corporate business worlds. The group offers to host corporate poker parties that include poker play, prizes, strategy, and education. The Poker Powher website also highlights news from the mainstream media that focuses on women in poker and that crossover with the business world.
Speaking of articles, Alex O’Brien wrote for the BBC about her experience winning $10K in a poker tournament while inadvertently taking a seat in a corner of the Dan Bilzerian controversy. She writes eloquently about her experience in the initial freeroll and the numerous people she worked with to prepare for her heads-up match against Bilzerian.
"This felt like a test I had failed.."
'How a $10k poker win changed how I think' https://t.co/3EmXZd22xQ via @BBC_Future
— Alex O'Brien (@obrientweet) May 18, 2021
And from Robbie Strazynski at Cardplayer Lifestyle, he posted his interview with Hayley Hochstetler. She has been a photographer in the US poker industry for years, but she also serves as the VP of Media at RunGoodGear and travels with the RunGood Poker Series. And just this month, she announced that she is serving as the head of the WSOP and PokerNews photography team for the 2021 Las Vegas series.
https://twitter.com/hayleyocho/status/1394838062778273798?s=20
If I inadvertently forgot anything, feel free to get at me @writerjen on Twitter.
