Man wins 'Ladies poker tournament' in Atlantic City...

[General Zod]

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/ne...l_in_A_C_.html

She's calling it a bad deal in A.C.

In poker lingo, they're known as "bad beats." And an upstate New York woman has taken a couple recently, in real life as well as at the table.

On Saturday, Nicole Rowe, 40, of West Windsor, N.Y., placed second in a poker tournament at the Borgata in Atlantic City.

Second place is usually nothing to sneeze at, but what really miffed Rowe was that she lost to a man in what was supposed to be a women-only event.

Rowe, who has been diagnosed with breast cancer, had hoped that the top prize in the Ladies No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em tournament would pay for her living expenses while she recuperated from the mastectomy she expects to have at the end of the month.

She was among more than 260 women who each put up $300 to play in the tournament, but when the dust cleared, Abraham Korotki, 65, of Ventnor City, N.J., took home the trophy and $20,982 first prize.

"When you're a woman and you play poker, 99 percent of the time you're at a table with nine men," Rowe, who won $11,889, said yesterday during a phone interview, adding that playing against a field of women is "something I look forward to.

"Why did he have to ruin it for us? Why would he do this?"

So what was a man doing in a game clearly meant for the XX chromosome set?

Korotki - a semiretired real-estate developer who said yesterday that he's donating his winnings to three charities, including one dedicated to breast cancer - said his motives were purely innocent.

He explained that he entered the women's competition after quickly being eliminated from another, more-expensive tournament in which he went "all-in" with a pair of aces against two pair.

He said that he simply "wanted to get back on the horse," and signed up because he had earlier seen "five to 10" other men in the registration line.

Borgata officials said that they were not aware of any other male participants, nor were any other men pointed out by female players.

Korotki insisted that Borgata staffers never told him that he couldn't play in the tournament and insisted that he wouldn't have made a fuss if he'd been asked to stay out of it.

"I have great respect for the people at Borgata," he said.

"If someone had said, 'Abe, you can play, but please don't,' I would have said, 'Fine,' and gone home and been bored until the next tournament."

From the casino's standpoint, there was no option other than to seat Korotki.

"Borgata offers specialty tournaments, including the Ladies event," Joe Lupo, the gaming hall's senior vice-president, said in a statement.

"In the spirit of this event, it was our hope that only women would have participated, as has happened in the past. . . . However, given legal requirements, we must allow anyone who is over the age of 21 the opportunity to participate."

Korotki's entering the tournament aside, Rowe also was steamed that he refused to "chop" the pot with her as they began one-on-one play.

In poker tournaments, remaining players can agree to split the prize pool (in this case, each would have claimed more than $16,000).

But when Rowe asked Korotki to chop: "He said, 'The money is not important to me. The only way I will chop the pot is if I get the trophy,' " she said.

Rowe rejected the deal. "I could have used the [extra money], but I couldn't do it," she said. "I'm a competitor. And I was competing not just for me, but for every woman in the tournament."

Korotki didn't dispute Rowe's account.

But he said he didn't think it right that "she wanted to take the title without playing for it." And when one-on-one play commenced, he noted, he had the lead by about $200,000 (in tournament-play chips).

Nevertheless, both players claimed that there are no hard feelings.

Each acknowledged that earlier in the contest Korotki, after hearing from Rowe about her illness, purposely played a weak hand against her in hopes of helping her build her chip stack (she doubled her amount by winning the hand).

"She's a very lovely woman," Korotki said.

"My wife and I wished her the absolute best."

[Red Dog]

[El Scorcho]

much ado about nothing

i especially love how she's pissed he didn't chop

and then he admits to collusion via soft-playing

still its pretty god damn retarded that not only do we have courts in our country that deem gender-only events as discriminatory (see also: this fucking faggot: http://www.insidebayarea.com/search/ci_12621160) but we have morons who try to make a stink when they're excluded from ladies events or giveaways

[Groucho]

[WallyOPD]

Originally Posted by El Scorcho

i especially love how she's pissed he didn't chop

I love how the article made it seem like she really needed the money, but she turned down a deal because the guy wanted the trophy.

[NORML54601]

[Jacoby Ellsbury]

So 1 man in a tournament of 250 women wins.

[mgbfan]

Hahaha. Hey, stay out of the ladies tourney. That's just silly. THat being said, I hate that the WSOP awards a bracelet for a ladies event (or at least they used to--I assume they still do). It's wrong for several reasons.

1) It implies that men have an innate advantage, and that women need a segregated tournament to have a chance.

2) It sullies the meaning of a bracelet. The idea of the WSOP is that anyone can enter and win. When you start restricting the entry pool, you invalidate that concept.

3) It's just stupid.

[jjcool]

Originally Posted by mgbfan

Hahaha. Hey, stay out of the ladies tourney. That's just silly. THat being said, I hate that the WSOP awards a bracelet for a ladies event (or at least they used to--I assume they still do). It's wrong for several reasons.

1) It implies that men have an innate advantage, and that women need a segregated tournament to have a chance.

2) It sullies the meaning of a bracelet. The idea of the WSOP is that anyone can enter and win. When you start restricting the entry pool, you invalidate that concept.

3) It's just stupid.

My opinion is, if there are ladies only events, then there should be mens only events.

[Groucho]

Originally Posted by jjcool

My opinion is, if there are ladies only events, then there should be mens only events.

Except if there were mens-only events there would be marching on the streets, bra-burning, and the like.

[jjcool]

Originally Posted by Groucho

Except if there were mens-only events there would be marching on the streets, bra-burning, and the like.

Oh yeah. sexism only works one way apparently.
There is another -ism that apprently only works one way as well, but that is a discussion for another forum.

[Dean Kousoulas]

Originally Posted by jjcool

Oh yeah. sexism only works one way apparently.
There is another -ism that apprently only works one way as well, but that is a discussion for another forum.

White men just can't get a break these days...

[Aphex Twin]

I wonder how much controversy there would be if someone wanted to be clever and start a blacks-only tournament. Would they decide to exclude Phil Ivey or not?

[El Scorcho]

Kathy Liebert has been winning womens-only tournaments for years and nobody's said anything. Why does this guy get flak?

[pedagogue]

Originally Posted by Aphex Twin

I wonder how much controversy there would be if someone wanted to be clever and start a blacks-only tournament. Would they decide to exclude Phil Ivey or not?

Bryant Gumble would definitely get the cold shoulder.

[D.Pham00]

Korotki insisted that Borgata staffers never told him that he couldn't play in the tournament and insisted that he wouldn't have made a fuss if he'd been asked to stay out of it.

oh yeah, and they want to violate the law and get sued for discrimination.

Korotki's entering the tournament aside, Rowe also was steamed that he refused to "chop" the pot

blah blah

"The only way I will chop the pot is if I get the trophy,' " she said.

Rowe rejected the deal.

wait, by her own admission, he agreed to chop. I guess her pride was worth more than the ~$4k difference.

[Adrian_Monk]

Originally Posted by mgbfan

Hahaha. Hey, stay out of the ladies tourney. That's just silly. THat being said, I hate that the WSOP awards a bracelet for a ladies event (or at least they used to--I assume they still do). It's wrong for several reasons.

1) It implies that men have an innate advantage, and that women need a segregated tournament to have a chance.

2) It sullies the meaning of a bracelet. The idea of the WSOP is that anyone can enter and win. When you start restricting the entry pool, you invalidate that concept.

3) It's just stupid.

It doesn't imply that men have an innate advantage, but rather implies that the committee believes that some women believe that and are thus inclined to have an event to attract those individuals. The more people involved in the WSOP, the more money Harrah's makes. There are other events that are not open to everybody that also award bracelets (The Seniors Event, The Casino Employees Event). There is no implication that casino employees are worse at poker than other people. It's simply a matter of trying to get more business from different people by trying to cater to the masses. The WSOP having a ladies event won't cause any man not to play another event, but the WSOP not having a ladies event might cause a woman not to play any events.

[Adrian_Monk]

Originally Posted by jjcool

My opinion is, if there are ladies only events, then there should be mens only events.

Why? Who would that appeal to?

[El Scorcho]

maybe ladies want their own event so they can play a social game of poker instead of playing a "normal" event where they get placed on a table with 9 fucking silent degenerate dorks with ipods and sunglasses on

[Aphex Twin]

Originally Posted by El Scorcho

maybe ladies want their own event so they can play a social game of poker instead of playing a "normal" event where they get placed on a table with 9 fucking silent degenerate dorks with ipods and sunglasses on

Wouldn't it suck if you were playing poker against 9 chicks who all had PMS at the same time?

[DvDDan]

looks like the tables have turned on this one. It's time for equal rights for men

[jjcool]

Originally Posted by Adrian_Monk

Why? Who would that appeal to?

Ummm, men? Who like to play poker?

[jjcool]

Originally Posted by Dean Kousoulas

White men just can't get a break these days...

But they can certainly be discriminated against apparently.

[WallyOPD]

Originally Posted by jjcool

But they can certainly be discriminated against apparently.

Where's the discrimination? The man was allowed to play in the tournament. Practically every tournament is men only in everything but name, I applaud the casino for trying to attract a new and different demographic to the tables.

[jjcool]

Originally Posted by WallyOPD

Where's the discrimination? The man was allowed to play in the tournament. Practically every tournament is men only in everything but name, I applaud the casino for trying to attract a new and different demographic to the tables.

Nobody said there was.