Why I Want Men to Play the 2013 WSOP Ladies Event

There’s a distinctly awkward moment for me every year in the WSOP ladies tournament when a man busts the tournament, and the room fills with applause and celebration. Much of the table talk seems to be dominated by the discussion of men entering the ladies events, and nearly everyone has a strong opinion on it. Once, I witnessed a seemingly kind octogenarian woman tell off a 20-something male for entering.

This year, the WSOP has taken a creative step by making the tournament $10k for men to enter while maintaining the $1k buy-in for ladies. For it to be profitable for a male to enter, they’d need just under a 900% ROI, which would translate to someone selling their action at a markup close to 10 (1 – 1.5 is the common range). Last year, only the final table was paid over $10k. Legends abound as to the softness of this particular tourney, but not even the best in the world has that extreme of a long-term edge in this fast-paced tournament.

Being as I think any male that chooses to enter is making a minus EV decision, I’ll feel a lot differently the next time a guy sits down at my table. By entering, he has vastly increased the prize-pool, and I’m happy to have him there— whatever his reason for choosing to play may be.

One issue that this new solution brings up is the registration for transgendered women. I’m sad every year to witness the discrimination my trans friends face in the tournament, so I am really hoping that the WSOP takes the time to educate their staff to ensure that transgendered women don’t get asked to fork over $10k.

With the new change, I’m more excited than ever about the WSOP ladies tournament this year! I hope that the tables will be full of even more smiles, and devoid of the raucous behavior that used to occur when a man busted.