Poker Festival Irks Women In Ladies Event With Topless Male DealersShirtless Dealers At Battle Of Malta Asked To Put On Clothes After First Tournament Break |
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The women in the ladies event at the Battle Of Malta poker festival got much more than they asked for when they sat down to play cards Sunday night.
According to social media posts, the €100+€10 no-limit hold’em tournament at Casino Malta resembled more of a strip poker game, spread by a group of all-male, shirtless dealers.
While some thought the move was mildly amusing, albeit distracting, more than a handful of women were upset by the decision and felt it was humiliating for all parties involved.
Daiva Byrne, who was one of the 92 women in the tournament, snapped a photo and shared the story on her Twitter account, baffling many in the poker community.
I’m not really sure how
CM_Poker</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/BattleOfMalta?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">BattleOfMalta think this is an acceptable gimmick for a ladies event. I, like most of the ladies here find this demeaning for both the players and the dealers! pic.twitter.com/1evp783HIh— Daiva Byrne (@baltic_blonde) October 20, 2019
According to one forum poster, the dealers were paid an extra €100 to work the event, which included €50 for being shirtless, and another €50 for dancing on stage before the tournament.
After receiving a number of complaints, however, the dealers returned from the first break wearing shirts, along with some additional female dealers. The tournament was not advertised as a topless event.
Update: Tournament organizers have responded with an apology, and have decided to donate all of the ladies event fees to charity, as well as put a large €25,000 guarantee on next year’s event.
“After careful reflection, we would like to apologise wholeheartedly for any offence caused during this year’s ladies event. Our intention at the Battle Of Malta is to create a fun and welcoming atmosphere for everyone at all times during the festival. We respect all our players and staff and certainly had no intention of upsetting anyone, or making anyone feel uncomfortable. We sincerely apologise if this was the case at any time. We take great pride in our events and are fully committed to our inclusivity policy. As a gesture of appreciation for everyone who took part in the event, we are donating all registration fees from the ladies event to our nominated charity – Pink October Malta. We are very determined to grow the ladies event at Battle Of Malta, and we are happy to announce that next year’s ladies event will have a guaranteed prize pool of €25,000. We really look forward to seeing you all at the Battle Of Malta 2020.”
The Battle Of Malta wraps up Tuesday with the main event final table.
He visto esto en insta… el ladies event del Battle Of Malta con los crupiers en plan "gigolo"…
¿Opiniones? Yo estoy flipando bastante…
Y no, tampoco vería normal crupis en sujetador tirando cartas en un casino… pic.twitter.com/BIkaCnLPeU— Ignacio Molina (@IgnaPoker83) October 20, 2019
Wtf. This is awful and beyond poor taste.
— Ebony Kenney | Coach (@Ebony_Kenney) October 21, 2019
I’ve not been legitimately surprised like this in a while. This was a very poor decision on so many levels.
— Kara Scott (@KaraOTR) October 21, 2019
that’s really really sad to see. I don’t know how this got past some brainstorm joking around.
— Rebecca McAdam (@BexMcAdam) October 20, 2019
It’s legitimately confusing to me how a collective group of people thought this was a good idea?
— Danielle Andersen (@dmoongirl) October 21, 2019
I agree with you, Daiva. Not cool.
I know you and I don't see eye to eye on "ladies events" as a whole, but glad to see that we both agree this is awful.
Do they have any female dealers on? Are they also topless? Have female dealers lost working hours??— Kat Arnsby (@ThePokerBaffer) October 20, 2019
Very well said. One of dealers in High Roller told us he refused point blank and was taken off the Ladies event. This was one of the best top professional English dealers
— Dara O'Kearney (@daraokearney) October 20, 2019
I’ve woken up to this flooding across my social media. I’m quite shocked.
‼️Totally unnecessary‼️
I would have been uncomfortable playing, especially if in Seat 1 &10.
Not cool. I feel for the dealers forced to do this.
Ladies events do not need gimmicks to attract players!— Katie Swift (@SwiftlyNow) October 21, 2019
Gross on so many levels. This tweet needs to be referenced when people ask why the failed marketing gimmicks that go with ladies events don’t draw more women into poker.
— CEK (@TheGamblingBird) October 20, 2019
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