Sunday night the doorbell rings. "The neighborhood women are banding together to form a poker club. Wanna join?" You may have experienced something similar in your neighborhood. Poker is big. And it is growing in popularity amongst the female demographic. No one quite knows the percentage of online poker playing women but statistics range from 20%-40%. Among women, poker broadcasts are watched more than any other sport. Why are women playing? What is the allure? Can someone make a living off of this thing anyway? WomenGamers.Com Circe interviews a whole set of individuals from the celebrity poker playing women themselves to the editor of Women's Poker Magazine to the techies at X-Box in search of answers...
I first set out to interview the who's who in women's poker, Jennifer Harman and Evelyn Ng. Apparently, these women have been playing cards of one sort or another since they were in the womb. 'No Limit Texas Holdem' is their speciality. I tried this version out myself in a no holds barred family battle on New Year's Eve and failed miserably.
Q: What is it about poker that you feel entices women to play? The community? The opportunity to win easy money?
Jennifer: Women like to play because poker is heavily based on instincts. Women like to follow their gut.
Evelyn: Poker is a male dominant game, but this same tribute gives women an advantage. Men underestimate us at the table. For example, men never think women are bluffing, so this makes it easier for us to get away with a bluff once in awhile.
Q: Do you find that women poker players are a tight knit community? Do they communicate in message boards together and make it a point of playing together?
Jennifer: Not really. I think there is a great deal of competition amongst
the women players.
Evelyn: Yes, because there are so few of us. It is like we have a natural
bond between all the women poker players. I don't communicate through
message boards but I know people who do.
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