Ladies Poker Tournaments are Awesome March 6, 2010
Posted by Jennifer in : feminism, poker , add a commentI qualified for a Satellite tomorrow into the EPT Ladies Monte Carlo event. I almost won on my first try, got heads-up with a 2x chip lead but we were very deep and I eventually lost the battle. In heads-up it can be hard to tell if you’re getting owned or unlucky–still not sure. The next day, I ran better, played better, avenged my loss and qualified. There is one 3500 Euro package for every 18 players in the tournament, so I’ll have to run really well to win.
Time to explain the merits of ladies poker tournaments, and to contradict some of the criticism (see the Black Widow of Poker blog for a detailed example and some fiery comments.)
Before my thoughts, let’s hear what famous female poker players think about segregated poker tournaments.
Nay
Annie Duke “Poker is one of the few sports where a woman can compete on a totally equal footing with a man, so I don’t understand why there’s a ladies only tournament.”
Vicky Koren “I don’t think I will play the Ladies’ Event again. A special women’s competition sends out the wrong message, as if we’re admitting we need some kind of help. I want to get better at poker and take my chances in an open field. Of course I want to win a tournament one day, but I don’t want it to be a handicapped one. I want to win a real one.”- From For Richer, For Poorer: A Love Affair With Poker
Tiffany Michelle : “If we’re sitting here and talking about equality, and wanting to play with the boys, then obviously it’s not fair to have a ladies only event…I mean, I would be pissed off if they ever did a men-only event, so how in the world can we sit here and do this?” –From cardplayer.com
Yay
Kathy Liebert- “Ladies events are usually weaker fields.” (In response to my tweet to her asking why she plays in ladies tournaments. Interestingly Kathy is considered by many to be the best female tournament poker player, but she is not sponsored. See an interesting article about this here..)
Annette Obstread : “I haven’t played in any (women’s tournaments). They’re just haven’t been any – I can’t play in Vegas. I guess one day I will play one in Vegas – I think the field will be really soft. It’s a good chance to win a bracelet! (laughs) It wouldn’t be as good as winning a normal event, but it’s still money, it’s still good.”- Poker Player Interview
Mixed, Mostly Positive
Vanessa Rousso- I don’t often play in ladies events because they usually have a fast structure and I gamble a bit too much in the beginning. But I plan to play the PCA (the Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure, which she ended up winning) which has a great structure so I’m excited about that. Paraphrased from a pokercast interview, January 4, 2010
Evelyn Ng: “Even though there is no apparent gender bias inherent in poker tournaments, there is no doubt that women-only events have a totally different feel than open events… it was so wonderful that almost 1,200 women came out to play this year’s Ladies Championship (2008). Many of them were playing their first poker tournament, and perhaps, their experiences at the WSOP will be their gateway into open events in the future. For what it’s worth though, I think that the term ‘Women’s Event’ is much more appropriate than ‘Ladies Event,’” From her bodog blog.
Maria Ho: “I see the ladies events as a very good platform. Some women don’t feel comfortable playing at the same table as men. They feel more comfortable learning with other women. This just gives them the option and I don’t see a problem with that. It’s great for women, which will only be good for the game. The bad thing is that these tournaments are usually crapshoots. The structure is pretty poor. I’m not sure if they don’t feel the need to create a good structure, since we’re just females.” From a pokerpages interview.
If you haven’t guessed by the article title, I am in the Yay camp. Here are seven reasons why:
1. Women poker tournaments are NOT admitting we’re not good enough to play against men. One of the main poker skills is game selection, finding spots where you’re plus EV, accounting for the rake and expenses. You could be the second best poker player in the world, but if all you do is play the best poker player in the world, you’ll go broke eventually. Women’s fields are usually softer especially for equivalent buy-ins (not due to some inherent lack of female poker skill, but due to less exposure). Who would dare tell a man that he shouldn’t play in an event where he had a positive EV at? This line of argument would suggest a male pro who waits desperately for a spot at the table with the drunk businessman is actually admitting his inferiority? That women shouldn’t play in women’s tournaments because it’s degrading strikes me as so anti-poker it’s hard for me to believe that famous poker players espouse this idea. In chess, maximizing EV is not an integral part of the game’s skill, so the argument against segregated tournaments holds up much better. I grappled with the issue in Chess Bitch and went back and forth, but in poker this argument is in a roundabout way, sexist. Women should not be told how to manage their bankrolls in a moralistic, anti-money way—this is poker, not identity politics.
2. Variety of Opposition is a Good Learning Experience: In poker, unlike in chess, it’s good to play against as wide a variety of skill levels and styles as possible. Playing in ladies events may make women more capable of generalizing on how to play against females, which could give them an advantage in mixed competitions.
3. Women who play in Ladies’ Events, Once Knocked out, often play in other events- I always see more women at open events, sit n gos and tables before and after ladies’ events. Check out this hilarious but sad video from the EPT event in Copenhagen, which as far as I know, did not hold a ladies event.
Watch EPT Copenhagen 2010: Where Are The Women? on PokerStars.tv
4. Women's Poker Tournaments are Exciting and Fun- Poker tournaments can get repetitive to the media/boring to the players, so the more types of events you have, the better.
5. Lack of Intimidation for Newbies- Some women may find a ladies' event more fun and comfortable, and a good excuse to come to a major event. Therefore, hosting ladies events has the potential to make poker more balanced and popular. Ladies poker events also allow for targeted promotions.
6. Structures are Often Very Good Value- Contrary to Ho and Rousso's comments above, I've often found that the structures in Ladies' events are a very good deal for the buy-in. For instance, at the Borgata, generally Ladies' tournaments feature the lowest buy-ins of the event, and yet they usually have similar structures to more expensive tournaments. Surely I wouldn't object to even more time for our money, but we have to expect that to some extent, we'll get what we pay for. The Mancession may be reducing the lingering differences between American male and female salaries. Still, it seems like women are generally less likely to risk their life savings on poker. So if the goal is to lure women to major events and balance the male:female ratio, offering prestigious and deep tournaments for less money is a good strategy.
7. Men can Play a Ladies Event If They Really Want to- In the last year, men have won two major ladies' events in Lake Tahoe and Atlantic City. The casinos call the tournaments "ladies' events" and discourage men from participating but for legal reasons, they have no actual intention to prohibit insistent men. Even in these cases, I think it's rude for a dude to play in a women's event and probably not the best way to get a date. But the option is there- when I played last month at the Borgata Winter Ladies Open, there was raucous applause after each of five men were eliminated from the competition. So, at least in Vegas and AC women's tournaments are only segregated by the cultural construct/biological fact of gender (pick your percentages.) Men are free to ignore the gender label of the tournament if they don't mind getting booed.
The arguments above run the gamut from pragmatically self-interested to philosophical, but the antipathy over ladies events is so surprising to me that I had to rant out every reason I could think of. Hope I win tomorrow so in May, I can bring you more thoughts on women's poker tournaments from one of the most expensive places on earth 
A Golden Rule of Homeownership January 20, 2010
Posted by Jennifer in : art, feminism, poker , 1 comment so farA golden rule of homeownership, right next to “no keg parties” is “don’t let a film crew into your house.” I learned the lesson the hard way when filming my latest video art project with DimMak Films. After five minutes of production, a doorknob broke. For the next 14 hours, the cast and crew squeezed between tripods to enter bathrooms, and I hoped not only for good shots, but that the equipment that took up every spare square inch of our house (but somehow never showed up in the shots, hooray!), wouldn’t damage the 100-year-old home I recently bought.
Well, rules are meant to be broken, and I’m really excited about editing and eventually showing this piece. Goldilocks vs. the three bears. Place your bets now.
Forever 29 suited and Beauty Queens Revisited December 19, 2009
Posted by Jennifer in : books, chess, feminism, poker , 2 commentsFake wind blew out my dyed and straightened red hair. My eyes were smokier than they’ve ever been as the photographer told me, “God wanted your hair to be curly.” Indeed, a lot of artifice went into my new website banner, but what did you expect, a drowsy everyday photo of me typing away?
A couple months ago, I was lucky enough to have a portrait session with Suzy Gorman, the same Saint Louis photographer who took glamour shots of participants at the US Women’s Championship. The Gorman photos and some resultant controversy on blogs and forums, reminded me of how difficult it was for me, four years ago, to write Chapter nine in Chess Bitch, European Divas. In the chapter I profiled Antoaneta Stefanova and Alexandra Kosteniuk, two beautiful and accomplished Grandmasters (Kosteniuk became Women’s World Champion and a GM since I wrote Chess Bitch) who took opposite approaches to publicity. Stefanova is very under the radar compared to her accomplishments, while Kosteniuk with few possible exceptions (Kasparov,Carlsen) is the most popular chess player in the world.
I pointed out the pitfalls of celebrating women chessplayers as pinups: It could penalize or scare women away who don’t fit into a certain standard of beauty, or who just don’t feel like posing for glamour photos. On the other hand, emphasizing beautiful chessplayers contradicts the nerdy image of chess that persists. Also, dressing up and posing is fun for many girls and women and attacking that head-on is not my brand of feminism. At the time of writing Chess Bitch, I was ambivalent about all these issues. However, I was sure about the chapter’s conclusion, a line too perfect to cut once conceived and also a great way to test whether my friends actually read Chess Bitch: “Journalists and fans don’t go around commenting on the size of Kasparov’s cock.”
Four years later, the negatives have faded (pun intended here as well). As long as sexy publicity campaigns are high quality and optional, I approve of them more as a journalist and artist than I disapprove as a feminist. Alexandra Kosteniuk said her new book, Diary of a Chess Queen, “It was the 2001 World Championship that made me understand how important it was to work constantly with the press; and since that time I have given a lot of attention to photo shoots and my off-the-board activities. The popularity of chess during the Fischer, Karpov and Kasparov eras can be explained by the outsized personalities of those grandmasters. People who do not play chess aren’t very interested in what novelty Grandmaster N employed on move 40 of the Petroff’s Defense…”
During my own photo session, Bjork was playing, and I found when looking over the photos later, my favorite portraits were those that seemed to be less mimicking sexy face and more like me, or at the very least more like Bjork. For my new website theme I had to jump at the chance to be forever 29 suited. Some of the other photos are too risqué for me to post here, but I do have a new poker/chess themed twitter page and I also added two new galleries on my photos page, on roulette chess and hula chess.
On the subject of the Women’s World Champion, I’m grateful that Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk decided to do her Christmas Goodwill simultaneous in Tucson. When I saw this offer on Kosteniuk’s blog, I knew that Jean and the Tucson 9queens Academy would be a wonderful venue for Kosteniuk. Look for upcoming photos and details of the event on the 9queens blog, Chess Life Online and Kosteniuk’s various websites, including twitter.
I hope everyone has a very happy holiday and if you’re looking for a place to give, please consider donating any amount to 9queens, or read Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn for more ideas.
Love, Jennifer
Hulachess on the news! October 15, 2009
Posted by Jennifer in : art, chess, feminism , 2 commentsWhile promoting the US Women’s Championship in Saint Louis (October 3-13), I appeared on a news station to show them how to hulachess. Hulachess was also installed at the opening ceremony at the Contemporary Art Museum Saint Louis. Irina Krush, Tsagaan Battsetseg and Rusudan Goletiani turned out to be natural chess-hoopers. Catch the full story on the opening festivities here.
Update 11/6/09: Unfortunately, the video below expired 
but I will try to get it re-uploaded. Meanwhile, browse the hulachess photo gallery I compiled.
Hulachess & Yoko Ono at the NYC Duchamp show September 10, 2009
Posted by Jennifer in : art, chess, feminism , 2 commentsThe Marcel Duchamp: The Art of Chess goes from September 10-October 30 at the Francis Naumann Art Gallery in New York. In addition to a collection of Duchamp’s work, contemporary artists will be featured. This will include hulachess and work by Yoko Ono! Check out an excerpt of hulachess, which I created with Daniel Meirom of DimMak Films and a new review of the book (which will be on sale at the gallery opening) in Frieze magazine.
At the gallery opening, I was also honored to get a chance to play against Grandmaster Lev Alburt on Yoko Ono’s famous chess set, "Play it By Trust." Read more about that and see more photos on Chess Life Online.
I’m also excited about the events scheduled for the U.S. Women’s Championship in Saint Louis from October 3-14. I’m the chair of the organizing committee and will be giving live commentary that will be aired on both the official website and the Internet Chess Club. To sign up to watch rounds live or for the events below, go to the U.S. Women’s Championship schedule on the CCSCSL website.
Some of the highlights include a jazz concert on Friday night and a FREE Bounty Blitz tournament on October 3, Saturday afternoon, 2 PM at the Contemporary Art Museum. Bounty tournaments are very popular in poker-a bunch of stars play in a tournament that’s open to all, and anyone who knocks out one of the stars gets a special prize. In this case, prizes will include books, free memberships to the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis and chessboards signed by all the participants of the U.S. Women’s Championships. Sign up directly for any events at this link.
Finally A Game of Chance, will take place on October 14 at the Kemper Museum at Washington University. The game features a merging of roulette and chess that I created with curator Larry List. The idea was inspired by roulette and chess crazed Duchamp’s wish that somehow chess and gambling could meet in the middle. The reigning U.S. Women’s champion, crowned just a day before, will face off against a special guest, and apparently, I will spin the wheel (which will not look at all like the one below). Email me to place sidebets on the knight.
Fundraising Drive for 9queens book and Academies August 19, 2009
Posted by Jennifer in : chess, feminism , 5 comments
After visiting the all girls’ U.S. Chess School at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis that my brother organized, I’m even more convinced of the benefits of 9Queens Academies and more generally, for occasional all girls’ learning in chess and other male-dominated activities.I think women are just as competitive as men, but they feel less comfortable exhibiting it.
A fierce competitive instinct is why I admire the top-rated player in the camp, Denker Champion Abby Marshall so much. She set a great example for the younger (except for 9queens instructor Amanda Mateer) and lower-rated girls at the camp. When I spoke to Abby on the phone before the Denker, she told me she was going to win it! She was ranked 8th going in, but without confidence that her chances were high, would she have any chance at all? I remember being astounded as a young girl when a male International Master friend of mine told me he played every tournament with the intent of winning it. "Even the World Open?" I asked incredulously. "Of course." To my further surprise, another male IM who was with us totally agreed with him. Huge points if you can guess the first International Master I’m talking about. Hint: He doesn’t play actively anymore.
Another positive trend for women’s chess is that currently 10+% of the members of the USCF are women and 5%+ of the adult members are women. I know those numbers don’t sound too exciting, but they are definitely up from when I wrote Chess Bitch. (New membership categories like Family and Youth complicate direct comparisons, but I am working on getting more analysis of the stats.)
Philadelphia 9queens Academies attracted dozens of girls and women for each session last year, and in Tucson, 50+ girls participated in the latest Queens Academy. I urge you to make as small or large a tax deductible donation as you like at this link: https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=24671 If snail-mail is your thing, please send a check to: 9 Queens P.O. Box 41838 Tucson, AZ 85717.
We can’t host 9queens Academies in every city, so I’m particularly excited about a book of women’s chess positions that we’re hoping to produce in time for what I expect to be a hugely inspiring event, the 2009 U.S. Women’s Chess Championship. I am chairing the event, which will take place from October 3-13 at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, and the Saint Louis team is involving the players in a number of community events.
Thanks and I’ll keep you updated on the Academies and the workbooks!
Hulachess Cover and Excerpt July 4, 2009
Posted by Jennifer in : art, chess, feminism , 4 comments.jpg)
Hulachess was just featured on the cover of Chess Life Magazine! Check out an excerpt from the full video, where I played the first ever hulachess match against my childhood friend, professional dancer Gabrielle Revlock. The variations we played were based on a game I analyzed for Marcel Duchamp: The Art of Chess.
Hulachess excerpt from DIM mak films on Vimeo.
Brave Iranian Women June 22, 2009
Posted by Jennifer in : chess, feminism, politics , 5 comments.jpg)
I had a dream last night that I was in Iran and that I left my building without wearing hijab. I felt terrified that I would be caught so I ran around and found a pair of leggings to cover my hair. The dream reminded me I am lucky to have the right to vote, protest, or to wear whatever sort of nail polish I desire, but as a feminist I am connected to those who don’t have the same privileges.
I am moved by the courage of Iranian women who are protesting at the risk of beatings, and even death.
I wonder about the Iranian women’s chess team and Shadi Paridar, who I profiled in Chess Bitch in the chapter "Checkmate Around the World."
Chess is one of the few sports in which Iranian women can compete abroad… (because) wearing hijab is not an impediment to play. When I ask Shadi if she likes wearing hijab, she bursts into…laugher and makes faces at me….When she finally calms down she says sarcastically, "Oh I just love it. I feel like such a star in this outfit. People look at me and know I am from Iran." Then she raises her eyebrows and informs me, "I am very bad at wearing hijab."
I also wonder about the members of the Iranian team who we hung out with in China (Shadi was not there). The Iranians were very strong in China- the men beat the American men in the bronze medal playoffs for the rapid teams and Atousa Pourkashiyan, rated just over 2200 at the time, went on a rampage to defeat a number of WGMs and IMs. Iranian arbiter, Mehrad Pahlevanzadeh who now lives in United Arab Emirates, literally gave me the vest off his back when I suggested that my father would probably love it as a souvenir from the Mind Sport Games. Mehrad also wrote a very smart article on chessbase.com about how if we want to make chess more popular, it is important to play till checkmate.
I hope that Shadi, Atousa, Elshan etc. are all safe and that the revolution will end in a way that’s positive for the Iranian people. And who knows, maybe the next time we meet the Iranian women’s chess team, they will be wearing different outfits.
Recently, I reviewed Shadi Paridar’s games while mining for material for an upcoming 9queens workbook filled with combinations of top women players. You can read a little more about the workbook here. Here’s a puzzle from one of Shadi’s games. I will publish the answer as a comment to this blog post.
Naked Chess April 16, 2009
Posted by Jennifer in : art, chess, feminism , 23 commentsWith Dim Mak Films, I created the following video, in which I play chess against a naked man.
The video was inspired by contributing to a new book I wrote on Marcel Duchamp and chess (buy it here!) and this famous photo of Marcel Duchamp playing against a naked woman.
One great thing about playing against a naked man in chess is that there are no pockets for electronic devices, so you can be absolutely sure he is not cheating.
A few other notes on the video, shot at the new studio, Philadelphia Soundstages:
1. I am wearing a corset. I figured it was only fair to introduce a little nudity into my own outfit.
2. The chess pieces are actually naked chess pieces, borrowed for the shoot from thechesspiece.com. Check out a close up of the beauties.
3. The game from the shoot is based on a Duchamp win over E.Smith, one of the 15 games I analyzed in Marcel Duchamp: The Art of Chess. Contrary to the video, Smith did not play all the way to checkmate; He resigned a couple moves before in a totally lost position.
4. The naked man, Jason Bretz, is nicknamed "Smiley" and I didn’t realize why till after the shoot, as I guess being naked, cold and in a doomed chess position took away some of his natural cheer.
On Tuesday, May 5, there will be a panel discussion on Duchamp’s chess career at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, one day before the art exhibit Marcel Duchamp: Chess Master opens at the Saint Louis University Museum of Art (SLUMA). Joining me on the panel will be Marcel Duchamp: The Art of Chess authors Francis M.Naumann, Dr. Bradley Bailey and Larry List. Larry wrote The Imagery of Chess, Revisited and was a curator for the recent show 32 Pieces in Iceland. Susan Barrett was the mastermind behind getting the event together, and we’re planning some more spectacular art chess events for the Fall. I can only hope that Duchamp would be pleased.
Some stills from the shoot:
St. Patrick’s Day Poker March 25, 2008
Posted by Jennifer in : feminism, poker , 3 comments.jpg)
"That’s great! The first prize should be about half a million dollars!"
I explained to him that he needed to shave off a zero, but he did not believe me, insisting for several minutes that it would indeed be a six figure prize. When he did begin to realize I may be right, he prefered to pretend we had differences of opinion rather than admit his error. My fear of shame defeats my fear of lies too so I can’t really blame him. Who knows? Maybe there are two ways of looking at it.
The math blunder was a great omen for the day, in which all the chips I gained by skill and not luck were based on the inability of my opponents to do basic math. I came in 21st out of 369 players, good for my entry fee back plus 200$. Not a great payday considering that i was trapped in a chair with only cookies and chips to eat for 9+ hours. But it was exciting. And yes, I was mad when i lost with AK on the river to trip sevens. The ladies and the crowd clapped loudly for the 7, but broke into an apologetic, half assed congrats when they realized I’d been stacked. I’m never popular at these things, especially at the end everyone hates me cause I keep saying "all in" and in response I hear a lot of "Why don’t you play poker for a change?" Which brings me to my next point.
One interesting thing about women’s poker tournaments is that the players tend to be very weak in the endgame, when math dominates all other considerations. Take this typical example. I have about 7x the Big Blind plus there are tons of antes. So basically, I’m really short stacked, and my effective stack size is more like 5x the BB. From middle position I push all in. The Big Blind thinks for like two seconds and turns over JJ, and says "RESPECT." OK, for those of you who are not big poker players, JJ is like fifth best hand in poker, and to fold there when I have so few chips is a terrible decision.
As a thinking feminist, I can’t escape the disturbing truth that the majority of women poker players I’ve competed with ignore or mock math. Perhaps women are too often taught to go with their heart, and rely on their "female intuition." Also maybe women are attracted to poker because of the glamour, and it’s not glamorous to calculate pot odds, while trying to gaze into your opponent’s soul IS glamorous? One of these days, I will get to the bottom of it all. Along the way, I will enjoy my beautiful expected value.
