The 22nd event of the 2021 World Series of Poker is called the $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Championship. It started on Monday, and a total of 644 players applied for it. However, what made this year’s Ladies Event different is the fact that there was one male contender — Tom Hammers.
Hammers wanted to raise money for important causes, which is why he took that step to enrol in the ladies’ real money poker event.
Legally speaking, the tournament cannot bar male contenders from entering the event. However, women get a 90% discount on the buy-in and have to pay $1,000 to take part in it, which means men would have to pay $10,000. That’s exactly what Tom Hammers did. In addition to him, his wife and daughter also took part in this event, although they paid the discounted price.
Hammers claimed that they hadn’t decided which charity the money go to if he won, yet he was certain that he wanted to split the money between two things. He aimed to help a battered women’s shelter and homeless women. All in all, his aim was to help women in general by donating all his proceeds from the event — if he won any.
Unfortunately, Hammers failed to make it to the money bubble. In fact, he busted two hours into the tournament, and his elimination was nowhere close to the money bubble.
Still, Hartmann was eager to discuss his involvement in the ladies’ event, saying that his friend Tony Hartmann suggested him that. The two of them discussed the idea and concluded that it would be a great charity move as many abused and homeless women need help, and there was no better event to raise that issue than the ladies’ event.
Hammers’ Move Applauded
If a man decides to play at an all-ladies event, that would be a very frowned-upon move. However, Hammers received a different vibe from other contenders due to his motive to take part in the event. Even when he lost all of his chips, the women who remained in the game greeted him with cheers.
Still, the ladies followed the tradition of standing up and celebrating a male player’s demise in the ladies’ event.
Tom Hammers was definitely not the only player to take part in this event. In 2009, Abraham Korotki won a buy-in worth $300 for the ladies’ event in AC at the Borgata Poker Open. He even managed to win the event, but his fellow competitors weren’t exactly thrilled about that. On the other hand, no male poker player ever managed to win the WSOP ladies’ event.
Still, even Hammers’ charity run wasn’t really accepted by all-female poker players, as some social media poker fans criticized him for his move.
The debate on whether a man should compete in a ladies’ event is still raging. While some claim they are welcome, the majority think that the event should belong to the ladies alone, and no male should take part in it. What do you think?