Women Go All In

by Zoe Braxton

Poker, as we all know, is a metaphor for life. The combination of skill and luck, the ups and downs, the constant hold 'em or fold 'em dilemma, the chance to rise from the lowest depths, and danger of falling from the top and losing everything with one false move. Do you know any other game that has these existential qualities? With these parallels between poker and life in mind, the astonishing growth in the popularity of poker among women must be seen as more than just a statistical trend. After years of male dominance and discrimination, women (in western countries that is) are closer than ever before in HIStory to fully participate in the game of life, and play it to win it. More and more women reach top positions in business, politics, the academic world, the arts, and any other field that's worth their time and energy. Recent reports from major online poker rooms indicate that today's women regard poker as a new world worth exploring. A year ago, only 10 of online poker players were women. Today, one out of four online players is a woman. This phenomenal growth has led us to create www.FemmePoker.com - the first poker portal for women. With less than a dozen female players participating in the 2005 WSOP, professional female poker players are still as rare as a royal flush. Most women still feel uncomfortable in the testosterone-fueled environment of live poker. This, hopefully, will change in the next few years when more and more poker playing women will join female poker pros like Annie Duke, Jennifer Harman, Cyndi Violette or Kathy Liebert. Meanwhile, online poker is ideal for women, as the dramatic jump in online female players shows.Online poker offers more than an adrenaline rush and the chance to join men and, hopefully, beat them. Playing poker can increase women's assertiveness, improve their social and business skills, and teach them important life lessons. A recent Time.com article about the growing female poker trend stresses that poker "...teaches how to think strategically and size up the competition and the risk-reward ratio of each situation swiftly and objectively." The article also argues that though most women play less aggressively than men, they have distinct advantages. Women are more cautious, disciplined and patient than men. Over time women show more improvement. Women are more familiar with the male mind, rather than the other way around. And of course, the famous female intuition is an important asset when it comes to the psychological aspects of poker.Thus, being a woman is a good start. If you are one, and you're intrigued by poker, all you have to do is choose the right online poker room, find the variant that suits you best, master your game, and have fun playing the world's most exciting game.

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