A blog post I wrote about about this when it first came out that got come interesting
comments:
Recently, Annette Obrestad said:
“It’s easy money… I’ve always said that girls suck at poker. I say that because they do. Maybe they just aren’t as competitive and don’t try to learn from their mistakes.”
Someone please get this girl an interview coach! What she should have said, and a statement I would whole-heartedly agree with is “Most women suck at poker…but so do most men!” I don’t think that she actually meant that every girl sucks at poker, but that is one reason to be extremely careful what you say.
Stereotypes obviously hurt many people around the world every day, so it is incomprehensible that she would even include herself in the statement, since she doesn’t say “except me”… so she is saying that she sucks at poker too.
Additionally, I find it sad that Annette would be so aloof that she would insult every single female supporter hers (let alone countless males). But if she wants to underestimate women, then I plan to take full advantage if I run into her at the WSOP. I used to think that we had to fight the stereotype that women poker players suck just against men, but I suppose that is a stereotype in it of itself.
The funny things is that since only a small percent of poker players are women, there are almost assuredly more men (in terms of counting them individually) that are weak players than women!
In the same interview, she also delivered a blow to the biggest legend in poker, Doyle Brunson.
“Online players process information so much faster and don’t let their egos get in the way of becoming a better player. No disrespect to Doyle, but I’d rather play him.”
I strongly disagree with the implication that online players have smaller egos than live players. Some of the most arrogant people I know are the guys that chase the monthly table leaderboard on stars—grinding online close to 18 hours a day and then bragging about it like some sort of poker martyr. One of them in particular had a 25k game break-even stretch that certainly points to his ego getting in the way of improving.
It is a good point that our egos can get in the way of becoming a better player though.
The moral of the story here is that precise language is important, especially when the audience of what you’re saying is enormous, like it is for ESPN. There is the remote possibility that Annette did this for the publicity—which her statements have received, in the form of a large 2+2 thread, articles, and twitter responses. (Perhaps the most colorful one came from DougLeePoker, who tweeted “@Annette_15 You really seem like a pompous b****. Could you be more arrogant please?”)
Most likely Annette didn’t realize exactly what she was saying, and how offensive it was. I suggest she take her own advice and try to learn from her mistake.