let's say as many women as men played online poker cash games and also the number of online pro's was equal between sexes. would the men still strongly dominate the elite stakes (top 100 or would women do it? or would it be equal?

I voted for equal. Going by what happened at last year's WSOP, where two lady players literally bubbled the Main Event final table, you have to realize how significant an accomplishment that was - especially when you consider that what, (less than five percent?), of the entire WSOP field was female. When you have poker's most celebrated event and women players are going very deep - despite being massively outnumbered - that tells you the days of male domination are numbered. Unlike other forms of competition where physical strength and "big muscles" make the difference, in poker everybody's brain is approximately the same size. Men don't have an inherent advantage (over women) in that respect.

I have no idea what the male-to-female ratio is in online poker, but once the percentages begin evening out and women are playing in equal proportions to men, it's inevitable that women will win their fair share of the top prizes. Heck, they might even (slightly) outdo the men!

I think women would do well, but men would probably still be overrepresented at the elite level:

- I'm not super familiar with the studies, but I know that some research has indicated that in certain tests of mathematical ability, men are overrepresented at both the high and low extremes while women tend to cluster around the middle. Average performance is similar among the groups, but males are more likely to be the outliers. I think a similar dynamic could play out wrt poker skill.

- Even for two equally talented players, there might be certain socio-cultural reasons why a woman would be less likely to play in the highest stakes games. I'm obviously speaking in broad stereotypes here, but I have a feeling that a higher percentage of good female players would be more willing to settle into a comfortable grind than to run around the world chasing nosebleed action. So, again, I think men might continue to be overrepresented in Super High Rollers and stuff like that.

Of course, it's hard to project what would happen, because I imaging that true numerical parody would also be accompanied by some other cultural and social changes that could impact some of my assumptions.

If women were allowed to drive, would there be as many female drivers on the road as men and would they be as good?