Quote:
Originally Posted by GuitarDean
I half agree with this, but not fully. Most poker players are recreational players there for a fun time; very very few players are trying to make steady money; and amongst those very very few are trying to live off poker money. For 99% of people, playing poker is not a career choice, it's an entertainment choice.
So yes, there's nothing stopping a woman from being an MMA fighter or jet pilot or professional poker player, but just like most men would not find Zumba class an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon (although some do and great for those guys), I think the game of poker just naturally appeals to more men than women. Some reasons I've heard:
Poker is slightly social but really more of a solo introvert game, and men are on average more introverted than women. Men are on average more competitive than women, and poker does have a machismo competition feel to it. And when a venue is already dominated by 1 gender, it often seems to attract more of that gender and repel the other, unless you're specifically there to meet the opposite sex ;-)
Well, to use your words, I half agree with this, but not fully.
I am an introvert, but I like being part of a community as a way to meet people. I got a lot of votes for shyest boy in my high school class, and some who watched the voting say that I came in second.
In high school I was in band and choir and I ran track and cross-country. That automatically made me a part of several teams and I made a lot of friends that way--but I was way to shy to ever just walk up to a girl and introduce myself.
I thought that I would make friends in the poker community, especially playing in a local room, and I would like to, but it hasn't worked out that way. When I have played live I've had a 5-minute break every hour or a ten-minute break every 1.5 hours. After going to the bathroom, getting some food or whatever else is required, that not much time for an introvert to get to know someone.
That said, being an introvert isn't going to stop me from playing poker. I am very goal-oriented and I won't let someone get in the way of my goals. I will simply not respond to an obnoxious and/or drunk and/or abusive player. He or she can insult my wife and I don't care. I'm not there to defend my family's honor, I'm there to bring home the money. I refuse to tilt.
I do agree that men are more competitive. I've done some reading on this subject, and boys get in trouble in school much more often then girls. This is partly because women in general are better at cooperating and working in groups, but men want to win or get the attention. You rarely hear about a girl being the class clown.
To put in another way, men are more like Michael Jordan. They want to score 50 points and be the hero of the game. Women are more like LeBron James. They like to distribute the ball and make the other players better.
As for Zumba class, I have no interest in that. I also have no interest in paying for "spinning" or any of the other stupid classes in a gym. I can ride a bicycle without help. I ran a marathon after reading Runner's World magazine and drawing up my own training plan. No running partners (though I would have liked to have one) no coaching, just a plan and a stopwatch on my wrist.
Make plan, follow plan, win. That's how I approach just about any situation.