Quote:
Originally Posted by Joan
How do you think players view a non passing transgender woman at the table?
This question is so general, it's really hard to provide a helpful answer.
What part of the country do you live in? I'm in San Francisco, probably one of the most progressive places in the country in terms of transgender acceptance.
And when you say players, well, there are millions, if not tens of millions, of poker players in the country, so it's really hard to generalize about how they might respond.
Also, other than the fact that you're a non-passing transgender woman, what's your personality and playing style like? That would have a lot to do with how strangers respond to you in a public setting, I'm sure.
I've played many times with someone who I think is a non-passing transgender woman, in a low-stakes Omaha game. She's a fish in that game, but her fishiness doesn't have anything to do with her gender identity. (She's a fish because she plays too many hands and doesn't know when she's beat and needs to fold.) Other players accept her as a regular. I've never heard anyone say anything mean or insulting to her; we want her in the game.
I suspect if you bring a chill and friendly attitude to a casino, you'll get a chill and friendly response from most people. Of course, many gamblers are miserable because they're losing, but that's not really a response to you.
Finally, I'm not sure I agree with your stereotypes about how men react to cis women at the poker table. I don't soft-play women, and I don't tilt more when a woman beats me. Some men might do one or both of those things, but you can't generalize that to all men.
One of the things I like about the poker table is how egalitarian it is. You'll find all ages, all ethnicities, all genders (or gender identities), all sexual orientations, all socioeconomic and educational backgrounds—but we're all accepted because we have something important in common: we all love (or are addicted to) poker. So come in and give it a try.
Good luck.