The US can claim to be the birthplace of two sports; baseball and poker. Achieving diversity in both of “America’s games” was slow in coming, but surprisingly true diversity in poker did not really begin until around 2003.
Unlike baseball, poker did not have a Black League or All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Additionally, few kids started playing pick-up poker when they were pre-teens.
Professional poker has always been the bastion of older white males. The Poker Hall of Fame reflects the games historical makeup; of the 48 members, two are Asian (Johnny Chan and Scotty Nguyen) and two are female (Barbara Enright and Linda Johnson). Chan, Nguyen, and Enright were elected due to their poker playing skills, while Johnson earned her membership due to her journalistic contributions to poker as well as her long-standing ambassadorship for the game.
Many factors contributed to poker’s lack of diversity.
The stereotype of poker players huddled around a table in a smoke filled backroom is fairly accurate to the game’s history; it was in such an environment that many players learned the game. Robberies and unscrupulous players were fairly common. This deterred many women from playing the game. Legendary player Doyle Brunson once said that women didn’t belong in poker. Brunson eventually changed his viewpoint and even won one of his 10 World Series of Poker Bracelets with a female partner. He said that his original views grew out of his upbringing and his respect for women; he didn’t see a room full of crass and sometimes unsavory men, as a place for women.
The lack of black players can be viewed from several perspectives. Many of the early professional players made their livings as road gamblers, and the Southern US was one of the main circuits. It must be pointed out that poker players as a rule are among the most egalitarian people in the world. However, the games were generally made up of white players simply due to social conventions of the time.
Other players learned the game in casinos, which were segregated in Las Vegas until the 1960s (with The Moulin Rouge being an exception; the casino, which operated for a short time in 1955, was fully desegregated). There were also fewer poker rooms in the city at that time. California’s card rooms were also smaller in the early days of legalized poker in the state and were more neighborhood games than full blown cardrooms. Most were in predominantly white sections.
The Catalyst of Change
Three key events have led to the true diversification of poker: the internet, the hole card cam, and the 2003 World Series of Poker Main event championship win by Chris Moneymaker.
Moneymaker, prior to his victory, was an accountant in Tennessee and a recreational player. He won his seat to the $10,000 buy-in WSOP Main Event by playing in a $40 buy-in online satellite on PokerStars. His victory in the event over a field of more than 800 predominately professional players was worth $2.3 million. The next year, the Main Event grew to over 2,000 entries and the event has grown ever since.
Internet poker started in its current form in the late 1990s. After Moneymaker’s win, the number of players learning the game online jumped dramatically. With few geographic restrictions, the online sites provided a convenient place to play the game at any time. They also featured free-to-play and very low stakes games, which made them very attractive to the novice player.
The hole card cam made poker a spectator sport. While the WSOP has been shown on television for decades, the broadcasts initially had very limited appeals since viewers seldom saw the players’ cards. The hole card cameras allowed viewers to see how the hands were played and provided a way for commentators to explain the game and the strategy to viewers. Suddenly televised poker became a big deal with games on ESPN, Bravo, The Travel Channel, NBC and others.
Players and Institutions that are Fueling Diversity in Poker
Probably three of the most influential African-American poker players in the earlier 2000s were Phil Ivey, David Williams, and Paul Darden.
One of the players that viewers were introduced to via television was Phil Ivey. Ivey was the subject of frequent player profiles and discussion by the commenters on televised poker broadcasts. The attention paid to Ivey had nothing to do with race; he garnered a lot of attention because he is considered by many fellow professionals and the media to be the best all-around poker player in the world. His personality coupled with his skill has made him a fan favorite and has inspired players of both genders and all races to enter the game.
Paul Darden also received a great deal of coverage in the early days of televised poker. Darden is primarily a cash game player so does not receive the same level of exposure as Ivey. Darden’s checkered background includes rap music promoter and night club owner and he credits poker for helping him get his life on track. Darden’s table demeanor is slightly more animated that Ivey’s and was often used as an example of how poker can be fun.
David Williams, at 30 years old, was one of the new breed of poker players. He perfected his game in games in Dallas, TX and online. His lifetime tournament winnings are approaching $9 million.
Ivey, Willams, and Darden, while instrumental in the growth of diversity in poker, were not the only driving force.
Industry leader PokerStars has done a great deal to encourage and promote diversity. Aside of being the world’s largest poker site, PokerStars is a major force in the live tournament arena in addition to working with casinos in the UK and Macau to establish and promote live cash games. Made up of both male and female pros from all over the globe, their Team PokerStars roster of sponsored players not only shows their commitment to diversity, but also fairly accurately represents the face of poker today.
The number of female players has also been steadily growing. Many sociologists have suggested the online poker has been a major factor in the growth of female poker players as the games provide a gender neutral place for women to learn the game.
Televised poker has again provided role models and encouraged diversity as players have seen women like Vanessa Rousso, Liv Boeree, Vanessa Rousso, and Gaelle Baumann succeed in the poker world. With the exception of Baumann, who fell just short of becoming the first female player at the WSOP final table since Barbara Enright in 1995, all of these players have earned several million dollars playing poker (Baumann’s earnings are just over three-quarters of a million).
Asian players have a long-standing passion for gambling and have proven to be skilled poker players as well. Here, it is the internet that is helping to develop diversity and to provide role models for Asian players. PokerStars recently signed two Asian players to sponsorships; Aditya Agarwal from India, and Kosei Ichinose from Japan. Both are highly respected in the poker world and both have built their reputations online as casino play is limited, or totally absent, in their own home countries.