A singular payout construction in an upcoming Japan Open Poker Tour occasion for ladies has drawn criticism. Organizers will award condoms and lube to the highest three winners of the Tokyo occasion.
The ¥30,000 ($190) Ladies Championship will kick off Oct. 12, with Japanese condom producer Sagami sponsoring the occasion.
The tour posted on X/Twitter that the occasion is “challenging women players with fun and respect.” The firm added that Sagami “has continued to create products for women and loving couples, supports the journey and the challenges of women players.”
Supporting Women?
Surprisingly, there seems to be no money prize for high finishers. Instead, the winner will apparently obtain jewellery and different merchandise.
Sagami stated it’s going to function its branding all through the event space. It will arrange cubicles the place gamers can pattern its merchandise. The model additionally boasts a feminine founder, Saku Matsukawa. She established a small manufacturing facility and commenced manufacturing and selling Japan’s first latex condom in 1934.
In asserting the event sponsorship, the corporate stated it “will support all female players who take on challenges.”
Criticism On Social Media
The event prizes introduced criticism on social media. A person named @whitezexy was one of many first to touch upon the condom conundrum and felt the sponsorship missed the mark in selling the sport to ladies.
“It’s a tournament meant to broaden the base of female players, yet they’re handing out massive quantities of sex products to the top three women,” whitezexy posted. “Honestly, it simply seems like they’re treating the winners not as ‘players’ however as sexual beings.
“Did really no one stop this prize list? The recipients’ names and photos are going to be announced publicly, so did anyone even once imagine how these women would feel receiving this? Going out of their way to prepare up to L-size feels like nothing but a sleazy design that invites people to speculate about the winners’ private lives and partners.”
Poker participant and YouTuber Joey Ingram appeared stunned at what many may contemplate odd prizes for a ladies’s event.
“So they buy in for real money and there are no cash payouts?” he posted. “Only payouts in condom and lube?”
One X/Twitter poster merely labeled the promotion as “insane.” ACR Poker crew professional Svitlana Dryha added: “This might be the worst possible way to say ‘we support women in poker’ and then announce condoms as prizes.”
Not everybody, nevertheless, thought the prizes have been out of line. One X/Twitter person supported the sponsorship and praised the corporate’s efforts to help ladies.
Other Women’s Event Controversies
Similar efforts to supply distinctive environments for ladies’s occasions have drawn criticism previously. In 2019, the Battle of Malta featured topless males as sellers. While some discovered the surroundings amusing, others felt the transfer was demeaning.
In 2023, a person gained a girls occasion in South Florida, which was criticized on the time.
Some feminine gamers don’t imagine female-only tournaments truly develop the sport.
“I would like to see the promotion of poker in a way that’s toward men and women,” Kristen Foxen advised Card Player in 2024. “But apart from that, I feel it’s a little bit bizarre to say issues like, ‘we need more women in poker,’ or ‘we need ladies events to get more women in poker.’ I don’t assume it really works.
“Overall, I think that a real message to women should be that poker is the one sport where men and women can compete on an equal playing field.”
