Thick Skinned Poker Player – September 18th, 2009

65-year-old Abraham Korotki has a thicker skin – or more courage – than most, entering the $300 buy-in Ladies Event at Borgata in Atlantic City and going on to win the $20 892 main prize despite the cool reception he received.

The event was clearly billed as a woman’s event, but Korotki’s registration went unnoticed by the organisers until it was too late to do anything about it. The wily 65-year-old has subsequently claimed that at least five other males were into the action – presumably not in drag – indicating some organisational tightening up may be necessary.

Tourney staffers said that they hoped that people would respect the spirit of the Ladies Only nature of such tournaments, but pointed out that there is nothing they can do legally to exclude males who register to play. The reason? New Jersey gaming laws and a federal statute forbid discrimination during poker tournaments.

It’s not as if males are deprived of tournament action at the Borgata, which apparently offers 49 tournaments that are not specifically devoted to women players during its Poker Open series.

Korotki proved to be a hard man in the heads up with Nicole Rowe, who offered to split the remaining prize money to help her pay the bills during recuperation from recent surgery. He refused, going on to take the main prize and leaving Rowe with a second placing reward of almost $12 000.

Adding salt to the wounds of both organisers and women players, Korotki is reported on the Borgata bog to have publicly said: “The ladies played very well and it’s always nice for the weaker sex to have a victory.”

Perhaps it was conscience or personal damage control, but the abrasive Korotki said he would donate his winnings to charity. It is not clear whether this was actually done.