Leveling Victory Poker May 4, 2010
Posted by Jennifer in : feminism,poker , trackbackVictory Poker is hosting a contest, or to be more precise, reality TV show auditions, for a grand prize of $100,000 in tournament entries and a high-rolling Las Vegas life. The contest is explicitly geared toward males. Take this excerpt from the rules:
After testing your abilities and going through some fun challenges (taking a playmate out on a date, getting hunted by Blitz in paintball, going heads up against Paul Wasicka in poker, or being able to hang with Antonio at the club), it finalizes down to one person who’s (sic) life will be changed.
The fantasy: An online poker millionaire may have zits and an imperfect body but with a large enough bankroll and a propensity toward sunk costs & good times, he can be transported to a land of silicon, luxury watches and high stakes sushi. For instance, a quote from the very visible CEO, Dan Fleyshman in a Victory promo vid, “Nobody is going to go out there and do what we do. They’re not going to coin flip for dinner every time, they’re not going to go Tao and spend $10,000.” is complemented by a quote from playmate Sara Jean Underwood in another video “I think poker players are absolutely sexy. It involves money and what about money isn’t sexy?”, and then we see Antonio Esfandiari draped in bikini clad models insisting, “I”m on the clock.”
Victory Poker’s sole female pro is the aforementioned Sara Jean Underwood, 2007 Playmate of the Year.
The two leading American online cardrooms, pokerstars and fulltilt sponsor female players with proven poker successes. For instance, pokerstars female pros include Vanessa Rousso and Katja Thater. Jennifer Harman is on Team fulltilt while the ink is still wet on sweet-faced but lethal Internet phenom Annette Obrestad’s FT contract. Obviously, looks and style factor somewhat into any site’s sponsored players but for stars and tilt, it’s clearly not the primary criteria.
Although I have no intention of trying out, I had to find out if this VP reality show was a dudes only affair, and if not, if they were primarily seeking out those with hot measurements or hot poker stats.
I was in luck. There is a sponsored victory poker forum on 2+2 so I got rapid responses from members of the VP team to both of my questions below.
Question #1-
Do you have any plans to market to women? I noticed the video contest link today and it doesn’t seem geared toward ladies. Maybe you could sub the watch for a handbag if a woman wins? Also, a woman will obv crush the date with a playmate challenge so you’d probably have to figure out a way to even the playing field there- Jenium
Response from Victory Poker CEO Dan Fleyshman:
Jenium: I do market to women in different ways. I sponsor ladies events and actively support the LIPS Poker Tour for women. If a woman wins, she would still receive a watch, just a ladies edition instead! There are 18 male poker players on my team that a lady can choose for the date challenge : )
I agree with you, we’ve thought about it many times and there will be easy adjustments made to suit the ladies that make it as one of the final 25 contestants.
It’s great that Fleyshman sponsors women’s poker tournaments but not sure about the parallels here. A watch for poker players is obviously not to tell time, but to display your bankroll and inspire envy. A better corollary for women would be a collection of Louboutins. As for the men to choose from, nothing against Team VP members but if you want a male answer to Underwood, wouldn’t this be more appropriate?
Not that he’s my type or anything, just making a point 
Question #2
Does a woman need a certain cup size to apply or is that something that she could work on improving during the competition?-Jenium
Response from Victory Poker sponsored pro, Keith Gipson:
We’re looking for a good poker player who gels with us. You’re gonna have to be smart and cool. Cup size is not gonna play a role as far as I’m concerned. But, Executive Producer is, in fact, the executive producer. So, a lot of what goes down will rest with him.
So there you go, cup sizes are not relevant to at least one member of the VP team.
But seriously, if Victory pros are so good at poker, why are they so simple to level? Eassssy game.
Comments
The only cup size that matters to me is the one my beer goes into. Pint please!