Women in Esports Tournament Starting Tonight

The following information comes from The Esports Observer:

Women in leading roles from Team Liquid, Evil Geniuses, G2 Esports, and Dignitas, will square off against each other in a poker tournament organized by Poker Powher and Alienware Arena to benefit charity. According to organizers, the event highlights the “importance of female representation” in esports and professional poker.

The tournament will feature Evil Geniuses CEO Nicole LaPointe Jameson, Dignitas VP of Talent Heather ‘SapphiRe’ Garozzo, Australian Twitch star and Team Liquid member Fasffy, and G2 Esports Head of Talent Britanni Johnson.

“Women in positions of capital allocation who are empowered and skilled in making risk-assessment decisions are unfortunately scarcely in business leadership,” LaPointe Jameson told The Esports Observer. “Poker Powher ‘flips the table’ by making these skills accessible through a social and competitive game, and is an important initiative to support — both through this tournament and in EG’s DEI initiatives.”

“The organizers behind this event, who are almost all women at Team Liquid, began planning it as part of our Women’s History Month celebration because we wanted to do more than just recognize women in esports,” said Cris Amaya, head of events at Team Liquid. “We wanted to find a platform where we could unite women from across the biggest orgs, and showcase their influence on our industry. It was a natural fit for us to partner with Poker Powher, because poker and esports pros face the same challenge: the games we love and work in are often not welcome to us as women. While we can’t change that by ourselves, we can start by joining together, supporting one another, and becoming a stronger voice than we have alone.”

The two-day tournament will also feature commentary from professional poker veterans Melanie Weisner, Gillian Epp, Xuan Liu, and Alexandra “Doc” Chauran. An advanced player competition will take place on March 25 at 6 p.m. EST, while a beginners’ game will take place on March 26 at 1 p.m. EST. Both games will be streamed live on Poker Powher’s Twitch channel.

Poker Powher is a company that advocates for teaching women the fundamentals of poker and the game’s transferable lessons to life and work through a global network of clubs, tournaments, and corporate events for women by women.” Participants will be playing for a charity of their choice.

“Everyone coming together for the Women in Esports Charity Poker Tournament knows that poker and esports are so much more than games: each hand or match requires critical thinking, determination, and skill, “Erin Lydon, Managing Director & GM at Poker Powher tells TEO. “At Poker Powher, we are on a mission to not only invite more women to the poker table, but also to educate our students on why this game is a game-changer for learning how to make better decisions in school and business and life.” 

Weisner, strategic adviser to Poker Powher and one of the commentators for the “advanced players” portion of the competition, explained why she wanted to be a part of this event: “Poker is an incredibly exciting arena, but being a woman in it has come with its challenges. Often, I’m the only woman at the poker table and have to deal with other players objectifying, patronizing, or dismissing me. Even though poker and esports only require your hands and mental skill, women are vastly underrepresented in both. I’m incredibly proud to come together with women who have found a voice in gaming for this event and get more women at the poker table.”