Previously I covered the topic of women playing poker, specifically the question involved women’s only events being setup either by casinos or through women’s only leagues. As different events are run what happens if a male wants to play in a ladies only event? Can the tour director prevent him from playing? Can a casino prevent him from playing?

While tournaments and leagues may set their own policies and rules for participation, they may not violate any state or federal laws. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a federal statute designed to prevent discrimination. It was originally drafted in response to voter registration concerns during the Civil Rights movement. Many states have adopted similar civil rights statutes, many of the statutes use the exact wording and titles of the original Civil Rights Act. In addition to federal or state civil rights statutes there may also be anti-discrimination laws that prevent discrimination based on sex, nationality, religion, or ethnicity.

So now that we have a little background let’s look at the issue of ladies only events in poker. Last year in California the Commerce Casino held the California State Championships and the ladies event had six men who tried to play the event. You may have heard about this because Jose Canseco was one of the men who wanted to play. The tournament director had no choice but to allow the men to play even though it was a ladies only event. If the tournament had tried to prevent men from playing it would probably have been a violation of discrimination laws. If the casino itself had tried to prevent men from playing the event, then that action would probably be discriminatory as well. To prevent participation based on gender would have violated the California Civil Rights Act. In addition the Commerce Casino is probably considered a public accommodation and subject to Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Ladies “only” events, depending on how they are setup and where, are probably not legal. If men want to play they should probably be allowed to participate. If they are not allowed to it is likely discriminatory and could leave the poker tournament or casino on the wrong end of the legal stick.