HOLLYWOOD, FLORIDA — A Florida man won first place in a women’s poker tournament last month, raking home thousands in cash and triggering a wave of social media reactions.
David Hughes, 70, earned over $5,500 for defeating his competition at the Ladies No-limit Hold’em on April 29 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Hughes, who lives in Deltona, bested 82 women to claim first place.
Florida gambling laws prohibit casinos from banning men entry into events marketed to women.
Playing the @WPT ladies event today, and Dave here is the only man. (Filmed w/permission!)
— Ebony Kenney | Poker & Purposeful Pleasure (@Ebony_Kenney) April 29, 2023
While we appreciate the dead money, I really wish men would get what these events stand for.
So I put a $300 bounty on his head and Tamra & Noah Piderit matched it. 🥳🥳
Let’s get him. pic.twitter.com/dXVZVlriAP
SOCIAL MEDIA REACTIONS
Abby Merk finished third in the tournament and tweeted her displeasure with Hughes after the event.
got 3rd in the ladies event!! didn’t run well when it mattered. gg to all the ladies. and to the man that won it? don’t do that again
— Abby Merk (@abbypoker34) April 30, 2023
Professional poker player Charlie Carrel called Hughes’ victory “hilarious” – adding that it “does speak loudly to the insanity that's playing out on a larger scale.”
“It pokes fun at the idea that anybody can identify as a woman and be allowed to enter women's spaces,” Carrel wrote in a tweet. “It's a real issue that people are taking advantage of in many different areas, including sports, prisons, and changing areas.”
In responding to the news, many people mocked common refrains coined by the LGBTQ movement.
One Twitter user quipped: “Maybe Dave identifies as a female have you thought of that.”
“Stunning and brave,” read another one of the most popular responses.
“It’s weird but whatever,” tweeted one woman. “It’s not a physical game. If it was then I’d be pissed … maybe trying to prove a point, who knows. I wonder if he would have worn a wig/lipstick and ‘identified’ as a woman would the same ppl be upset?”
One man wrote: “Sums up 2023 pretty well in my opinion.”
