Why all the hostility to Tiffany Williamson?

[betgo]

attempted strategy post on Tiffany Williams on WPT forum
I made the mistake of trying to post strategy on the WPT forum. I should have posted this on the MTT forum where I usually post.

Lots of responses as to how she is a moron etc. Probably from people who could never make the 2nd table at the WSOP no matter how lucky they got, much less graduate from Columbia Law School.

I was wondering why so much hostility. Maybe partly because she was portrayed as a bitch and an idiot in the TV coverage. Also, maybe people who have not been successful at poker or life resent someone who apparently got very lucky. I think accusation of racism are way overdone these days, but I wonder if people resent success from a black woman.

[JustToast]

I think the hostility is directed towards players who take FOREVER to play their awful cards and make awful plays. Race and gender have zero to do with it, Tiffany is just the new face of being a bad player who kills a card game.

She was widely covered in the press as being slow to make decisions. That's fact.

And yeah, I think its great that a donk got lucky and made it that far in the tournament. If poker didn't have an element of luck, most of these donators wouldn't play the game.

I don't think race or sex has anything to do with it. I just think that taking 20 minutes to fold KJs to an all-in bet is ridicules. It is true that the ESPN broadcast didn't help her much, but I still think she represents all the lucky fish that call you on-line with a J3 because it is suited and outdraw your AA.

So white, black, green or yellow, man, woman, or 50/50 she is the lucky donkey that makes you hate the game.

[revots33]

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I was wondering why so much hostility. Maybe partly because she was portrayed as a bitch and an idiot in the TV coverage.

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I think you answered your own question.

Race/gender has nothing to do with it. There's just as much hostility on the WPT boards for Joe Stillman, another player who was portrayed as an idiot on espn's coverage. On any heavily edited reality show, people's opinions will be based on what moments the producers choose to show. She may be a very nice woman in regular life but her "character" presented on the tv show was extremely annoying.

[ QUOTE ]
I think the hostility is directed towards players who take FOREVER to play their awful cards and make awful plays. Race and gender have zero to do with it, Tiffany is just the new face of being a bad player who kills a card game.

She was widely covered in the press as being slow to make decisions. That's fact.



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I might ALSO ask, if people were sooo upset with her taking sooo long, why NO ONE is blaming the table she was playing at, hmm?

I mean ANYONE at that table, can call a clock on someone at ANY time. If they didn't do so, then it is THEIR fault, and kudo's to Tiffany, for taking advantage of THEM not calling the clock on her! I mean after all, isn't it part of poker to use EVERY advantage your opponent gives to you, and use it AGAINST THEM, hmmm?

Thus if people are ticked off because she took too long to make a decision, then the table she was playing on at the time, SHOULD be held in EQUAL blame for NOT calling a clock on her (sooner).

I think, especially given the fact, that Tiffany played poker for LESS than a year when she played in the WSOP main event, that she did pretty damm good if you ask me.

Plus, to even GET there, she had to win at least TWO OTHER tournements to get her seat in the main event.

How many players do YOU all know, who played for less than a year, against over 5600 players in the Main WSOP Main event, made it as far as Tiffany did, hmm?

If there were any, I don't see ANYONE bitching about THEM or THEIR play in the WSOP Main event!

Tiffany, you did pretty damm good if you ask me, and there are MANY of us, who are proud of you and your accomplishment! I look forward to playing with/against you someday! (insert thumbs up smiley here)

[4_2_it]

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I look forward to playing with/against you someday! (insert thumbs up smiley here)

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So do most of the posters on this board [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

BTW - The reason no one called for a clock is becuase it was obvious to everyone else at the table that her opponent had a monster. It was also apparent that she was totally out of her league. I think letting her stew and overthink all her decisions was the right play. Another factor is the small chance that it might put the pro who went all-in (drawing a blank here) on tilt, which would benefit the other pros at the table.

I would be very interested in hearing Fossilman's opinion on this.

[TomCollins]

It has nothing to do with editing. Anyone who was there will say that shes actually been portrayed BETTER on tv than she was in reality.

[VoraciousReader]

[ QUOTE ]
I was wondering why so much hostility. Maybe partly because she was portrayed as a bitch and an idiot in the TV coverage. Also, maybe people who have not been successful at poker or life resent someone who apparently got very lucky. I think accusation of racism are way overdone these days, but I wonder if people resent success from a black woman.

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I am no psychologist, but here are my thoughts:

1. Jealousy because whatever else she may have done, she probably won 10X as much money in the WSOP as many people do in their entire poker careers.

2. Irrational defense of the "group". I personally didn't get this one, but it seems many people interpreted her asking for a chip count on Raymer as disrespectful or accusatory. Since many 2p2ers feel that Fossilman is one of our own, it seems some have circled wagons around him. She is getting treated like an outsider attacking a family member.

3. That forum is pretty much hostile most of the time anyway. Most of us are good at deceiving ourselves about how well and rapidly we would really play under the pressure of the WSOP ME and television cameras and thousands of dollars on the line. Even a 1.5 years after Moneymaker won, there were still a great many posts about how much he sucked at poker. Ms. Williamson is an easy target this year because she played very slowly, and because she was very visible as the only woman to get that far into the money.

4. I don't think gender is a complete non-factor here. Boys have never taken well to losing to girls, and when the girl seems to get lucky repeatedly at a game that is historically their purview, they take it even worse. I do think this is the lowest contributing factor, though.

I personally don't think Williamson should lose any sleep over the random hostilities of an internet poker forum. She can console herself with her nice payday and a story she can dine out on for years.

[SpaceAce]

Lord, this is a fantastically asinine post. Tiffany Williamson takes twelve minutes to make every little decision, slowing the game to a crawl, and it's the fault of everyone at the table except Tiffany Williamson. I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you were sleepy when you made this post.

She played poorly, she got lucky, she's an annoying time-waster. Good for her that she got so far. Good for poker that she got so far. I just hope she doesn't end up at my table.

SpaceAce

[jaydub]

because ugly people make me sad.

oh and the fact that she exhibits behaviors that are irritating.

but mostly the ugly