Cracking Aces: A Woman's Place at the Table

This isn't just another story of a handful of women beating the odds and defying gender stereotypes; this is the story of the pioneering women who broke through the ultimate glass ceiling.

Cracking Aces: A Woman's Place at the Table is a feature-length documentary about the women making strides in the male-dominated realm of high-stakes poker. "The mistreatment of women in poker is a decades-long problem, but now the world is listening. Early on women in poker found their voice and called out bad behaviors from men. These women created a place for themselves within the poker industry, an industry that hasn't always welcomed them" said Tracy Halcomb, the film's producer.

This documentary project, produced by a woman and featuring dozens of female poker players, sheds light on a game and an industry that has almost exclusively catered to men - including women only when they fit the "hot babes of poker" or "girls on the rail" stereotypes. "You have a male-gendered activity, which shouldn't be - it's based on intellect. It has nothing to do with size and brawn, yet 95 percent of poker players are men. Why is that?" Halcomb said.

These pioneering female poker players throw open the doors to the world of professional poker to reveal the hurdles of exploitation and harassment which women must overcome to earn a place at the table. The commercialization of televised poker dissolved the cloak of anonymity that Internet gaming had once provided as a refuge to female players. "It used to matter how you played, not how you looked," Halcomb said. "But now, there are sponsorship dollars involved and top-10 lists of 'hot girls of poker' are everywhere. All of a sudden, it does matter what you look like. Sponsors would rather put their name on a 'poker babe.' Why are there are no 'hot men of poker lists?'"

Women who refuse to exploit their own sexuality and conform to Hollywood's expectations have helped to slowly change perceptions about gender, gaming and what women can truly bring to the table. In Cracking Aces, Halcomb and the film's director, H. James Gilmore, weave together participatory interviews and observations. "It's a story that actually found us," Gilmore said. Professor Halcomb and I were presenting at a conference in Las Vegas. Afterwards, during dinner at Benihana's, we just happened to be seated next to these two incredible women who turned out to be professional poker players. We got to talking, and we knew right away they had an important story to share."

Audiences of high-rollers to penny-ante novices will connect with this story of struggle, empowerment and achievement, regardless of gender. "We did this for everyone playing poker, not just women playing poker," Halcomb said. "Creating change in the poker industry makes the game better for everyone."