Daniel Negreanu Savages Shaun Deeb Then Turns On Annie Duke After She Comes To His Defense
June 17, 2010 9:57 amDaniel Negreanu scored a double knockout on his poker blog after savaging Shaun Deeb for entering a WSOP ladies tournament, and then attacking Annie Duke’s claim to be the best female poker player in the world.
Shaun Deeb claimed to be highlighting the issue of gender equality when he entered the WSOP $1,000 Ladies Championship this week, but in Negreanu’s opinion Deeb was just acting like an “ass.”
“I mean, you have over 1000 women in that event who love it! Why in the world would we want to spoil their fun in the name of sexual equality? You aren’t fighting for men’s rights, or women’s rights for that matter, you are just being an ass,” explained Negreanu.
Despite support in his cross gender endeavour by Annie Duke and Liv Boeree, Deeb decided to apologise for his behaviour and only half heartedly defended himself against Negreanu’s harsh comments.
Deeb insisted he intended to donate a part of any potential winnings to a woman’s charity. However, it would appear the actual effect of his entering the ladies tournament was to label the ladies event a sham.
If Deeb was not more forthright in justifying himself, Annie Duke provided a more vocal defence of Deeb’s cause by stating:
“I get that women would be upset, but I think it’s important for men to take that stand and also it’s for charity…If there were a men’s only event, people would be encouraging women to play.”
The whole affair rankled Negreanu, who reacted to Dukes comments by attacking her claim to be ‘The Best Female Poker Player in the World.’ In his blog he states:
“It shows just how out of touch she is with women in poker. She insults the other hard working women professionals when she makes such a claim…While Annie is supposedly claiming to fight for equality, she does so at the same time as claiming superiority over all women in poker.”
Always willing to vent his opinions, it would appear ‘Kid Poker’ is taking no prisoners these days when he has a point to make. What’s more he’s once again shown that he’s more than prepared to call anyone out pulling such ill-considered stunts, and then justifying their actions as a coup for human rights.