David Hughes won a $250 buy-in No-limit Hold’Em poker tournament in Hollywood, Fla. over the weekend. Normally, that would not be noteworthy, except for the fact that it was a ladies event.
Hughes entered the event at the Seminole Hard Hotel and Casino and won the top prize of $5,555, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Hughes beat out the rest of the entrants, all women, and drew the ire of other players in the process.
Abby Merk, who finished third in the event, tweeted out her frustration with the fact that Hughes won a tournament that was supposed to be exclusively for women.
Under Florida’s anti-discrimination laws, casinos are not allowed to ban men from competing in women’s events, which is why Hughes was able to participate.
As Hughes advanced in the tournament, professional player Ebony Kenney was willing to provide a $300 reward for any player who could knock him out.
By the time Hughes was at the final table, the bounty Kenney had started had…
