Jason Somerville — Poker's LGBT Pioneer
It's well known that the world of sport is one of the final frontiers for LGBT acceptance, both in the US and across the globe. Anecdotal evidence suggests that homophobia and transphobia are rife in sport, and while we could all name plenty of gay musicians or writers or chefs or real estate agents, it's a different matter when it comes to pro athletes.
The furor over rainbow armbands at the World Cup in Qatar seems to be missing the wider point that "locker room mentalities" in soccer mean gay players are conspicuous by their absence. It's a pattern that repeats in most other sports, too.
Coming out at the poker table
Professional poker knows a thing or two about intolerance and marginalization. Despite the profile of the World Series of Poker and its regular coverage on ESPN, there are still those who question whether it is a "real" sport. Either way, poker had the same heterosexual bias as other sports — but one man had something to say about that.
New Yorker Jason Somerville discovered poker in 2004 at the age of 16 after watching the WSOP on TV with his father. He displayed a natural flair for the game and as soon as he reached 21, he started to play on the professional tour. He has earned almost $4 million in WSOP tournaments, and won a coveted WSOP bracelet in 2011.
The following year, he came out as gay in a blog post published on Valentine's Day. At the time, there were no other openly gay players on the WSOP tour, so it was an incredibly courageous move.
Jason said the response to his blog post was overwhelmingly positive. He told Fightland.com that people have been "completely accepting" and he described poker as "inherently such an inclusive game filled with a diversity of people."
A pretty awesome experience
Jason said that years of anxiety over his sexuality came to an end in a 24 hour period when, as he put it: "my entire universe pretty much told me, 'Yep, you're still cool with us.'" He described the sensation as "pretty awesome."
It wasn't long after coming out that Jason found he was not the only gay player on the pro poker scene after all. In 2016, Ryan Laplante won a WSOP bracelet and made an emotional speech in which he said: "I am so proud to call myself a World Series of Poker champion. I'm proud to call myself an openly gay man. I encourage all of you to be proud of who you are."
Vanessa Selbst, one of the top female poker players in the world has also been open about her sexuality. Friends and family have even taken to showing up at tournaments waving banners saying "I'm Gay For Vanessa."
Take a seat at the table
We can all take inspiration from Jason's story, and also from Ryan and Vanessa. Across the US and the world, poker is one of the most popular games in online casinos, so there is plenty of opportunity to learn the game and develop your strategy at casino poker without having to jump in at the deep end. But if you find that you have a talent for the game, you can rest assured that a warm welcome will await you at the poker table.