Brad Zimmerman
April 22, 2008
The deaf community and poker
For many years now I have enjoyed playing poker and I
strive more and more everyday to become a better player.
It's a means to expand my pocket, on the good months, but
also a means of socializing with good friends. I'm a 28 year
old business major at California State University of
Sacramento. I am currently taking American Sign Language and
find it absolutely fascinating. I was born hearing, although
four years in the military around running jet engines has
resulted in 20% hearing loss in my left ear. Never the less
I can still hear. My love for all poker games and curiosity
towards the deaf and their culture, made me wonder if the
two were compatible. There is something mystic about poker.
Ironically enough not much talking is required. Don't get me
wrong talking isn't necessarily condoned, but it isn't
necessary between players to successfully carry out a
particular hand. To be a successful player many attributes
are required: extreme concentration, focus, simple math, gut
instinct, persistence, and determination to name a few. As
you can see you don't need to be able to hear in order to
posses these attributes.
On the surface it would seem that poker and the deaf are
in fact compatible. Unfortunately I still had my doubts
however. There are certain times when communication between
the dealer and the player take place. In a poker tournament
the blinds raise in certain timed increments. Usually they
are visually available on a screen somewhere depending where
you're playing. But what if your table is to far away to see
this information or your not looking at the screen when the
blind change occurs? The dealer makes everyone at the table
aware of the blind increase as it happens verbally. For a
deaf person this could pose a problem. This is only one
example but it shows the gap in communication. I'm sure you
can see where I'm going with this. The dealer himself would
have to be capable of signing or a fluent interpreter is
required to relay all verbal announcements. This example
would hold true in a mixed event (hearing and deaf players).
I watch plenty of poker on television and play on many
circuits throughout California. Never once have I seen or
heard of a deaf poker player playing with hearing players.
Maybe I'm wrong and maybe this is because I attend the same
casino's and the same card clubs. Hopefully one day if the
proverbial poker God's grant me a significant cash placing I
can spread my wings a little bit! My runaround in the poker
world has never shown me the compatibility between the
hearing and the deaf. This to me is extremely unfortunate.
If particular folks within the deaf community love and
appreciate the game of poker as much as I do, which I'm
certain that they do, why can't we bridge this gap so both
parties can enjoy this exciting game together.
Much to my surprise, through research I've found that the
deaf community is beginning to take the steps in the right
direction. In 2006, six founders joined forces and
established what is known today as the NDPT (National Deaf
Poker Tour). They began hosting tournaments all over the
United States. Some were reserved solely for the deaf, where
participants are required to sign a legal document stating
that hearing loss is a minimum of 55dB. While other
tournaments allow hearing people who are fluent in American
Sign Language, including interpreters and friends of the
deaf community. (Newell) Certain casinos that are hosting
these events are working together to come up with creative
ways to bridge the gap of communication between staff and
the deaf. These ideas include, making certain signs with
particular tournament information written on them and having
pads of paper and pens readily available at each and every
table. (Feldman)
I'm glad to see that casinos all over the U.S are being
more understanding and excepting of the deaf and their love
for a very exciting game. What's next for the NDPT? In 2008,
the World Series of Poker admitted a legally blind man who
had a seeing man telling him all the cards that fall as well
as what he's holding. The team preformed well and showed the
poker community that anyone is capable of playing poker. To
my knowledge the World Series of Poker has not yet admitted
a deaf player, I could very well be wrong. This much is true
anyway, that a large number of deaf poker players have
unfortunately not yet been formally integrated into the
world's most prestigious poker tournament. In my opinion
there just as much capable and willing as any hearing person
and minor communication barriers shouldn't keep them from
fulfilling their poker dreams and goals. It is reassuring to
know that the deaf and hearing are working together to make
the game of poker more accessible for the deaf and hard of
hearing. Hopefully a professional poker player or sponsor
will step up in the near future in order to speed up this
process. (Feldman)
References:
Feldman, Andrew. (2006, March. 26) "National Deaf Poker Tour
makes its first stop".espn.com. espn. Retrieved 20, Apr.
2008:http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/poker/columns/story?columnist=feldman_andrew&id=2381057
Newell, Jennifer. (2007, November.08) "National Deaf Poker
Tour".Poker Works.NDPT. Retrieved 20, Apr. 2008: http://pokerworks.com/article-1430.html