Last week, on the 13th of May, Bluff Media came out with an announcement that they had purchased the print component of Woman Poker Player magazine.

At the announcement of the purchase this is what Eric Morris, the co-president and publisher of Bluff Media, had to say.

“We’re very happy to accept Woman Poker Player’s readers into the Bluff community. As women are beginning to make up a larger percentage of the overall player base it’s important that our magazine properly reflects this and we feel that this move does just that.” Now the subscribers of the print issue of Woman Poker Player will receive Bluff Magazine instead.  

Maryann Morrison, the publisher of the magazine said that when Woman Poker Player was founded women constituted only 10% of the poker playing population. The magazine was founded in order to encourage women to play poker. Today the situation is completely different. Today about 75 million people play poker and women constitute 30% of that population. And what is more this percent will only keep growing.

Over the last few years women have shown that they are aggressive poker players who can hold their own against the men. They no longer rely on winsome smiles and sex appeal to see them through. They are much into strategy as their male counterparts. Therefore segregation of women poker players is no longer needed, in fact it is considered regressive. Therefore Morrison thinks that a gender-neutral poker magazine is now in order. 

Not all women poker players may agree with Morrison. There are bound to be many who liked the women’s perspective of Woman Poker Player. After all, Woman Poker Player is more than a poker magazine. It is “one-of-a-kind lifestyle publication for women who enjoy the sport of poker”. The magazine addresses issues of fashion and wellness that would be specific to women players. These women have no reason to be disappointed. The website womanpokerplayer.com will very much continue to exist and provide its loyal clientele with quality material targeted to the woman poker player. A recent issue published a list of top 10 women players in terms of lifetime earnings. Kathy Liebert topped the list with almost $4 million. Annie Duke is second with just under $3.5 million. Undoubtedly these professional players will continue to inspire generations of women poker players through the online editions of Woman Poker Player. 

Bluff Media has a strong presence in the world of poker. The American edition of Bluff magazine was started as a bimonthly in October 2004. Today it is a monthly magazine with separate editions for Europe, Latin America and Australasia. The South African edition was recently started. Bluff Media owns thepokerdb.com, which is an online tournament database. The Bluff player of the year is a much sought after honor. This player gets automatic entry to the annual National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

So what does the acquisition of Woman Poker Player mean for Bluff Media. First of all Bluff will strengthen its visibility in the poker world with the women now being subscribed to its magazine. With increased visibility will obviously come increased financial rewards by way of access to the poker players’ fastest growing segment. Bluff Media has made another strategic move in the poker market.