About a month ago, my “He Said/She Said” writing partner Jen Newell and I together attended a press conference at the Bellagio announcing the new season of the World Poker Tour. The WSOP Main Event had begun, and since I had a rare day off from reporting, I thought I’d see what news might be coming out regarding the ninth season of the WPT.

At the press conference, World Poker Tour CEO Steve Heller, co-hosts Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten, and WPT President Adam Pliska all shared a few words each about the WPT’s plans for the upcoming season. One item on the agenda was to present respected tournament director Matt Savage as the WPT’s new Executive Tour Director. There was some talk involving Savage about how tournaments would be run, plus a bit from Heller about the intention of the TV show to focus more on the days leading up to the final table, as well as to include more back stories on the players.

Then came a couple of announcements regarding personnel for the WPT show which seemed intended to be the highlights of the proceedings.

First came the news that Kimberly Lansing, who appeared on the WPT back during Season 6, would be returning to fill a new “anchor” position on the show. There was a bit of semi-suspense when Lansing was introduced, and she came out to express her excitement about being part of the show again.

Subsequent discussion made it sound as though an effort was being made to distinguish Lansing’s new role on the show from the role she and other women had performed during the previous eight years of the WPT. That is, rather than be relegated to asking players a few questions upon their bustouts or smilingly sending viewers to commercial breaks, Lansing will apparently have more of a presence on the show -- more like a “co-host” than just a “hostess,” I suppose one could say.

Then came the final announcement regarding yet another change to the show’s format. Jen had heard about this one beforehand, and I knew she wasn’t too crazy about it -- the Royal Flush Girls.

Four of the six women who will appear as the Royal Flush Girls on the upcoming season were at the conference. (Why six? I wondered. Wouldn’t five be a better number?) It sounds a bit like these women will be taking turns interviewing players and doing what Shana Hiatt, Lansing, and other women have done on the show in the past.

The four -- all especially attractive with model good-looks -- were introduced one at a time by Van Patten, who read from their bios listing their education, interests, and other trivia. One can read all about the six Royal Flush Girls over on the World Poker Tour site where each has her own Q&A page. There one can learn their biggest fears, celebrity crushes, hidden talents, as well as other vitals such as height, weight, and “stats” (i.e., measurements).

Afterwards Jen and I had a nice lunch at the Cafe Bellagio, and among other topics of conversation we discussed the various changes the WPT had announced. I agreed with her that the Royal Flush Girls were a bit over the top, though I have to admit I wasn’t as immediately bothered by their introduction, nor at what their addition to the show might signify in the larger scheme of things.

Thinking about it later, I recognized the “give and take” that was represented by the simultaneous anointing of Lansing as “anchor” -- thereby giving a woman what appears to be a more authoritative position on the show -- and the presentation of the Royal Flush Girls, whose very name might seem to diminish the status of women by suggesting they are, relatively speaking, “children” (or “girls”) in the “adult” world of poker.

Even so, I have to admit part of me is tempted to brush aside the obviously less-than-flattering suggestions about women and their place in poker that the Royal Flush Girls may signify for Jen and others. Call that part of me my less sensitive (or even chauvinist) side. Or call it practical.

I’m thinking in part about the fact that the World Poker Tour -- the audience for which is already mostly male (I assume) -- now airs on Fox Sports Net, a network of channels for which the viewership is reportedly about 80% men.

I’m not saying that it wouldn’t hurt for the WPT to make an effort to avoid reiterating stereotypical views toward women and even to be more outwardly constructive in trying to invite more women into poker. But I wonder about practical exigencies faced by the World Poker Tour here. That is to say, I wonder if the Royal Flush Girls perhaps were introduced as part of the WPT’s effort to remain on FSN? It could well be that someone -- that is, someone who matters when it came to decision whether or not to air the WPT on FSN -- decided the Royal Flush Girls were a needed addition in order to keep mostly male viewers from turning away from a sports network when poker comes on.

In any event, it does appear the new season of the WPT will in some way reaffirm the centrality of the male perspective when it comes to most televised poker. And it could be that such an emphasis might have been necessary in order for the show to preserve its place in the Fox Sports Net line-up.

See She Said: WPT Takes Steps Backwards