Re: What good are we? As poker players, are we socially responsible?
I think about this question a lot: Does playing poker for a living meet the Buddha's instruction to purusue "right livelihood"? I can see arguments on both sides, and I haven't come to a solid conclusion.
How we earn money is only part of the equation. Another important part is what we do with the money.
For example, last September I took a big piece of my bankroll and used it to pay for a trip to Biloxi, Mississippi, to do disaster relief work there. I stayed in Biloxi for a month and worked my butt off.
It occurred to me, there, that one way I could lead my life would be a quasi-professional relief worker, traveling to disaster scenes and helping the affected people, and supporting myself and raising funds in between by playing cards. I would be free to drop everything and go at a moment's notice.
Poker would therefore be simply a means to an end, a way of making ends meet so that I could do my real work.
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