How often is the term "professional poker player" BS?

[wazz]

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'Personal Equity Trader'/'Equity Analyst' FTW

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And this sort of rubbish as well. It's like calling bin men "refuse coordination specialists" or some other bull. Just tell it like it is: "right now, I play poker for a living. Yes I make good money and enjoy my life. Thanks for asking." or something like that. And perhaps be civil when people who don't know anything about poker ask retarded questions rather than belittling them (not aimed at you, just a general observation) either to their face or on an internet forum? But then I haven't met these incredibly ignorant arses who you all apparently have to deal with every day. Perhaps I'd get annoyed at them as well.

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I get your point. I don't ever say 'Personal Equity Trader', I usually just tell people I play poker for a living. You do get a few retarded questions as standard, but a lot of people are genuinely interested and didn't realise that it is in fact possible to make a living off it. I'm quite young (22) so generally the people I talk to are quite curious about how much I make from it, so I try to break it down to a rough earnings bracket and make the point that 'this guy I've spoken to on the internet (referring to aba) is disappointed if he makes less than $150K/month, just to give you some idea of the amount of money there is to be made in this business.' Some people are dubious/cynical but not really that many. I get the occasional bad reaction from a few older people who come up with the usual crap of 'you'll lose your money eventually, I've heard the sites juice the game, blablahmeowchow, ZOMG you have a gambling addiction' but I make an effort (as long as they're willing to listen to me) to educate them as to how it is possible to make money in the game.