Being told "professional poker doesn't contribute to society."

[shnk]

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I didn't sign the social contract.

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[FatRed]

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The rest go to bombing people in other societies, but that's okay because the bombs help them live better lives, in freedom!

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I almost fell out of my chair laughing.



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I didn't sign the social contract.

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This is the whole point. Since when do you have to justify what you do for a living in the context of "what it contributes to society?" It's an honest job and you pay taxes on your income - 'nuff said!

[five4suited]

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I didn't sign the social contract.

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We live in a country whose guiding ideology is post-modern capitalism. There is no social contract.

Poker is one of the most honest professions there is. We're not trying to sell somebody something for more than it cost us to make it, and we're not paying people less than the profit we earn from their labor. When you sit down at a poker table and play for real money, there is but one objective to the economic exchange, and everybody is fully aware of it when they sit down.

I think America's guiding ideology these days can be summarized as caveat emptor, just like at the poker table, and at the table, at least we're honest about it.

[Willy]

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Professionals entertain recreational players so i consider them entertainers like actors ball players etc.

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What about Andy Beal?

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What about him??

[DrSpitzvogel]

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Professionals entertain recreational players so i consider them entertainers like actors ball players etc.

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What about Andy Beal?

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What about him??

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Wanted to quote another post and got this one instead of it. I edited it now. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[ALLEN BOND]

It is true, Pro Poker does not contribute to the society.

Only a poker player makes himself believe that it does. Barry Greenstein is a good example. It is like Pablo Escobar donating millions to charity, to offset the damages.

[slickss]

Unless it is televised, poker is just an isolated event inside some room. Nobody not at that table benefit from the game taking place.

Televised poker could be considered entertainment, in the same way as football games, and has a purpose in society.

The society needs leaders (e.g. The President).
The society needs lawyers.
The society needs doctors.
The society needs bank clerks.

I have problems finding any profession that is comparable to poker players in terms of society uselessness.

Edit: Taxes do contribute to society. I'm looking past that right now.

[ALLEN BOND]

[ QUOTE ]
Unless it is televised, poker is just an isolated event inside some room. Nobody not at that table benefit from the game taking place.

Televised poker could be considered entertainment, in the same way as football games, and has a purpose in society.

The society needs leaders (e.g. The President).
The society needs lawyers.
The society needs doctors.
The society needs bank clerks.

I have problems finding any profession that is comparable to poker players in terms of society uselessness.

Edit: Taxes do contribute to society. I'm looking past that right now.

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QFT

[Fedorfan]

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Unless it is televised, poker is just an isolated event inside some room. Nobody not at that table benefit from the game taking place.

Televised poker could be considered entertainment, in the same way as football games, and has a purpose in society.

The society needs leaders (e.g. The President).
The society needs lawyers.
The society needs doctors.
The society needs bank clerks.

I have problems finding any profession that is comparable to poker players in terms of society uselessness.

Edit: Taxes do contribute to society. I'm looking past that right now.

[/ QUOTE ]

You could certainly argue that their are jobs that actually have more of a overall negative contribution like lobbyists, who you could argue have corrupted our political process, leading to a climate of corporatism.

Advertising and marketing, what would the country look like without the billions of dollars spent annually marketing junk food and soda, and creating other unnecessary demands and wants... well we'd probably be as a nation less fat overall, and have less credit card debt as a whole.

You could argue that investors can hurt society, when the 90's dot.com bubble burst and millions of regular people lost a lot of money in the stock market because they were the fish.

[mce86]

FINAL ANSWER!
pro poker does not contrinute anything to society. it simply supports you financially. there are other jobs like that.....sort of like the entertainment and sport industry. But, you do still copntribute by paying taxes and ideally raising your children to be prodctive citizens. Ya, it sucks that poker has no status as a contributor...but neither does winning the lotto!! would anyone turn that down..no. Im a teacher, and I think poker playing could get me twice the money...but i dont want to give it up...i guess because alot of us at the end of the day want to look back and say you made the world better....well, you can, just not because of poker, but what you do because of the money you have from poker.