Re: Talking poker outside 2p2
 

Dad: Why can't you come to dinner on Saturday.

Me: I qualified for the WSOP main event

Dad: Why are you gambling

Me: Its not really gambling (insert long explanation here)

Dad: I don't like you gambling

Me: OK

Fast forward six months

Dad: What is a big blind

Me: Explains

Dad: I don't approve of you gambling

Me: OK

Re: Talking poker outside 2p2
 

Also, WTF is with the "if I give you $50 will you make me money?" comments?????????????????????

I got this all the time in college

Re: Talking poker outside 2p2
 

[ QUOTE ]
Also, WTF is with the "if I give you $50 will you make me money?" comments?????????????????????

I got this all the time in college

[/ QUOTE ]

agreed. i mean, i kind of understand where they are coming from: they figure v ez money, why would u care, but still pretty dumb.

Re: Talking poker outside 2p2
 

[ QUOTE ]
Also, WTF is with the "if I give you $50 will you make me money?" comments?????????????????????

I got this all the time in college

[/ QUOTE ]

lol ya If I had a nickel...

I've found it's best to completely avoid the topic and just blatantly refuse to talk about it, if they ask why just say you've been playing a lot and you are sick of anything having to do with poker.

When people ask me what I do I tell them I develop websites (which is true) but it's not my primary income, but this is the best solution for everyone.

Also my mom is desperately against me playing, and like other posters here despite HOURS of attempting to explain the difference between gambling vs the house and gambling player v player she still sees it as gambling and all luck.

Re: Talking poker outside 2p2
 

if people ask me about poker in terms of wins and losses i only provide amounts in sklansky bucks.

failing that i explain to them that poker is all about making bold aggressive moves and that i hope all my cards will be live and my pots be monsters. normally at this stage i find myself standing alone talking to myself but that is probably a coincidence

Re: Talking poker outside 2p2
 

The analogy I've come up with is that a good poker player has an edge over his average opponent, just as the casino has an edge in the gambling games it offers to the public. In essence, a good poker player acts as his own mini casino, constantly applying his small edge over thousands of hands. If they can accept that the "house always wins" in the long run, then it should not be a great leap of logic to understand that the best poker players will always win in the long run, even though they may get unlucky and lose in the short run.

The problem is the people who have never played may not understand the skill element in poker. For these people, have them look up "Game Theory" in Wikipedia. I suspect that the vast majority of people who do not understand poker skill have an aversion to math, strategic games, and binary logic, and may resist the fact that there is life skill involved in making decisions with incomplete information based on a probabilistic assessment of historical patterns.

Another way to explain the social utility of internet poker is to say that a good poker player is providing an entertainment service, allowing people to gamble and test their wits in a strategic game environment against other humans (as opposed to "the house") from the comfort of their own home.

Re: Talking poker outside 2p2
 

Except for the fact that one guy's father does not like him playing poker and another guy's mother has the same feelings, I would say that those who mind, don't matter and those who matter, don't mind.

As to my own parents, my mother told me not to say anything to my father as he would disapprove. He did not have that reaction at all. Although my telling him that I had won a trip to Vegas by playing poker might have had something to do with his reaction.

Re: Talking poker outside 2p2
 

Interesting. The aspect of "disapproval" I think comes down to an interpretation of Risk in life. Most people are relatively "risk-averse" to the point of being irrational.

For these people, it is "wrong" to assume "unnecessary" risks (such as playing poker for a living). Especially when it comes to their children, they will be uncomfortable accepting that other paths may be more appropriate given their child's psychology.

I would refer them to study "Prospect Theory," but even then the parent may refuse to be rational when presented with statistical evidence by a winning poker player. Indeed, they may be like the academic economists who believe in "Random Walk" theory, even as George Soros and William Buffet make billions of dollars in the market. To them it will always be "luck." And there is really no way to convince someone who is determined to hold an irrational perspective. But at least you can introduce statistical probability to their world view.

Re: Talking poker outside 2p2
 

I had not thought of one aspect until I read the post above. My father's reaction could have been tempered by the fact that the tournament, where I won the Vegas trip, was a free one. And poker was a hobby and not a means to make money.

Re: Talking poker outside 2p2
 

Just today, my IT guy IM'ed me that he "heard I play poker." Then he types in "Yeah--Texas Hold'em. Negreanu is my Boy!!"

So I responded "Wooooo! Steve Jobs rooolz, yo!! He totally puts like Bill Gates to SHAME!!!"

He signed off.