Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

I'm at a birthday shindig, all the girls go off to the bathroom and I'm talking to some guy. He's talking about work (he picks up garbage off the streets... no joke) and then when the girls get back, one of them listening in is like, "hey, do you know what he (me) does for a living? He plays poker on the internet."

him: "oh, really?"
me: "yeah"

For the next ten minutes, I'm stuck listening to how he won $40 at a home game once and that he prefers pocket twos to pocket aces.

What negative experiences have you guys had when someone found out you play poker for a living and/or on the internet?

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

Cliff's notes.

[ QUOTE ]
I play poker.

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[ QUOTE ]
I'm at a birthday shindig, all the girls go off to the bathroom and I'm talking to some guy.

[/ QUOTE ]

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

I was at this bar/restaurant by my house having dinner with my GF. I ran into a friend who also plays online who was there with his parents and he made a comment to me to the effect of: "see you on Party later tonight."

The bartender and his buddies overheard this and would not stop talking to me about "rigged"-ness. I have not been back since [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

People always want to learn how to do it too or the cliche... "Hey man, what if I give you $300 of my money for you to double it, can you do that?"

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

[ QUOTE ]
"Hey man, what if I give you $300 of my money for you to double it, can you do that?"

[/ QUOTE ]

Haha, I've gotten that and I always say the same thing. "Sure, $5,000 sounds reasonable."
Some people don't understand that I might actually have fifty dollars?

I don't really like to bring up poker around anyone who I feel I might have to discuss it with, and the second I bring up the word "online" forget it.

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

It's hopeless to talk w/ anyone about it, except people who play. I've tried and now I know better.

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

Which people that play? There are like 3 people at work who I can stand to talk to about poker, and the other 99% I just want to throw gravy at.

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

I let it slip once at work (while we played poker in the boardroom at lunch) that I play online. They grilled me on how much I make online, but I refused to tell them. One of them asked me what my name is on Stars and I told him.

The next day I show up for the lunch time game and the guy who asked me for my screen name is going on and on about how he watched me win in a few hands what we all make in a week. He'd gone online that night and found me to watch me play.

The rest of the people are the table looked at me like I have a severe gambling problem. A few seemed to be impressed, but I got a few "how can you possibly gamble with that much money?" and "aren't you scared you'll lose and go broke?" It was very uncomfortable.

Since then whenever I've mentioned anything that involved me spending money (like purchasing a larger house, getting a new car, going to Hawaii, etc...), my co-workers will say things like "Good run at poker, eh?" It's annoying.

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

to mother, after she kept asking:

me: "i dunno, i think i won $450 today or something."

her: "but how much did you lose??"

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

"How much did you make last month?"

More than you make in a year...

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

[ QUOTE ]
People always want to learn how to do it too or the cliche... "Hey man, what if I give you $300 of my money for you to double it, can you do that?"

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL, its sick how often I get this.

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

Went to go eat sushi a couple weeks ago with my step dad and a whole bunch of other people. College age kid is there with super hot girlfriend. He is a very avid poker player.

Apparently limit is not beatable

Everyone cheats

And J8 is the nuts on a JT8 board, completely disregarding all relevant information of course...its just the nuts

But hey...he had a super hot gf and I post on 2+2 soo....I guess we know who the real winner is

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

[ QUOTE ]
People always want to learn how to do it too or the cliche... "Hey man, what if I give you $300 of my money for you to double it, can you do that?"

[/ QUOTE ]

Good God I can't tell you how many times I hear that phrase and every time I do I die a little inside.

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

i just say, "sure", take the $300, and go busto at a blackjack table.

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

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Which people that play? There are like 3 people at work who I can stand to talk to about poker, and the other 99% I just want to throw gravy at.

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There are 2 people I can talk poker w/ IRL. One lives in Cali, and one lives in Washington.

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

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i just say, "sure", take the $300, pocket it, and tell them I lost it

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Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

my biggest mistake was telling people I play poker

they keep asking how much I'm making.. "hey, I play poker on once a month in my homegame"

and whatnot

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

Whenever people who don't know I play poker come into my room and I'm sitting at my compter in front of 3 giant monitors I try and say that its my roomates computer and I just needed to use it for a second and mine is the more modest setup across the room. Then I tell them my roomate is addicted to porn.

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
People always want to learn how to do it too or the cliche... "Hey man, what if I give you $300 of my money for you to double it, can you do that?"

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL, its sick how often I get this.

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Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

This guy where I was working found out I played online poker.

HELLO FIFTY BAD BEAT STORIES. The best one was (he had just gotten back from Vegas) "I was at the MGM playing 200NL. I looked down at aces. I only had 100 dollars behind. So I raised to 15, another guy reraised me to 40, and I pushed. He called with kings and rivered a king. My mistake was not having enough money behind to push him off the hand"

YEA IT SURE IS A BIG [censored] MISTAKE TO GET ALL IN PREFLOP WITH POCKET ACES



then another guy found out I played online poker

HELLO 45 MINUTE LECTURE ON HOW HE "KNOWS" ONLINE POKER IS RIGGED, including, but not limited too, when you cashout they make you start losing, if you are clearing a bonus they make you lose, and if you deposit they let you win.

How does he know it is rigged?

Because he deposited 500 dollars to play 3 handed 5/10 LHE and its obviously impossible to lose 50 bb in a session


I'm never letting anyone know I play poker again

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

I was at a house party once....girl overheard I played poker for a living...I was like F ME another boring night of explaining how you can actually make money playing poker [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

BUT turns out she's from Las Vegas and her dad has been playing poker for a living for over 20 years [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] ...we talk it up...get to know eachother..and that night I got a drunken bj [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] ....best random hook up of my life [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

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People always want to learn how to do it too or the cliche... "Hey man, what if I give you $300 of my money for you to double it, can you do that?"

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I'm so glad I'm not the only one who gets this.

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

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Since then whenever I've mentioned anything that involved me spending money (like purchasing a larger house, getting a new car, going to Hawaii, etc...), my co-workers will say things like "Good run at poker, eh?" It's annoying.

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that would [censored] infuriate me.

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

[ QUOTE ]
I was at a house party once....girl overheard I played poker for a living...I was like F ME another boring night of explaining how you can actually make money playing poker [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

BUT turns out she's from Las Vegas and her dad has been playing poker for a living for over 20 years [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] ...we talk it up...get to know eachother..and that night I got a drunken bj [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] ....best random hook up of my life [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

[censored] YOU VERY MUCH FOR RUINING THIS PITTY PARTY!!!!!!

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

All my buddies just assume I'm a degen, but I never talk about winnings; I just tell them about the days I drop a grand and go out for some beers. None of them think I make any money, so they dont want to talk about it. I might run into some of the above problems when I get a new car early next year though since I've been unemployed since April 1. But yeah, I hate talking to ignorant people about it.

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
People always want to learn how to do it too or the cliche... "Hey man, what if I give you $300 of my money for you to double it, can you do that?"

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL, its sick how often I get this.

[/ QUOTE ]

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Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

reason to pretend that you dont play: I went to my college orientation, and my roomate decided to have a 5$ "poker tournament" wiht 6 other kids in our dorm room. Three of them being girls. I watched the "tourny" after telling them i didnt know how to play. It was then explained to me while being :coached: by the hoster why it is ok to call raises with 56 oop, because the raiser probobally has high cards, so he wont expect it if u hit a 5... [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

P.s. he didnt know what being oop was :/

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

what about this " if I make an account and we play together, we can both play at the same table and tell each other our hands over the fone!! WE CANT LOOSE!!!!"

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

[ QUOTE ]
All my buddies just assume I'm a degen

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Ugh, this is going to sound so stupid but....

degen = degenerate??!? I always just thought it was 2p2er Degen's last name or something. I can't believe I actually just looked up degen at dictionary.com, then sat there confused for a minute before I figured it all out. woo!

Also I have this same problem, for some reason I only talk about my losses if at all so I keep getting questions like "so you think you're up overall?". ugh.

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

I've never gotten a negative reaction when I tell people I play for a living. I usually have to answer a question or two but that's it, so I don't mind it. But one time at a live tourney I didn't want to let out that I was a "pro" so when asked if I played alot, I said "Just a little bit online, not much". So most of the rest of the day was the kid with 2 months experience telling me about the finer points of the game. Nice guy, but ya, I know to play tight prelfop.

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

My old boss found out through the grapevine somehow. She asked me lots of questions about it for a while, then told me her dad left her mom and has been a degenerate low stakes grinder in California for her whole life. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Sorry lady, tell your dad thanks for the monies.

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

[ QUOTE ]
to mother, after she kept asking:

me: "i dunno, i think i won $450 today or something."

her: "but how much did you lose??"

[/ QUOTE ]

I get this too from people or "but how much did you have to spend to win that?"

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

[ QUOTE ]
My old boss found out through the grapevine somehow. She asked me lots of questions about it for a while, then told me her dad left her mom and has been a degenerate low stakes grinder in California for her whole life. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Sorry lady, tell your dad thanks for the monies.

[/ QUOTE ]
I'm always afraid to meet someone who'll be like "My dad lost his life savings playing online poker."

"Uh...my bad?"

How did you really handle that?

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
All my buddies just assume I'm a degen

[/ QUOTE ]

Ugh, this is going to sound so stupid but....

degen = degenerate??!? I always just thought it was 2p2er Degen's last name or something. I can't believe I actually just looked up degen at dictionary.com, then sat there confused for a minute before I figured it all out. woo!

Also I have this same problem, for some reason I only talk about my losses if at all so I keep getting questions like "so you think you're up overall?". ugh.

[/ QUOTE ]

haha, I just shortened it up because I thought the degenerate thread had it that way in the title.

My parents know about how well I do, but not a specific hourly, all my friends seriously think I'm pissing away trust fund money(or something, how else would I have an endless supply to piss away?) 5 hours a day. Joke's on them when I show up in a new car sans payments.

edit: I guess I've dodged the subject pretty well with my friends, because I dont have to explain how much I make to them, but a few ask. I just tell them I obviously do better than I did at the day job I quit. That's probably going to change when I show up with a new car; I'll just ask them how much they make and see how they like it.

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

[ QUOTE ]
to mother, after she kept asking:

me: "i dunno, i think i won $450 today or something."

her: "but how much did you lose??"

[/ QUOTE ]

That's funny...that's the exact same line my mom gives me.

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

A few entertaining ignorance is bliss tales...

1.
When I told my sisters I play poker (not for a living just low stakes online and B&M occasionally for fun and extra $$$)

"How much have you won?"
"Oh probably about 5K (at the time)"
"You better stop before you lose it."
"I've built that up from nothing, I won't lose it all, I play low stakes against bad players and win it a little at a time."
"How much is the most you've lost in one night??"

(insert me trying to explain variance, statistics, etc.)

"You better stop before you lose it all."

2.
Me playing in a free NL tourney hosted by a sportsbar chain here in Atlanta (I played these frequently back in the day and hardly at all in the last year, mostly when I found internet poker).

Some random middle aged chick talking about losing money at limit in Tunica and confused as to why because she's pretty good at no limit (she was god awful terrible of course). A random shaved head tatoo'ed guy begins his long winded speech about how limit isn't real poker and stupid and good players can't win, to the agreement of most of the table. I kept my mouth shut the entire time, both amused and sickened.

3.
Another sports bar tourney, guy A talking to guy B about online poker, and how he wins even though they juice the cards for big action and to make it exciting, guy B "oh that makes sense"

4.
I work for an online casino software company so there are several people in the office who play (and alot of them are ok, they'v read 2+2 stuff, etc.) But i never know how to answer "Are you good?" my standard response is something to the effect of "Not particularly, but compared to the people I play against yes."

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

Not really a reason why I don't tell people I play poker, but I've heard this a lot recently:

<something comes up & it gets out that I play a decent amount of poker>
SomeIdiot: "Yeah, I always wanted to learn how to play, but I can never bluff so there's no point"

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

when people ask about how much monies ive won or anything my new answer is "enough that i haven't had to get a job yet" combined with a shrug and a look of slight dejection. usually takes care of the follow-ups.

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

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But i never know how to answer "Are you good?" my standard response is something to the effect of "Not particularly, but compared to the people I play against yes."

[/ QUOTE ]

Nope, but I'm a little smarter than a two year old monkey with down syndrome, so its all good.

Re: Why I don\'t tell people I play poker.
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
to mother, after she kept asking:

me: "i dunno, i think i won $450 today or something."

her: "but how much did you lose??"

[/ QUOTE ]

That's funny...that's the exact same line my mom gives me.

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