[Grandezza]

How come there has been almost no discussion in this thread about the fact that poker players exploit other people's unhappiness e.g gambling addicts. sure they can get professional help yada yada but realize they have an addiction and can't seek professional help.

If not the gambling addict then just the average player who sees WPT on TV and wants to win a tournament then goes and looses his spending money. Poker players are basically making money of his dreams. And sure it's his own choice but should you really be allowed to earn more money because you're smarter than someone? It's kind of like the lotto. they take money from people who don't know math or who wants to cash in that big score. If you think they should be allowed to do that then sure go ahead and feel fine about playing poker.

I think this question is much more interesting than whether or not poker contributes to society.