[vhawk01]

[ QUOTE ]
Great discussion. I have been a professional poker player for two years now and have on occasion struggled with the morality issue (the issue being whether or not there is a morality issue). I would think that my job was essentially to take people's money and I did not offer any sort of product or service in return. At least the kid at McDonald's gives the customer a crappy burger. What was my service?
This thinking would really bring me down, and interestingly enough would have a major effect on my poker results. I would lose a lot, even though my play was the exact same (SNG specialist, ABC pushbot poker, but I would run terribly)

But this is faulty thinking. First of all, I do offer a service, and that is the service of a person to play poker against. Yes, the other players provide the exact same service for me. But it's not as if I am seeking out people to take advantage of. Besides, on any given day, a player that is less skilled than me could take my money.

The much deeper philosophical truth here is that we are placing moral values on certain unbiased actions and things such as winning, losing, money, and why people play poker.

It is we who are making the assumptions that winning=good, losing=bad, and that the reason why people play poker is for the money.

We do not know what is best for other people. Sometimes people aren't even aware of what is best for themselves. They may claim that they play to win, but it could be that the reason why some people continuously play badly and lose is because at some level, they need to have this experience of losing to come away with some sort of life lesson.

Basically, we are 100% responsible and in control of what happens to ourselves. Similarly, other people are 100% responsible for themselves.

If we beat someone at poker and they lose money, it is 100% their decision if they decide to come away from this experience negatively.

My .02

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not saying professional poker playing is immoral. But this is not a good defense of your trade. You are not providing them 'someone else to play against' because there are plenty of people for them to play against...plenty of amateurs. If you are a prop or a shill or something, and you actually are keeping games running, thats a slightly different issue. But you aren't just some warm body...you are a professional.