Let's face it Poker isn't good for Society

[Misfire]

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I think there is a difference between the choices I make in my own life versus the choices I would make if charged with the welfare of millions of people.

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You're damn right there's a difference, and that difference is, according to your own statement, you would deny another human being the very rights you embrace for yourself. Hypocrisy doesn't begin to describe it.

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Not everything that I do is good for society. No one can be purely altruistic. We all do things for our own enjoyment in our free time that does not really have value to anyone but ourselves.

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But you said yourself you would lean toward making those very things you do illegal for people other than yourself.

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But I think you should strike a balance between making ourselves happy and doing something worthwhile. I don't see how professional poker alone strikes that balance.

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I think *I* should decide what activities bring balance to *my* life, and anyone who would try to force me to do otherwise can go [censored] themselves.

[Misfire]

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Frankly, if the gov't is so concerned about the ills of gambling...then they should LEGALIZE it and not give in to bleeding-heart nanny-staters who would steal winners' money to fund support-groups for losers.

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[Dustin M.]

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But I think you should strike a balance between making ourselves happy and doing something worthwhile. I don't see how professional poker alone strikes that balance.

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I think *I* should decide what activities bring balance to *my* life, and anyone who would try to force me to do otherwise can go [censored] themselves.

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Damn straight.

[Margon]

You can add many social ills to the list along with gambling...

Smoking, Drinking, Fast Food, etc.


Are they all bad? Yes.


But, I am gonig to play some online poker after work, then I am going to go out with friends and likely eat some bad food (wings, nachos, etc.) and drink too much. Right now I am going to grab some fast food for lunch.

Margon

[NickMPK]

So is there any moral difference between being a professional poker player and a drug dealer, besides the fact that one happens to be illegal? Both are profiting off the addictions of other people.

[Aytumious]

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So is there any moral difference between being a professional poker player and a drug dealer, besides the fact that one happens to be illegal? Both are profiting off the addictions of other people.

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Likewise bar owners. I [censored] hate bar owners.

[The Bryce]

Let's face it. Stupid people / suckers aren't good for stupid people / suckers.

[Curtrosity]

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I hate to be contrarian on this issue because I enjoy poker so much, but it's explosive growth can't be good for society and the country in general.

1. There are people on the other end of our winnings. It's all very impersonal when the other guy is just a figure on a screen, but they are real people. They have wives, children, bills to pay etc... Some actually are children. Many are losing money they cannot afford to lose. We use them and take advantage of them.

2. It hardly makes sense for many of the most talented and intelligent members of society blessed with the ability to make their living playing poker to be dedicating those special gifts and that energy towards a gambling game instead of becoming doctors, scientists, technical wizards and other things that make people's lives better.

3. For now, all the profits are going to foreign companies that contribute little or nothing back to our tax base.

Of course it can be argued that there are all sorts of other gambling games out there that are legal, but that doesn't mean those things are any good either. They are also generally regressive in nature and take money from those that can least afford to lose it. At least some of those forms of gambling are less personal. We go out searching for fish and suckers to take money from.

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1. I have no problem taking money from the douche bags at the casino. These same people who have families to feed and bills to pay get scammed by religion to donate money when the money could be put to better use. These people who have families and bills to pay are adults and choose to spend their money in any way they find enjoyable or necessary. If they enjoy playing poker then what's the harm? It is not more of a waste than giving those religious jackasses on tv money. Money doesn't buy you a spot in a place that doesn't exist.
2. Are you honestly claiming that poker players are some of the most talented and intelligent people in society today? Poker players are usually lazy and found poker to come natural to them. Poker players are arrogant assholes, the good ones anyway.
3. It's not like we go to a different country and spend our profit there. I don't usually travel to gibraltar to shop for shoes.

[NCAces]

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2. It hardly makes sense for many of the most talented and intelligent members of society blessed with the ability to make their living playing poker to be dedicating those special gifts and that energy towards a gambling game instead of becoming doctors, scientists, technical wizards and other things that make people's lives better.



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Of course it doesn't make sense, because it doesn't happen. You make an invalid assumption that invalidates this part of your argument ... that is that "many of the most talented and intelligent members of society blessed with the ability to make their living playing poker" are a statistically significant group of people. They aren't.

I'd venture a guess on the high side that 1000 poker players who make their living playing poker could become "doctors, scientists, technical wizards, etc." Looking at the US alone, we are a country of 300 million. 1000 poker players, 300 million residents. No issue.

NCAces

[lilsewon]

I'll go ahead and take a different view and agree with your statement. By no means do I think poker or gambling is necessarily "good" for society. It's a game that may ruin many-a-people's lives for those that don't know how to handle it. Nonetheless, the money is too good, and as a college student, I can make 5-10x as much as a normal college student makes in 1/2 the time. I love poker, even though it may not be "good".