An Essay About “Poker: The Misunderstood Pastime”

[ESKiMO-SiCKNE5S]

start drinking ldo

[jaxUp]

gf: embraces it for the most part. My possibly wanting to play professionally after school when we have plans for a wedding/a family and such caused a bit of astir, but a few discussions took care of that.

mom: I know she worries a bit, but she has seen how responsible I've been and so knows it's unfair to bother me with her worrying. (so basically, worries a bit in private but I never have to hear about it)

dad: Thinks it's great that I've been so successful and knows I'm responsible. Last month he offended me a bit telling me in a tone that I didn't like to "Make sure you anddon't lose all that money." I gave him a bit of a look and got an immediate apology and the "Sorry, I know you're careful with it, I just worry a little" speech. Other than that, he has never shown anything but support (and a little jealousy since he's a limidonk pseudo-fish).

siblings: My sister worried at first, but upon seeing my success and carefulness(notaword?) with it is now fine with the situation. My older brother and slightly younger brother think it's awesome. My youngest brother (only 15) thinks it's great. I always make sure when I ever talk with him about it that I really emphasize responsibility in the whole matter.

Good school friends: think it's awesome (standard).

Kinda-sorta school friends: Some know, some don't. I don't particularly care what any of them think.

[jaxUp]

ok, I'll add a bit about my gf's family since we have been together for a long time.

Her Parents: know I play and make money at it. They have never once said anything negative to me about it, but it's not something we talk about openly. I suspect that they don't really like it, and just see it as a relatively short term thing. There may be mumblings if I play pro after school, but probably nothing major.

Her sisters (mid-20's to early 30's): The 2 youngest ones think it's great. The oldest one has never really said anything about it. I get the sense that she is a little concerned but has no big problems.

Extended family: The aunts and uncles and cousins that I know well know about it for the most part and are quite cool about it.

[bozlax]

carefulness = caution

[jaxUp]

[ QUOTE ]
carefulness = caution

[/ QUOTE ]

you are wise sir

[MrWookie]

Carefulness is a word. Caution gets the job done in fewer syllables. Take your pick.

[bbbushu]

[ QUOTE ]
none of us are ever going to derive a significant portion of our income from playing poker over a long period of time.

[/ QUOTE ]
i'll get back to you on this [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[bbbushu]

on topic,

my girlfriend is really supportive of me and that makes it easier to commit a lot of time, and possibly a good deal of my life, to learning how to play (HU Limit) hold 'em.

my parents hate the idea (my mom is just generally skeptical, my step dad doesn't understand and my real dad has some addiction problems so this doesn't exactly look like a smart choice on college student's part) and don't even get me STARTED on my grandparents, teachers and a significant portion of my friends.

Anybody in college ever answer the question [guy from twisted sister video]WHAT DO YOU WANNA DO WITH YOUR LIFE?![/gftsv] by saying "play pokar"? it goes over pretty bad lol.

it's a real sad story, i guess. being 22 years old, sometimes it's hard to tell if i'm ahead or behind the curve in the goal to be my own person and not give a *true* flying [censored] about whether other people approve of my lifestyle or not.

i can't imagine anybody over 30 seeing parental disapproval as anything more than an annoyance at thanksgiving. i hope to god it never becomes more than that for me.

bbbushu (wants to rock!!!)

note: i debate-scholarshipped my way through college and have minimal dependence on parents for monetary needs so maybe that makes it easier on me.

[bozlax]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
none of us are ever going to derive a significant portion of our income from playing poker over a long period of time.

[/ QUOTE ]
i'll get back to you on this [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

You left off "statistically." (I'm cutting out my long-winded explainer.)

[KingOtter]

From a grandfather's perspective...

Yah, yah, yah... I'm only (almost) 40, but I am a grandfather (by a stepdaughter) and raised two of my wife's kids from 10 and 12 (they almost 21 and 23 now). I've got two more kids, 9 and 7.

Here's the deal on parents and kids...

Kids can NEVER completely please their parents. Ever... never ever ever....

Barry Bonds' dad is probably telling him how he didn't swing his bat right when he came into the dugout. Nevermind he's like a home-run god. His dad is still fixing stuff.

George W. Bush's dad is probably telling him how he doesn't handle the press right.

Bill Gates' mom probably still has to tell him when his shirt isn't tucked in.

It DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU DO... your parents are your parents and they will forever hold opinions good and bad about everything you do. Everything! You can win the lottery, buy them a house in Florida and 2 BMW's, and they will still say "Don't drive so fast."

It doesn't mean they don't love you. It just means they are parents. It's natural. In fact, they do it BECAUSE they love you, and this is one way they show it. Because they are saying "I care."

My sons are great kids. They do 100 things right a day. They do 3 things wrong. What am I going to talk to them about? The 3 things... not the 100 things. Why talk about the stuff they did right? They did it right!

So... basically, get over it. Understand your parents are human. They love you, respect you, and are probably extremely proud of you for being an adult that doesn't live in their garage and are taking responsibility for a family.

My dad 'expressed some concern' when I told them I was playing poker online. Evidently the story going around the family is my great-grandfather was a bit of a high-roller of his time, and didn't leave much behind to show for it. He told me, "The guy who starts with the most money has the advantage in gambling, and there's always people with more money than you."

I said three things to him:

1. Bankroll management.
2. The chess metaphor. Poker is playing a chess game for $1, then flipping a coin for $10. In the long run the coin flips even out, and the skill at the chess-game determines whether you are a winner or a loser.
3. It's for fun, and I never have any intention of supporting my family by playing poker.

I post about my poker on my blog quite a bit, which they read.

As to what Boz is saying, I agree with his points, too. I don't talk to them about my religious non-convictions. There's no need for a dialogue on that subject, because it wouldn't be a dialogue.