Being Told "you have a problem"

[SellingtheDrama]

My parents didn't understand until I showed them a couple of the 2+2 books and a page with detailed calculations. I then did a quick explanation of finding +EV situations and compared the luck factor to the stock market. Worked well enough for me...that and they trust me not to be a screwup with money.

[Lyric]

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Sounds like most of you have really uncool parents and friends. Either that, or you do a poor job of explaining what poker is all about, perhaps secretly enjoying the status of being successful at something most of the rest of society misunderstands, and happy to keep it that way. That's the impression I get from a few posts on this topic. Then again, perhaps it's a cultural thing.

For me, my dad was sceptical at first ("if anyone could win, don't you think they would be doing it?") so I taught him how to play and we started making weekly trips to the casino. Now he beats 200NL online in his spare time and we review hands together. Mum was always unconditionally supportive and trusted that I knew what I was doing.

Friends don't really get it but are respectful and curious. I'm not uncomfortable sharing how much I've made and it doesn't seem to make them uncomfortable. Never once have I got the "but how much did you lose?" line.

FWIW I'm Australian though and perhaps we have a more relaxed attitude to gambling here, I don't know.

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Same here. Never been asked "but how much did you lose," never been told that I have a problem.

I think in general it is religion that finds gambling offensive. Most religions have strong objections to gambling -- probably because the mindset that leads one to believe in God, Fate, Prayer etc also leads one to believe in luck, gambler's fallacy, gambling superstitions, and that they can change the outcome of gambling games with thoughts or action unrelated to the game.

These misguided beliefs are likely to often lead to problem gambling. It would seem logical that religion, plagued by followers who gamble away all their extra money, would begin to teach about the evils of gambling in order to insure that the money is tithed to the church instead of the casino.