Giving up online poker because of parents (long)

[Vern]

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Three options:

1.
- Get a job to support yourself and loans to pay for fees.
- Do whatever the [censored] you want.

2.
- Respect your parents' wishes.

3. Leech off your parents and lie to them (and yourself) so you can continue your gambling habit.

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[bills217]

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I have made close to 13 times my orignal deposit in less than 2 weeks.

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This is meaningless. The sample size is too small. You are probably still a losing player and don't know it yet.

Let me share my story with you and see if this helps you any.

I first started playing poker online because I had fun playing in live games and I was bored. I got on PokerStars, hopped right into 2/4 limit hold 'em, had no idea what I was doing, but was lucky enough to run well and make a couple hundred bucks right at the start. I thought I was God's gift to poker and would be reaming 50/100 in no time.

Needless to say, I came crashing down, lost everything I'd won, and quit (temporarily) before I could lose anymore.

At that time, I was like you, just playing for fun, and making money was an added bonus.

But eventually, I came to the conclusion that I wasn't having much fun unless I was winning. That, and hearing about how ppl who really knew how to play were making a killing, made me want to really learn the game and get a piece of the pie myself.

So currently, I'm grinding it out at 1/2, up from .25/50 and .50/1. My main goal now is to make money, although I obviously wouldn't play if I didn't think it was any more enjoyable than say, work.

First, you need to decide whether you want to REALLY learn the game and be a good player and make money, or whether you just want some action every now and then.

The money-making road is long, tedious, and you need certain personality traits (level-headedness, self-discipline, etc.) to make it work. It isn't easy to do properly; when it is, it's essentially risk-free and potentially very profitable and rewarding.

The action-junkie road is fine too I suppose, as long as you aren't gambling more than you can afford to lose and you keep things in perspective. But I speculate you won't be having much fun if you're losing, and then, hey, maybe your parents are right to be concerned that you're pissing away their hard-earned money.

Regardless of what you decide to do, be honest with your parents, no matter how unreasonable they (almost certainly) are. They're the only ones you'll ever have.

At the same time, not accepting financial support from your parents might be beneficial to you for a number of reasons. You'll learn money management skills that you need for poker and for real life. You also won't be subject to their every whim, and they'll begin to treat you like another person instead of Little Timmy. I realize this may not be possible for you, especially if your school has high tuition, but you get my point. Independence and self-suffiency are very good things.

If you want to keep taking your parents money, then either try to talk them out of their position (highly unlikely) or quit playing online poker.

If I was you, I'd say, you know what, thanks but no thanks, I need to get a job and start supporting myself anyhow, and then I'll do as I like. At the same time, you can do that without being a prick about it, and maintain a good relationship with your parents. They'll probably respect you for it and soften their stance on you. Then in the future, when they do offer you money, you can accept it as a parent-to-son gift with no strings attached, since you've shown you can do without it.

Best of luck whatever you decide.

[Sponger.]

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This is meaningless. The sample size is too small. You are probably still a losing player and don't know it yet.

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People who says this should just be killed instead of being allowed to post this garbage. The rest of your post was good but you just look ridiculous with this assumption.

Why do you think he is "probably a losing player"? Have you seen him play? Do you know how much he deposited or what stakes he started playing at? How big is his bankroll? What are his stats? Do you know what his sample size actually is? etc.

[dark_avenger]

I'm a senior in college right now too, and poker is becoming a pretty serious profession for me right now. My parents really don't know what to think, they know i play, but not to the extent that i do, which might get interesting, as i plan on trying out going pro after i graduate. I'm not really in the exact same boat as you, as i'm on scholarship and financially independent right now, but imo, they give you money for college, and as long as you're not planning on blowing that on poker, you should be able to do whatever you want with your own money.

You're over 18 and in college....you're parents should stop telling you what to do with your own money and your own life.

[KinkyKid]

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This is meaningless. The sample size is too small. You are probably still a losing player and don't know it yet.

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People who says this should just be killed instead of being allowed to post this garbage. The rest of your post was good but you just look ridiculous with this assumption.

Why do you think he is "probably a losing player"? Have you seen him play? Do you know how much he deposited or what stakes he started playing at? How big is his bankroll? What are his stats? Do you know what his sample size actually is? etc.

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I put a small amount money into Pacific, and wanted to test my skills, seeing how much I have learned sense Party. I have been playing S&G HU and Small Tourneys for the past couple of weeks.

The result? I have made close to 13 times my orignal deposit in less than 2 weeks. I believe that is a good return for getting back into the game.


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I agree with your post for the most part about not knowing if he is a losing player. I disagree that we don't know anything about the OP's play. We can definitely infer that if he is close to 13x his deposit in two weeks, that he is either running hot or playing over his bankroll. I think its some of both. I don't think its a stretch to assume a small sample size, since his spring break didn't hit yet and I assume he has classes in the daytime. I disagree that he is "probably still a losing player."

I think you should not tell your parents and continue to play and learn. DON'T let it interfere with schoolwork. Now that they know you might play, any drop in grades may quickly be attributed to that. And learn good bankroll management. You want to be able to play off what you have until you are not taking money from your parents. Good luck.

[bills217]

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Why do you think he is "probably a losing player"?

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A randomly selected person is probably a losing player. My PokerTracker says so. [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

Seriously though, I just made what I think are some pretty conservative inferrences based on his OP, 13x bankroll in two weeks, etc., and I qualified it with "probably."

And I should be killed for it?

Have a nice day! [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[Vern]

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I think you should not tell your parents and continue to play and learn.

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How can people honestly recommend that someone lie to their parents when the parents are footing the bill for his college. Once he opened the door by telling them in the first place, he had to live with the consequences. I could understand recommending that he tell his parents he was going to continue to play, and then live with the consequences. I think recommending someone lie to their parents is not offering mature advice that is good for the long term. If poker is supposed to not be gambling in the long term, how can lying in the short term to your financial backers be supported?

Tell your parents you intend to play, they may then either cut you off or continue to support you. Or stop playing. You had an option not to tell them in the first place, but you already passed that bridge and there is no going back. Now, instead of just having privacy in your life, you will have to lie to your financial backers.

[primetime32]

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I think you should not tell your parents and continue to play and learn.

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How can people honestly recommend that someone lie to their parents when the parents are footing the bill for his college. Once he opened the door by telling them in the first place, he had to live with the consequences. I could understand recommending that he tell his parents he was going to continue to play, and then live with the consequences. I think recommending someone lie to their parents is not offering mature advice that is good for the long term. If poker is supposed to not be gambling in the long term, how can lying in the short term to your financial backers be supported?

Tell your parents you intend to play, they may then either cut you off or continue to support you. Or stop playing. You had an option not to tell them in the first place, but you already passed that bridge and there is no going back. Now, instead of just having privacy in your life, you will have to lie to your financial backers.

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"Tell your parents you intend to play, they may then either cut you off or continue to support you." That may be the worst advice i have ever read on these boards. I would have just quoted that one part, but your whole post was just insane.

Here is some real world advice. Keep playing as long as it is profitable and as long as it isnt related to any of your parents bank/credit accounts. Do not put yourself in a position where you would need them to bail you out of a gambling debt.

Don't worry about your parents, its their job to worry and play it safe. No one can blame them. But you are old enough to make decisions like this on your own as long as you can support it without their help.

[Vern]

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[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I think you should not tell your parents and continue to play and learn.

[/ QUOTE ]

How can people honestly recommend that someone lie to their parents when the parents are footing the bill for his college. Once he opened the door by telling them in the first place, he had to live with the consequences. I could understand recommending that he tell his parents he was going to continue to play, and then live with the consequences. I think recommending someone lie to their parents is not offering mature advice that is good for the long term. If poker is supposed to not be gambling in the long term, how can lying in the short term to your financial backers be supported?

Tell your parents you intend to play, they may then either cut you off or continue to support you. Or stop playing. You had an option not to tell them in the first place, but you already passed that bridge and there is no going back. Now, instead of just having privacy in your life, you will have to lie to your financial backers.

[/ QUOTE ]

"Tell your parents you intend to play, they may then either cut you off or continue to support you." That may be the worst advice i have ever read on these boards. I would have just quoted that one part, but your whole post was just insane.

Here is some real world advice. Keep playing as long as it is profitable and as long as it isnt related to any of your parents bank/credit accounts. Do not put yourself in a position where you would need them to bail you out of a gambling debt.

Don't worry about your parents, its their job to worry and play it safe. No one can blame them. But you are old enough to make decisions like this on your own as long as you can support it without their help.

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The problem I see is he is taking there money for college then engaging in conduct they are prohibiting as a term of that support. I think mature long term advice is live with their requirement to keep getting the support or risk losing the support by continuing to play. Poker is a gamble in the short term and skill overrides luck in the long term. Good poker players look for long term results. Why should long term advice be insane?

[bkellog1]

stop being a "mama's boy" and just don't tell them. Go for it as long as it is within your means.