Why is it ok to ask poker players how much they make? - Page 3

MarkD · #21 03-20-2006, 08:17 PM

Every week we have a project meeting with our engineering group (about 10-15 people). Last Monday a relatively new employee who has just discovered poker and who knows that I play quite seriously asked me if I played this weekend. I said yes and he asked me if I won. I said yes so of course he asked me how much. I said, "I'd rather not say". To which, my boss said, "That much eh?"

WTF?

I mean, my company is pretty casual and my boss is cool with the fact I play cards and everyone knows that I play seriously but jesus - I don't want my boss to know what I make playing cards. Talk about awkward. I didn't know what to say.

Hock_ · #22 03-20-2006, 08:32 PM

I don't have as much of an aversion to it as others seem to. To me, that's how you keep score. If you played hockey and someone asked you how many points you scored last year you wouldn't think anything of it. Or if you're a lawyer and someone asks you what firm you work for or how many cases you won last year or some such thing, same deal.

skp · #23 03-20-2006, 08:43 PM

Asking a lawyer how many cases he has won might be comparable to asking a poker player how many hands he has won...or sessions or whatever. it's not the same as asking him how much money he has won.

I agree with the poster who said that the difference is that when you tell someone that you are a lawyer, they have an idea of what that might mean in monetary terms. Thus, they don't ask about the size of your paychceks. On the other hand, when you say that you play poker for a living, they have no clue and feel compelled to ask.

It still doesn't excuse the guy asking the question. It is rude to ask but the reason why he asked is apparent.

PokerBob · #24 03-20-2006, 08:49 PM

i only tell people when i lose. they tend to stop asking then.

Sponger. · #25 03-20-2006, 08:59 PM

I don't know, but I have no problem telling other poker players exactly what I've been making, but then kinda shy away from it when other people ask. I guess when I ask other poker players how they are doing I see it as a barometer of how good they are?

SenecaJim · #26 03-20-2006, 09:57 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I don't know, but I have no problem telling other poker players exactly what I've been making, but then kinda shy away from it when other people ask. I guess when I ask other poker players how they are doing I see it as a barometer of how good they are?

[/ QUOTE ]

That barometer is based on the assumption that the poker player is not lying....pretty weak, that.

galahad_187 · #27 03-20-2006, 11:47 PM

my girlfriend's grandmother asked me what i did i told her i play poker. She said, 'thats working?' i said,' yep, i made 1 dollar 11 cents an hour last month. Thats not typical by any means but saying anything afterwards just kills the joke =].

she finds me the perfect candidate for her favorite granddaughter.

Lurker4 · #28 03-21-2006, 12:44 AM

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Simple. People don't see it as a serious source of income. They see it as just a trip to the cardroom to gamble.

b

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Bingo.

Most people view it as just something you do for fun in your free time, and hence asking you how much you make or how you've done in a session isn't anywhere close to asking someone how much they make at their job to them. This is probably especially true of college kids where any decent amount of money you've won gambling, as opposed to earned at a job, is a big deal.

I also agree with the comparison to scoring points or goals or whatever in sports. If you said you play basketball, someone would probably ask you what position, how many points/rebounds/assists/whatever, etc. Similarly to poker, $ made/lost is the only measure of success people know of in poker.

I usually just say "I do pretty well" and most of the time people get that I don't want to go into specific numbers. I find that that works well, letting them know that i'm not some kind of addict, not having to tell them any numbers while at the same time not being too hostile.

Scotch78 · #29 03-21-2006, 12:49 AM

I generally say, "Enough to pay the bills, but it'll never make me rich."

Scott

ChuckyB · #30 03-21-2006, 01:00 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Is there any other profession where this is acceptable? I have all kinds of people, some I barely even know, ask me how much I make a year or per hour. But if I ask them, it's incredibly rude? Wtf? Is this socially acceptable or have I just been encountering rude people?

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I don't really care if people ask my how much I make in my work or at poker. I don't feel it's a contest. I earn what I earn and that's good by me.

I have no idea why everyone is so sensitive when it comes to talking about money.