parents want me to quit poker...need advice (semi-long)

[mike0292]

Well anyway I deposited $50 into party at the end of November and managed to work it up during high school to the $25k+ I have now, and now my parents want me to quit while I'm at school but they will let me play when I'm home on break.

My dad and I were into the whole WSOP thing back when I started and he liked to play along with me and stuff but the more I keep winning the more worried they get about me. They made me take a break for a month and a half in the spring and I was pissed at first but was fine with it. They get worried that I won't ever get a "real" job and "contribute" to society. I told my mom that so many people don't "contribute" like lawyers etc. but whatever, it is true that poker players don't really contribute in a traditional sense.

I'm going to a good school and plan to get an engineering degree and will get a job but they worry about me. Their other reasoning for wanting me to take a break was that they think I will be consumed by poker and not socialize or study. I basically respond that I won't get addicted bla bla bla and they just say it's the teenager in me talking. There is also a history of gambling addictions in the family which have been pretty devastating to those involved so my parents think I have this "gambling" gene that will make me like spontaneously combust and lose all my money. I explained that pokre isn't really gambling because I am a proven winner and all that but they don't really listen.

I have tried every angle but they just come back to the whole guilt trip thing where they just don't want me to and don't give any reasons really. I have also said that they can't really control me when I'm at college and I can do what I want I'm an adult now but then my mom gets upset and I really love my parents and they are generally understanding but they are just adamant about this one thing and I don't want to lose their trust or anything like that.

Well anyway anyone have feedback, maybe something I can tell my parents. They said I can play on breaks and live games but I can't play on the internet because it's easy to just get on and gamble (whatever that means).