Quote:
I took what he said as an insult as though straddling is profitable against me.
I think this exhibits an underlying problem of yours regarding the understanding of expected value. The button is such a strong position that even horrible poker players will show a long term profit in that position unless they're actively trying to lose. Getting insulted that one thinks straddling is profitable vs you is evidence enough that you only have a vague understanding of expected value.
Even without a straddle, the button owns, and is entitled to, a piece of your big blind. The sooner you begin to understand this, and also the sooner you stop getting offended when people disagree with you, the sooner you will begin to improve at poker.
To take the above a step further, if we could add up the profitability of all hands in a good player's range from a certain position, we would clearly see that this strategy as a whole is quite profitable from every single position with the exception of playing the blinds vs a raise. If we could look at two or more strategies of good players as a whole vs each other, we would see both strategies turning a profit, after the blinds are posted of course. If both players are playing correctly by making profitable decisions, then literally every hand that they see a flop with will show a long term profit. If we look at the profitability of any given strong poker strategy after blinds and antes have been posted, we will clearly see that poker is truly a positive sum game which allows more than one player to profit due to the dead money in the pot created by the blinds and antes.