This is my opinion too. Well said.

Not familiar with your native dialect....Australian? British?

Is "hitting the piss" some foreign form of bathroom swordfighting? "Crossing the streams" as some would say?

Is "running a muck" a fancy term for dealing?

Australian

Well yes, if you the person you're talking to has an education in math or computer science or engineering that might work. I know a lot of engineers, and they get it.

But you would be surprised how little math some people understand. A LOT of people can't comprehend the idea of risk spread over a decent sample size, they don't want anything to do with even simple arithmetic, and they hope never to see a fraction again in their lives.

When I first started playing live, I took a poker book to read while I was waiting for a local tournament to start (I know enough now not to let anyone know I read poker books.) Often someone would ask to look at my book, and almost every person immediately handed it back to me if they saw any kind of chart, graph, or anything that looked like math.

People have no idea how to evaluate risk. The have no idea how risk and investment work together, and they are afraid of doing things that have much less chance of injuring them than driving to work. "I'm all in" is translated as "I could go broke."

The next time you meet some random person, try explaining why it's OK to draw to a flush if you're getting 5:1 on the river, and you'll usually get something like, "But you'll lose most of the time right?"

Yeh i know people are stupid thats why u really have to boil it down to the simplest examples possible sometimes. For one, ask them if they would gamble on a coinflip if they win $2 for being right and lose $1 for being wrong. I feel like most people can understand that its a +ev decision unless theyre literally retarted. The same u could apply to a dice game where ur chance of rolling a 1 is 1/6 but if u lose $1 and win $10 its +ev. Even though its gambling and luckbased the risk/reward ratio makes it +ev in the longrun. if they still dont get it, theyre hopeless lol

I've used this example before and most people understand it intellectually, but I think are still too risk to believe it to be true. I've actually offered this bet to people trying to explain the point but they wouldn't because 'They might lose.'

+1

It is absolutely shocking to me how many people can't comprehend the simplest thing. I've tried explaining it in these terms and people still don't get it.

Haha wow, nvm then i guess im just fortunate enough to not have to deal with people that dumb. fwiw im jewish, everyone in my fam and many of my friends have college degrees so my sample isnt representative of the general population. Edit: humans are hopeless haha, proceed with the awesome stories of people asking "but how much did you lose?"

So she asks why you aren't gambling, you explain, and she still doesn't get it. No point in explaining then.

I use the coinflip scenario only I usually say $1 for loss and $1.50 for win, but same principle. Everyone says they would take that deal. I explain I look for spots like that where, although I don't win them all the time, when I do I will win more money than I will lose long term. If they don't get it, screw them.

I tried explaining it to my mother, she didn't get it. Until I showed her my graphs and excel programs and whatnot. She doesn't understand the odds, but she now understands that I don't 'win' money playing, I 'make' money playing.

When I told my mom that I make money in poker.
Her: Theres no money to be made in poker, you will only lose money.
Me: Ok.
Next day ill show up with a new Ferrari saying theres no money to be made in poker? **** bitch
heh that would be funny

That doesn't really work unless you show up with a new ferrari though.

Me: "I'm not addicted to poker, I just like making money."
Other people: "But no one makes money in the long run, it always evens out."
Me: "You don't understand."
Other people: "That's what all addicts say."

Girl asks me "how's poker going?"

Tell her I'm down 10 BI this month

"But weren't you up alot earlier?"

"yeah"

"Why didn't you quit while you were ahead"

mfw

There are just too many stupid people in the world. And not everyone's life revolves around poker. I'm sure there are pedophiles who you run into every day at the super market that don't tell you they are sick demented fu xxx

I've also tried breaking it down into the simplest terms with the following questions (letting them answer):

1) Why do casinos make money? How do casinos make money? (usually people are competent enough to tell you that they set up things so you can't win - i.e. blackjack rules and payouts, etc.)

2) When a casino makes money, does somebody lose money?

3) When a hand of poker happens, who makes money? Who loses money? What is the presence of the "house"? (this is when they start to notice that the variables involved in "gambling" - i.e. the player and the house - aren't present in poker)

4) If there is no house to regulate my actions, can I control when I am betting and what I am betting to maximize how much I make and minimize how much I lose?

5) If I can do that, consistently, how is there no money to be made in poker?

FYI, typical conversation goes like this:

1) Answer: casinos have the odds in their favor in every game you play

2) Answer: yes, the person playing loses because the odds are not in their favor

3) Answer: one player wins, one player loses, the casino...uh...hmm....I donno

4) Answer: i guess so....

5) Answer: because the house always wins. you'll lose in the long run.

ugh **** me.