Quote:
Originally Posted by homesick alien
Thanks for doing this Phil, it’s been a fantastic read so far.
On to my question: Do you think poker is ethically justifiable? Sometimes what I do in poker seems no different to me from what a drug dealer does to make his money.
I’ve posed this question to a few of my friends and none have really given me a conclusive answer.
Good question.
I understand your comparison. Let me first answer why I think being a poker pro isn't unethical, and then talk about the comparison.
My opponents know what they're getting into, or it's their own fault if they don't. The rules of poker are very clearcut and well known.
We're playing a game. A competition. Maybe it's different for me because I'm competitive, but if I wanted to play tennis against Andy Roddick, I would want him to try his hardest. If people are playing poker for competition or fun, and they sit with me, I would think they'd want me to work hard to beat them. They would like there to be pros to compete against.
Then there are people who play just to gamble. Some are addicted, some aren't. Either way, they're going to gamble somewhere, and probably somewhere where they're a favorite to lose. If I don't play poker with them, someone else will, or they'll bet on horses, or blackjack.
In reality, I'm in competition with all of you, the other poker pros, not the fish. We're racing to get their money, and then a bit from each other.
If I didn't play poker, every addicted person would lose just as much money. In fact, if no poker pros existed, almost every gambling addict would lose just as much money, either to the casual poker players, or to other games.
I suppose that if gambling didn't exist at all, there would be no gambling addicts. But that's an impossibility pretty much. And many would-be gambling addicts would find something else to ruin their lives with.
So, on to the comparison with drug dealers. I suppose we aren't that different. Most of what I said above could be said for dealers.
The main difference, besides the legality of it which is not a good argument, is that I don't go searching for people to make them addicts. I don't give free samples to random people to let them get hooked. I guess poker sites do though.
The fact of the matter is, that logically, if a drug dealer never goes out of his way to get new people addicted, he probably has no negative impact on the world. The people who come to him for drugs would find them elsewhere.
I guess if someone comes to him for drugs, but wouldn't have found any and given up had he not been there, he is somewhat responsible for getting them addicted. Other than that instance, he probably isn't hurting the world as a whole by dealing.
I'm fairly sure that I've had a net positive impact on the world, and that I'll continue to even moreso in the future. That's enough for me to feel good about what I do.