Quote:
Originally Posted by OurSurveySays
yes i agree. i know he's very very good friends with amadi and sergio and it really is incredibly sad that he chose to steal from them.
if anything this thread has taught me that we really shouldn't trust anybody. I'm pretty sure ben and amadi were as close to real life good friends as there is in poker. its shown me that I've made some naive decisions this summer (giving people a chance to steal from me that i expected to be close to 0% chance.
I wouldn't take the mindset of not trusting almost anyone at all because of this even though I see your point. Some very good friends I would do business with on a trust basis (giving them the 'opportunity' to scam me), just like they would do with me as overall the benefits outweigh the risk x disadvantage. Can't say the chance is literally 0.00% they ever do anything to wrong me but if you do everything like that I don't think it works out well either. Buying action online for example is arguably less risky than live since things are better tracked etc but the chance someone otherwise very reputable randomly doesn't pay isn't 0.. Making informed decisions basically.
As far as gambling, this is starting to get on a tangent but in my opinion there are for sure times where it is perfectly acceptable by choice for a poker player (or non-poker player) to play as a form of entertainment where they are giving up EV they can afford to lose/risking money they can afford to lose.. I personally don't ever play table games but have some friends who sometimes do, and it's similar to smart people who understand they are -ev at casino games (or even poker! -if a smart person who can afford it plays some poker, they often are aware they are not 'profitable players' or '+ev') but play sometimes anyway for fun because the EV is essentially a cost of entertainment. It's like playing arcade games (which are almost all rigged), buying lotto scratchies etc. For a lot of people paying a small fee (rake on Stars for example) to do a flip is perfectly reasonable. Doing stuff like chasing losses etc on table games is another story.
Also not everyone can control themselves. Personally I think my poker career/understanding of EV helps me avoid play these games as bparis suggested but similarly if I were to play a few hands of blackjack or whatever table game I think (not from experience) that it would also make it much 'easier' for me to not get addicted/stuck in a cycle of playing a tonne etc.
Say you are -3% at BJ and play a 20 $50 hands losing $30 of EV. If you are in the right spot that EV could be worth the entertainment/justified. (Can obviously replace numbers since this is an example)
Actually a better and maybe more common example might be just putting some money on sports. I mean of course there are some people who can find +EV spots but let's be real, most poker players (or non-poker players) putting a little money on a game for a sweat etc are likely making a "-ev" bet. And I think it's perfectly fine for the fun/sweat etc in most cases.
Last edited by OMGClayDol; 07-18-2015 at 04:46 PM.