What good is poker? Do we really have fun? Any real contributions? Positives? Healthy? Anyone have real balance with all this?

It's up to us to balance our lifestyle. This is something I'm struggling with right now. Specifically, my schedule is bullshit (go to bed at 2-3 am and can't fall asleep for a long time... wake up at 10a-12p repeat) and I barely leave the house and have no social life. TBH I have always sucked at being social, but just moved to Michigan where I don't know anyone. I don't work out... suboptimal diet too (and yep definitely out of shape), but one thing I have improved on this year is being more frugal on my food spending and cooking at home. Despite this, had my best month last month. Need to try harder to change the bad things, so I can continue my upward journey in poker & also enjoy life more. I do think poker is fun though, despite doing it for a living, and can be healthy but you have to try and make changes yourself.

Poker has some benefits for society if that's what you mean. It promotes social interaction among diverse participants and provides entertainment, distraction and excitement for some. We can also learn life lessons through the game and some poker knowledge has utility in business scenarios.

It also has downsides of course, including severe negative impacts on some individuals and their loved ones.

A more interesting question is whether making a living from poker contributes to community/humanity/civilisation. I struggle to see any way in which being a poker pro contributes to wider society, other than the case of those few pros who move theory forward. It's a diversion of human resources - most pros who make a living from the game have talents which could contribute in a positive way if directed at other occupations.

I'm a weird case because I can play poker endlessly and almost never get tired of it. I played 30-40 hrs a week in addition to my real job for 2 years straight before I took a month off from playing cards. Been playing ever since.

Most people however I know are not like this and poker can get old and lose it's magic. I still get butterflies before every session lol

This topic again. You'll find thousands of posts about this very subject if you use the search function

Many more posts for that one in particular as well.

It's like masturbation. It plays an important role in some people's lives.

To society as a whole? Not very much although it does create jobs in the gaming industry I suppose.

On a personal level, I enjoy the competitiveness and mental challenge of the game and trying to beat my opponents.

Balance in your life is key though.

I enjoy poker because it is challenging, makes you think, and is an outlet to be competitive. It is a much more stimulating hobby than playing video games. And you are always able to continue to improve, no matter how good you are.

The fact that you can make some money is a nice bonus, but not the primary reason I play.

Personally for me it helped me develop better logical thinking and more importantly steered me away from gambling being a problem

meh, depends on the video game, certainly not more stimulating than starcraft

it's a social game, the best conversations you'll ever have in your life are at the high stakes poker tables imho

other than that it's just a GAME and you shouldn't expect more out of it than that out of it, just a hobby or for entertainment even if you're a winner because it's not healthy to play it for too long just like video games aren't healthy. video games are a cool diversion but shouldn't be your life even if you are a pro making money on twitch, not good for you or anyone else

poker in moderation good, anything above bad

I live in a mobile home in a poor and rural area. There is no good work around for 40 miles.

I take money from all around the country, from people who have a lot more money than I do.

I spend that money in my rural, poor town, and am raising my child with it.

I am contributing to my local community and raising a family.

I feel the world is a slightly better place for it.


edit: I tip well.

you don't know if you're taking it from people who have more money than you do though

Haha

It's better than being an actuary.

I’m in debt because of you. You’re delusional

Hey give the guy a break, if it wasn't for online poker his town would just have tumbleweed blowin through it, and nuttin more than the odd drifter passin through.

But because of online poker the general store is busy, the saloon bar doors are regularly swingin and Miss Maisie's soda bar is thrivin.

I'd say the pros that start games/waiting lists and will play with anyone that fancies it are providing a service - particularly in b&m casinos. After that it does become a bit of a stretch.

You read my book?

lol when I walk into a casino and first hear all the slot machines going I all of a sudden get super nervous, but then after two seconds I realize I've done it before a million times, it's bizarre

I used to be an actuary, it depends

It was once a really cushy job, now most places expect you to earn the salary and chit

I make so much money at poker I’m embarrassed

Poker is a fantastic hobby but generally a horrible "job" unless you are a young single person who wants to continue to be a young single person (or for the very least at least not have kids). For work/ life balance having a consistent and steady income and working time/ free time almost always outweighs the grind of being self-employed and having unpredictable swings in income. Even most people who make a good living in poker probably could make the same if not more in a traditional field. And of course it must be said that many, many people end up busto persuing their dream of being a professional poker player, in fact it's a mathmatical fact that more people lose in poker than win.

Being a professional amateur player, I’ve got a very balanced life. I’m either playing poker or not playing poker. I don’t do either one all the time.

A great move is to have a traditional career that gives you your weekends to play poker on the side. That's honestly +EV for so many people, but that's not the fantasy being sold by many.