This answer will make people think you lost.

guys...stop being so sensitive. play poker. live life...funk everybody else or what they think. tell them what you want, but dont let ppl tilt you with their stories or ignorance. that is a part of life too. stop being so sensitive, and get over it...all of it. just play poker

UL what can ya do

Joos?

Drunken Blackjack is awesome....

only prob is that they look at you with that "wtf did you just say?" face and don't get it. Try explaining to someone you netted say 1k for a month.. "but how much did you lose?" ... that infamous question always makes its way around. So its almost pointless to say anything other than "well im about even"

I've found people with money usually respond like your kind of an idiot trying to lecture you on how to be smart, and get a real job or something. But average Joes usually respond like "dude that is F'n Awesome!"... Followed by up by bunch of questions about poker or their story about how they played once and lost 200 bucks.

Like others I avoid the discussion as much as I can. Its always my friends that bring it up, which I don't mind that much because they can usually field a lot of the questions or help move the discussion to another topic. The 1 on 1 discussions I avoid like the plague.

Imo, only tell your very closest friends the truth about your winnings. People will look at you differently and many will envy (even if they are close). Most people just can't handle it.

no. do not tell anyone that has no concept that winning is possible in poker (ie anyone that has never won on a casual to fulltime basis). telling close friends is a fkn disaster.

i was at my girlfriend's friends house today , conv went like this ...

Her: "So , what did you do all day today?"
Me: "got up around noon and played poker for about 4 hrs and did some laundry and what not"
Her: "how do you afford to play everyday?"
Me: "what do you mean, i have an online bank roll and play within my limits"
Her: "how do you keep putting money everyday on there?"
Me: "i dont"
End Conv

Trying to explain poker to someone who has no clue is impossible. they think you just sit down, put 100 in a game and then repeat over and over again depositing money.

Update on the situation: there's actually an article they just made this week on the weekly news site employees can read on store PCs. It's asking leadership and the store secretaries to make plans for this year's United Way drive, an exciting 2 day event.

My jaw hit the desk when I read further and saw the date of the event: September 10-11. 5 months away! And apparently this year it's going to be a 2 day event instead of an hour long guilt trip. I'm requesting September 10-11 off tomorrow.

My father and mother take my poker hobby very easy. They want to hear about bankroll management and how the game works. My father even wanted to learn a game a bit and he was interrested about graphs and stats I sent him via email . When I told that I did not get a summerjob this year, but I would study and play some poker to get a long, he was supportive.

When I told my big sister (27 years) that I did not get a summer job despite I searched hard, and my second plan is to play poker, she went totally mad. She instantly started to tell me about ethics of making money (poker is not a real job, its just a silly game and your money comes from weak people who are addicted to online games, that is wrong) and how poker is connected with organisational criminality, prostitution, drug dealing and stuff like that. She told me to get a real life, a real job, a real hobby and concentrate on my studies, which are going well at university of economics though.

I was like "WTF u are telling me?!" She did not even want to hear how the game works, how is it possible to be a constantly winning player and how I think and play the poker. I tried to explain her the basics of bankroll management, variance, controllable risks and stuff but she totally ignored me and said that it is only swindling of people that they get hooked on poker and dream about being a somekind of poker super star that are showed on tv. I tried to tell her, that you don't have to play in high stakes to make your living and I am not dreaming about beign a super pro. I just need some income for the summer that I get along.

The result was that we had a huge quarrel and hassle and she begun to cry. Well, a few days later she called me and said that she had a bad hang over that day and she was sorry about everything. We made a deal that we do not talk about poker anymore.

haha this is fun, tho we introduced the gay-bet/raise, its value is a smallblind.
makes for hilarious moments when someone raises, 5 callers, last one to act gayraises and initial opener raises hard. everyone feels enticed to call
homegames ftw

> "but how much did you lose?"
to be fair, mtt winners tend to not deduce the buyin from their win

Just break up with her. Seriously. If she's too dumb to be able to have a normal conversation with, and you don't respect her enough to talk about your interests, wtf are you doing then?

^^^^ sounded like gf's friend, not gf herself.

Alot of ppl in this thread have stupid friends/gfs/family/acquaintances. I have little to no problem explaining what I do sometimes peoples eyes glass over when I get into specifics but thats about it.

Which sportsbar do you play at?
I run my own game at sidelines off roswell.

Yeh, I've had nothing but positive interest. Can't help but think that some of the people here are doing something else to make their friends/family think they're degens.

this is the one i get the most. although they usually say "so do you actually make money doing that?"

i think from now on im gonna come back with the same response to them when they tell me what they do for a living.

"im a manager at _______."
"oh wow, do you make money doing that?!"

I'm so confused. How is it possible your gf doesn't know and understand at least the basics about poker if you play everyday???

This is how I feel too. I'm totally open about what I do for a living with everyone I know/meet. I've essentially never had a bad response. Yesterday (in church even!) I ran into a friend who I hadn't talk to since high school probably. She asked me if I really play poker for a living because she'd seen it on my FB page. She was super interested and thought it was pretty amazing. And this is a super straight laced very conservative girl.

So I dunno, I just don't see how everyone has such problems with this, and I suspect there are other reasons involved.

Mark

It has gotten to the point if people even mention poker in a new setting I just sit and grill them on it....haha!!! It is nice to play devil's advicate every now and then. Just to see the look on their face just reminds me how much I hate telling everyone what I do!!

If you caught Joan Rivers' spiel on TV the other night as she walked out of Donald Trump's office boardroom/reality show set, you would better understand why I don't tell people I play poker.

Certain age groups, even ones around my age and the older generations especially, just think that poker players are 'worse than white trash.'

+1

Heh, I didn't think I could be related to someone so ******ed but my father takes the cake. So he starts arguing and talking BS about how he can't believe I'm gambling. I tell him it's a game of skill and it involves math and game theory.

So he shouts "What do you know about anything? You don't know more than me! It's gambling!" (He shouts this from across the room because I'm bigger than him. He knows what would probably happen if he gets up in my face with his foolishness)

I'm like =\ thinking "Can someone really be this dumb and related to ME?"

He knows 0 about poker. He probably doesn't even know the general rules of the game, yet he's trying to say he knows more about it and how it's gambling because you wager money. I point out how buying stock or playing the lottery is also gambling (he does both) because you're putting up money in order to win more money, but there is a risk because there is no guaranteed end result. He talks more nonsense and I zone it out because it's like talking to Sarah Palin.

He later tries to justify by saying diversifying in different stocks lowers the risk. I point out the basic definition of gambling involves ANY risk, no matter how small. Furthermore, I point out how proper poker play is about exploiting players weaker than you and in the long run, the player making less mistakes (the better player) will always profit over the weaker competition. Obviously, he doesn't even understand the basic rules of poker so he just rejects this.

I'm starting to think proper poker play (or any strategic game) brings out strong reasoning skills and intellect because it seems the people who don't play are massive ******s.

Oh I forgot to mention that he thinks playing poker would lead to stealing and a life of crime.