I've been talking to girls in bars before and sometimes I've got terrible reactions to any mention that I work in online poker (not even play it professionally).

Yeah, I haven't had much success. Unfortunately, girls either assume I'm a degenerate or a rich television star/millionaire. But I'm neither; I just grind SNGs. So what do I tell the girls? I lie to them. Lying to women is +EV.

once i went to the doctor because i was a little bit ill. i wore a pokerstars pullover. He asked my if i play poker and how much? (in this time i played pretty much everyday).
I said not much
He sent me to a doctor who should see if i have a gambling problem.
i thought about telling him "oh well i dont play with the money which is for food etc. and i have a social live so wtf should i go to an doctor who is for people who have a gambling problem?! I am not a person who sits in the bar next door to play the slots?! i am not playing games in which i obviously loose."
but i was interested how poker players are treated here.
but the doctor was really nice some really awkward question but overall she said i dont have a gambling problem and i know about my responsibiliy and stuff..."
but funny how the first doctor said i have a gambling problem because i wore a ps pullover..
i really hate to wear it now because everyone just asks stupid questions..

seems like alot of people in this thread are pretty insecure/easily angered when it comes to talking to people about poker. Its best to just be vague and stay calm instead of trying to justify your methods to other people.

person: you making much with poker?
you: yup
person: blah blah blah, how do u do it?
you: gambool
/end

lol, its just a new zealand thing. every chick here is very very anti poker, unless they see your ballin. gold diggers :/

<-------

[x] Broke up with the gf because of poker
[?] Degen

No, your GF is whipped beyond belief. I bet you're one of 1000's though, so cheer up, you can always date Annie Duke

Rofl, rather date my right hand, but thanks lol

If you see someone being a dumbass, you just gotta do him a favor and show it to him with an example or maybe intentionally play dumber, that he can taste some of hes own medicine.

1.If someone gives you the "I'll give u $20 and u play it up $500 then we split winnings"

Just say "Well.. but what if I buy you some cleaning equipment worth $20 and u start cleaning **** and we split the income, how's that?"

If they try something like "but its super easy to you, u just click buttons" Ask if everyone with physically easy desk job forced to handle mental stress and use your brain and mathematics should give money to people doing physical jobs?


2.If someone gives you the "but how much did u lose".

Ask them how much they made last month at work and then repeatedly ask "but how much did u lose" untill they become angry and shout "ITS A ****ING JOB, HOW CAN I LOSE MONEY!". Calmly say that poker is your job and how can u live with it if u would lose money.


3.If they say that "poker is all luck, U cant make money with it".

Say stocks are same, mix of luck and skill. If they dont understand, tell them to get deck of cards and deal 100 times AA vs 27o PF ALLIN and count which wins more and explain if you put money on better cards u win in the long run.

Yea, the mouthbreather as they just saw you is starting to be their own image.
SHIPP THEM buy-ins of humiliation.


4.When people start preaching how morally wrong poker is and how you are taking advantage of people.

Tell them that they are doing exactly the same thing in life, they just dont know it. By making themself look better at job interview with achievements they are taking advantage of people with lesser achievements. Ask with sarcastic tone "How can u sleep your night, maybe the other guy really needed your job and killed himself over it". If he replies "Well I was more qualified than others". Explain that you are more qualified in poker. Say if they would come up with good idea and start company and bankrupting other companies because of it, is it their fault? They are only guilty of being smarter than someone else.


5.If they say that "poker is not productive for society and what if all people were poker players, everyone would die of hunger."

Say that it's the same thing if everyone would be athletes, that doesnt make sense because theres no world where everyone would do the same job because we need others too. Explain that poker is just like football or hockey, majority (audience) is having fun watching and paying it and the professional players make money out of it. In poker majority is loosing players who play for fun and professionals make good living out of it. And if they want to ban poker for being counter-productive for society then say that watching sports and drinking liquor is as counter-productive as poker and as fun as poker to some people.


6.If they say that "there can be degenerate gamblers in poker but not at watching sports".

Explain that there is a lot "degenerate" people in world in many ways, some drink too much, some gamble too much, some watch too much tv or play online games so it messes up their school/job. If someone is alcoholic that doesnt mean that its the brewerys fault. If some kid is sniffin glue to get high thats not the glue factorys fault. If someone is addicted to online games, how can it be the games fault when not everyone is addicted to it? If minority cant handle things such as drinking, gambling, online games, tv etc. does it mean that it should be banned from all?


lols, why when someone sees u playin poker first time they can be horrified and say "STOP IT ADDICT, U LOSE IT!". But rarely when someone sees you drinking beer he shouts "OMG ALCOHOL ARE U CRAZY?!? U WILL BECOME ALCOHOLIC!".

Most of the ignorant replies to poker players are because of movies and stories. And this all is just my opinion, I'm not saying Its the right one.

+1 PIAAAA

Nice 3rd poast actually.... i wonder what the other 2 were like?

i dont usually read the long posts but A+ PIAAAA

+1 PIAAAA A++
quality post indeed

Most recently, people have been complaining because "you won't have health insurance" (if I quit my job). What is that crap?

Folding Kings pre, what is that crap!

I don't drink, so this is PERFECT.

If you're going to reference that hand, at least have the decency to bump my epic thread.

omg gold

"How much did you win today?"

--"$X"

"Okay, but how much did you lose?"

--"-$X?"

Is that not the answer? That's what I would say, at least.

This exactly. God forbid that I mention it to my family. They tried sitting me down and giving me an intervention by making me watch the 60 Minutes episode with the Russ Hamilton scandal.

well done sir..... well done

My parents are cool about it...even my Grandmother, who's 85 and still sings in the Church Choir. But then again, poker is just my FAVORITE hobby, not my job. I'm 35, have two kids, a beautiful wife of 15 years, and a really, really awesome job that I love. It would be hard to look at my life from a casual glance and classify me as a degen.

I'm an eniginneer by trade, so the analytical side of hold'em appeals to my nature. My Mom is a math teacher, my Dad is a biology teacher turned entrepreneur. So when I talked with my folks about it in passing, they were actually very interested and had a ton of questions. Of course, the odds made perfect sense to my Mom, and Dad just loved talking about EV. He said something to the effect of "It's really like making hundreds of tiny business decisions based on profitable expecations." Wow. They get it.

So after this conversation, they wanted to play a tourney. We sat down at the kitchen table with my 8yo son and played some fun poker and had a blast. My son beat me HU. I was so proud.

That's a pretty young wife

I lol'd.

Ok, I lol'd too. That would definately be degen.