God, give it up you degens.

You all have massive emotional problems that most of you will probably never overcome. Face facts.

thx for telling us!

"oh man you just lost 100$, i must be bad luck or something!"

life would be much easier in general if a majority of human beings weren't bound solely by the semantic circuit. Words are more powerful than guns.

+1 on the reply

Well, most people I talk to at the poker tables don't believe that there is any skill in poker so why would they go out looking for it?

This is dumb. There's huge amounts of information about baseball out there, the fact that I know nothing about it puts you on tilt?

Unless there is a woman present that I want, I just tell people I am unemployed. That usually closes the topic. If they ask how I pay the bills I say I play cards and make bets. I find this line induces less awkward questions. A lot of people think it's pretty cool actually. Many people doubt I really make any money. They don't say that but I can read their faces since I play live and can therefore read people faces (that is sarcasm don't go on a quote and destroy mission).

I guess I missed the original point of the thread. With respect to that I my 2 cents is just tell the truth because it melts the awkwardness away.

LOL..Are you me? or we me..wait..wut?

New Years Eve Reveller: You play online?

Me: Yeah, pokerstars.

NYER: Pokerstars is rigged.

Me: Emmm.. I don't know is that's right.

NYER: yeah, I used to play on there but quit cos it's rigged. I had quad Jacks,
someone else had Quad Kings, and another guy had Quad Aces.

Me: Emmm... maybe it is rigged then. Cos it's impossible to have 3 different quads in Texas Hold'em.

NYER: Ah.... maybe it was just 2 quads that were out there.

Me: Yeah, probably, cos although it's rare, it can and will happen... even in home games or casinos.

End of conversation, and I aviod poker chat for the remainder of 2009.

LOL

lol...this reminds me of me.

I've played probably 7 or 8 cash games with my best mates from school. We play once every few months. This is the only poker they've ever played in their lives. Every time we have a game I have to explain the rules again because they don't remember them. With drinking and chatting we probably get in 10 hands an hour over 3 or 4 hours.

Every pot is limped by every player and I always feel guilty about taking their money so i generally just make sure i break even or win a little on the night.

The other day I told them I'm playing the WSOPME this year. They pissed themselves laughing saying "you're joking !....you can't even beat us !!"

Them: "Why are you so late dude? Party is almost over"

Me: "I ran deep in a tournament, but I'm here now let's party"

Them: "Really? How much did you win?"

Me: "about 700"

Them: "WOW that's SO cool"

Next party -> not invited

*Coworker knows I play with some other coworkers at a home game*

Him: so do you play on the internet or somethin?

Me: yea

Him: How much have you lost?

Me: Erhm, umm. About 2 grand.. which isnt much really, because I havent played long and have played very high limits where that goes quick

Him: smiling like an *******

Me: *thinks to self* ****ing *******

end of conversation.

My favourite example is starting your own business. People do this all the time, and alot of people lose money, often significnt money, in the process. Or they put in a ton of work and get little in return.

So as I see it, poker is alot like having your own business. Any store on the street can lose money on any given day, since they have to pay employees, rent, electricity/heating, and other expenses and there are days when nobody or not many people come into the store and spends any money.

Life, nor poker, is gambling. Life, like poker, is an investment. We invest in life to gain a rich and fulfilling experience, to have memories and enjoy our time while we are here. We invest in poker to make money, to assist in doing the things we want to do in life. It's like playing the stock market. Making calculated moves designed to get a return on our investment.

as someone who has run more than 1 business, (successful btw, not millionaire successful but successful) let me tell you. This is correct. My first business was more of a hobby (hey kind of like poker), but my 2nd business, hard work for little return as I built the business. 60 hour weeks to make less than a grand was more than common, it is what it was. I worked 60 hour weeks to build my business while only making about $600, but once the business was built, it was smooth sailing. I barely had to work to make well over a grand.

today i got: But how much did you lose ?

standard.

________________________

I dont tell people because its ***** embarrassing

I think the main thing that people don't grasp is that you can win in the long run, even though you may have (lots of) losing sessions. This point seems intuitive and obvious to us, but to non-poker players seems counter-intuitive.

Another thing you must make clear to them (so that they don't think you're a degen) is that you are well aware that you do have losing sessions, but more importantly, you know very well that although you may be favourite to win a hand, you will not always win it (unless villain is drawing dead).

Most people don't really understand odds. Trying to explain anything to them is usually an exercise in futility. In this case I use the "balls in a barrel" example and be sure to keep it simple.
Say there are 50 black and 50 white balls in a barrel. You bet $1 and pick a random ball. If it's black, you win $2, if it's white you lose (most people will understand and agree that in the long run you will break even playing this game). Then give the example of there being 60 black balls, and only 40 white balls, again winning $2 for a black ball and losing for a white ball. Then 80/20 black vs white. As soon as I think they understand they'll end up ahead in the latter examples I say poker is about recognising when there are more black balls in the barrel than white. Sure, it's an extremely oversimplified example and ignores many aspects of poker but it must be. You don't teach calculus to child who has just learnt to count to 10.

teaching donks is -ev sir

I agree.

I live in the bible belt. They sit there and say "gambling is wrong. It's in the bible." etc while scratching a lotto ticket and eating a cake they won in a church raffle.
Hypocrites ftmfw!!