social skills of poker pros

Is it true that poker pros are lacking in social skills or is that limited Mason and Abdul?

I think of winning poker AS a social skill.

Winning poker is definitely not a social skill. There are winning players I know who are bigoted boors, incapable of using the word "please" as they are of understanding that the world does not revolve around them and their petty concerns.


Then there are others, such as the poster with whom I am currently disagreeing, who are fairminded renaissance men, incapable of being mean to other human beings as they are of looking at the world as anything other than a place where everyone is entitled to be treated as they themselves would like to be treated.


Among pros, my experience has been that the kind of person described in paragraph 1 above far outnumbers those described in paragraph 2. That is why we should cherish those we meet who fit the description in paragraph 2, even when we ocassionally disagree with them. Because those disagreements are usually caused by an incomplete or faulty understanding of their post, followed by an "aah!" when they explain how the reader didn't get the big picture, which is usually something beautiful, profound, and sublime.

I haven't met any poker pro's yet, but I used to play chess in a club with some elite players, and they for the most part had terrible social skills. So do most elite athletes and actors it would seem.


Unfortunately there seems to be a correlation. Some intangible required to excel in these fields that is more natural is someone who is socially incompetent. The real gems are those that excel despite being nice people. (I suspect that while they are competing though they are not nice people, they just manage to switch back while not competing).

This is a very good point. Its not just poker pros. Its any people that are famous in there particular field(especially experts) sometimes become arrogant and rude due to an overblown head.

Since David mentions it, as a long-time chess

master, I've seen more average and above- average players with huge egos, oddly enough, through the years, than the really good players.


perfidious