Al_Capone_Junior
06-16-2003, 10:31 PM
Watching the show on NGC "taboo: bloodsports" and it started me thinking... Is there a relationship between poker and gratuitous violence? Now I'm not suggesting for even a moment that poker players are FOR violence, bloodsports, animal abuse etc, so don't start flaming on me just yet. Still, the intense competitive nature of poker players can in some ways be compared to the intense competition seen in bloodsports. It should be noted that I, Al Capone Junior, have participated in various "violent" sports in the past, such as karate, wrestling, drunken stick fighting (with bamboo rods), and basketball (the one where I got hurt the most, by far, with injuries still affecting me to this day).
People (in general) seem to have a fascination with violence, this is undeniable. Why else would there be soooooooo many violent movies and sports that are so popular? Look at the UFC (ultimate fighting championship). People fight bare-knuckled in an octagonal ring that's surrounded by chain link fence. It's quite popular, despite the violence involved. And it can be quite violent, with blood and EVERYTHING. There is always a band of protesters every time the UFC comes to town. Both UFC and poker are quite popular, yet each always has its critics, who have a billion reasons why it's immoral, unethical, and bad for society. Boxing is quite controversial with a few people, it's undeniably violent, but immensely popular. Even ice hockey is quite violent. Hell, without the fights, I wouldn't even watch it. How many people like to see crashes when they watch an auto race? How about the news? How many people watch the news for the "blood and gut report"?? Violence permeates our society, as it does in many societies worldwide.
Poker is a competition where, instead of dealing physical blows, we deal blows to each other's stacks. Ever heard the phrase "there are no friends at the poker table?" Well, there aren't. Even with my good poker buddies, poker is a bloodsport of sorts. I'll raise them as fast as they will raise me, soft-playing your friends is the only thing taboo to me. Doyle Brunson's fabulous Super/System has the classic line "I'd bust my own grandmother if she was in a pot with me." Maybe poker's not physically violent, but it sure does reward aggression. It's a free-for-all for each other's money. It's just like a battle-royale from wrestling, a hugely popular sport in the US, a free-for-all. Wrestling may be staged violence, but it's still violence anyway.
So is there some sort of connection between the love of gratuitous violence and poker? Let's do a non-scientific poll to find out...
Do you, as a poker player, enjoy some form of gratuitous violence? For political correctness, we'll rule out such activities as cock-fighting, dog fighting, bull fighting etc, we're only talking about non-animal cruelty related violence....
al (the violent one)
People (in general) seem to have a fascination with violence, this is undeniable. Why else would there be soooooooo many violent movies and sports that are so popular? Look at the UFC (ultimate fighting championship). People fight bare-knuckled in an octagonal ring that's surrounded by chain link fence. It's quite popular, despite the violence involved. And it can be quite violent, with blood and EVERYTHING. There is always a band of protesters every time the UFC comes to town. Both UFC and poker are quite popular, yet each always has its critics, who have a billion reasons why it's immoral, unethical, and bad for society. Boxing is quite controversial with a few people, it's undeniably violent, but immensely popular. Even ice hockey is quite violent. Hell, without the fights, I wouldn't even watch it. How many people like to see crashes when they watch an auto race? How about the news? How many people watch the news for the "blood and gut report"?? Violence permeates our society, as it does in many societies worldwide.
Poker is a competition where, instead of dealing physical blows, we deal blows to each other's stacks. Ever heard the phrase "there are no friends at the poker table?" Well, there aren't. Even with my good poker buddies, poker is a bloodsport of sorts. I'll raise them as fast as they will raise me, soft-playing your friends is the only thing taboo to me. Doyle Brunson's fabulous Super/System has the classic line "I'd bust my own grandmother if she was in a pot with me." Maybe poker's not physically violent, but it sure does reward aggression. It's a free-for-all for each other's money. It's just like a battle-royale from wrestling, a hugely popular sport in the US, a free-for-all. Wrestling may be staged violence, but it's still violence anyway.
So is there some sort of connection between the love of gratuitous violence and poker? Let's do a non-scientific poll to find out...
Do you, as a poker player, enjoy some form of gratuitous violence? For political correctness, we'll rule out such activities as cock-fighting, dog fighting, bull fighting etc, we're only talking about non-animal cruelty related violence....
al (the violent one)