[Nacarno]

While I also enjoyed the article, I was left wondering...

I agree that poker is a great medium that teaches competitiveness, but if a person applies those lessons only to poker, where is society's gain?

At least in my experience, those who claim that poker has no societal use are usually refering to professional players with no other job. If the poker player in question has a "day job" and plays poker as an addition source of income (rather than his or her only source), then people tend to view it as a hobby and they don't seem to take as much issue with it. Am I wrong here? Do others have similar or different experiences?

Going back to my original question, I'm still having a hard time seeing society's gain from someone who applies his competitive drive only to poker and not to another vocation. Perhaps this will be discussed in part 2?