HELP!!! cant explain this

ok, so im 23 years old, and i only have 1 friend who actually likes poker enough to read about it, and play in a casino, and talk about it outside of a home game... everybody else knows that i play, and that i really enjoy it. i would say that i average about 40 hours a month at it (give or take an 8-hour session). i don't keep accurate records, but i am ahead of the game overall. probably not by much, considering some of my swings (im a pretty aggressive player).


the problem is, i get such crap about gambling, and how i could be doing better things with my mind, and how gambling isn't good for me, and blah blah blah.


there is a girl in particular, one who i really like but haven't had the balls to do anything about it yet, who makes it a point to show how disappointed she is that i go play poker. she can't come up with a good reason for me not to go play. the last time we talked about it, she finally said to me 'Jeremy, you win, alright. I guess i can't come up with a good reason for you not to go play, but i still think you could be doing something better with your time.' this was the obvious phrase that means 'i don't want to argue with you anymore, i disagree with you, and you wont ever change my mind, but for the sake of semantics, i will verbally concede the argument.'


this sure doesn't get me anywhere. and shes not the only one. so many other people are always laughing at the fact that i play poker. i get comments like 'yeah sure its a skill game' and 'i dont care if you're good at it, its still gambling'.


im sick of defending the game, but im sure not going to quit playing. there was a point when i was 21 that i played way more than i should have, but i can take a much healthier apporach to it now, and i do. these people don't get it, and i don't know what to do anymore...


i need your advice...

ill bet you any amount of money that at least one of those people plays the lottery.


brad

Baggins,


You have an obvious choice here, dump cards or dump her. You won't change her mind, why try.


Find a cute cocktail waitress and go from there. For the record my girlfriend also hates the fact that I play cards, however she deals with it.


Best Wishes


MK

number of attractive 20 something girls I've seen playing poker in a casino = 6


number of attractive 20 something girls I've seen playing poker in a casino with their boyfriend playing at the same table = 6


. . . That's the way it is!

My totally kick ass girfriend of 1.5 years loves poker too and plays the weekly tourney with me, some online and casino and most home games I go to. She played mostly "goofy poker" until we met but has gotten quite good at hold 'em. She loves No Limit and has great people reading skills that give her quite an edge. I am always thankful to be with someone who understands the attraction of a good poker game. The only downside is taking her money at the table, or having her take mine. When one really gets a lucky card to bust the other, we really have to try hard to bite our tongues.


KJS

You need to be able to get away once in a while..

there are like 6 women in the world that play poker, like 2 of them are attractive and under 30, and they are both probably far away from here with a significant other.


obviously im exaggerating, but my point is simple: its not very easy to find girls who play poker. certainly not here in chicago, the big poker town that it is. i even posted on here a long while back about females who play poker. there was a thread, its probably in the archives. finding another girl who is interested in poker is not the option here, i don't think, though it would be nice.

"like 2 of them are attractive and under 30, and they are both probably far away from here with a significant other"


Funny, that's how I would describe Chicago. You may want to try an L.A. room. Commerce is not exactly the Santa Monica Boardwalk, but the selection of attractive females probably compares favorably to the typical shy-town niteclub.

After reading Poker Nation are you really sure you want a girl who likes poker? I mean, you want the Russian girl? Or the one who scammed with her boyfriend and now is on TV?


Find one that A) will put up with it B) will be corruptible enough to play some without becoming one of the poker junkies. C) Has earning potential in a real job. Recipe for happiness.

sounds like your wife, you lucky duck...gl