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

When this girl says "Isn't there something better you could be doing with your time?" she is hoping you will get the balls to do something about it. So do something about it. Then see if she really doesn't like poker or just wanted you to spend time with her. You won't have to quit poker over her I bet.

i don't keep accurate records, but i am ahead of the game overall.


realize that most gamblers who say they are a little ahead/even, are in reality significant losers.


my girlfriend supports the fact that i play poker, heck even her parents are okay with it.


there are a million girls out there. i wouldnt get started with this one when you already have a reoccurring arguement. thats usually a sign a relationship is(or should be) over, arguing about the same things again and again.


also, you probably talk about poker too much around these people who are not interested.


is hollywood aurora closed on sundays now?

Do you lead a well rounded life? Are you leading an unhealthy lifestyle because of poker? If so, your friends might be right. Poker is fun and even if it is beatable, I don't think it should be overdone. Maybe your friends have sensed that you have an impulsive personality or that your life isn't well rounded. At the very least, I would quit talking about poker around people who aren't interested in talking about it. If they aren't interested, just leave it alone.

When they tell you that the house always wins, point out that you're not playing against the house.


Start keeping accurate records. When people scoff at the skill factor, pull out the notebook and SHOW them.


Any woman who wants you do "something else with your time" means that she wants you to spend that time with HER. If you gave up poker and took up golf, it wouldn't make her any happier.


Bobby


(Why can't women just SAY what they mean, instead of speaking in riddles, then getting ANGRY at us simple-minded males for not solving the mystery?)

Hey Jeremy. My girlfriend gets on my case alot also. The only difference is that she goes to school 3 hrs away from me so during the week, she can't see me anyways, so I'm not really giving up time with her to play poker. She does get upset when she is back and I ditch her to play cards.


The one thing that she doesn't mind, OF Course, is when I take her out to eat or do something else nice for her when I have a good night. It will all work out.


BTW, Did you get my email about that tourney next weekend possibly?


Later,

Sheck

1. All women should be more like Annie Duke.


2. "unless you are very ugly there are plenty of fish in the sea" -Ray Zee


3. I have found that a good response to critics is "What do you do that is more interesting?" Usually they say "well we go out" (meaning they go to some bar, sit in a circle with the same people, and drink) or "cut it up" at some trite and trashy dance club. This question can backfire, however if the person runs a Big Brothers Big Sisters program or something...


4. 40 hours a month is not very much.

"All women should be more like Annie Duke"


PuHlease! We should all sit around a poker table barefoot, hair uncombed and overall unkempt appearance? No, thank you anyway.