What I Love Most About Poker
 

I was thinking today about the intense satisfaction I get from punishing fools at the poker table for their impatience/ignorance/stupidity/lack of emotional control.

Poker is such a joy to play. In real life, lazy ignorant people get paid to sit on their asses while others do their work for them. In today's America, the whiners, complainers and professional victims are coddled. In poker, there is no boss to report to, no office politics, no nepotism, no affirmative action.

Each person at the table is rewarded (in the long term) for his/her skill and knowledge. It's the purest form of capitalism I can think of. You live or die on your own merits and your bankroll doesn't much give a damn about your excuses.

Yep, that's why I love it. Because the very people who piss me off in every day life with their attitude of entitlement are usually the ones who are paying me off. What a great stress buster!

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

Very nice post, wish I had written it. Parapgraph three describes the exact reason why I even got started playing poker. And paragraph two why I love it now!

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

Hi Hobbes,

I'm glad you enjoy the game so much, I do also. Although the reasons that I love the game is much different than yours. I love the game because it challenges my mind and when I beat that challenge, not only do I get rewarded mentally for a job well done, I get rewarded monetarily. The adrenalin of the game and the ups & downs make it fun for me, and makes me wanting more, win or lose.
[ QUOTE ]
I was thinking today about the intense satisfaction I get from punishing fools at the poker table for their impatience/ignorance/stupidity/lack of emotional control.


[/ QUOTE ]Interesting opening paragraph and thoughts. Why must they be fools if you outplay them at the table? Can't they just be some regular folk who likes to gamble and have a good time? I've met dozens, if not hundreds, of people who are much more adept at other things in life, but they simply chose not to take a game as seriously as I do. Just met some real estate tycoon who tried to play well but busted out anyway. I would have loved to pick his brain some more, but he would certainly charge me more per hour than I did to him at the table.

Your post sounds more like venting, perhaps from some other frustrations in life. And you THINK you're successfully making up for that at the tables. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you should continue loving and beating the game, but show some respect for your opponents. Trust me, they're not as dumb as you think.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

probably pocket aces, pocket kings a close 2nd.


Seriously though, I love hitting flush draws in big pots. My absolute favourite thing to do. Ohhhhhh yeaaaaa.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

Where does he say the fish are fools in life? I think he was being pretty specific about it being at the poker tables.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

[ QUOTE ]
I was thinking today about the intense satisfaction I get from punishing fools at the poker table for their impatience/ignorance/stupidity/lack of emotional control.

Poker is such a joy to play. In real life, lazy ignorant people get paid to sit on their asses while others do their work for them. In today's America, the whiners, complainers and professional victims are coddled. In poker, there is no boss to report to, no office politics, no nepotism, no affirmative action.

Each person at the table is rewarded (in the long term) for his/her skill and knowledge. It's the purest form of capitalism I can think of. You live or die on your own merits and your bankroll doesn't much give a damn about your excuses.

Yep, that's why I love it. Because the very people who piss me off in every day life with their attitude of entitlement are usually the ones who are paying me off. What a great stress buster!

[/ QUOTE ]

Give it a few more months, you will as miserable as the other half of us.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

In the long run, of course...

Anyway, well put and I definitely agree.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

[ QUOTE ]

Poker is such a joy to play. In real life, lazy ignorant people get paid to sit on their asses while others do their work for them. In today's America, the whiners, complainers and professional victims are coddled. In poker, there is no boss to report to, no office politics, no nepotism, no affirmative action.

[/ QUOTE ]

How do you think Phil Ivey got into the big game???




jk [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

It's amazing someone could be so right and so wrong at the same time.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

#1. Rolled up aces over kings.

#2. Check raising stupid tourists,and taking huge pots off 'em.

#3. Stacks and towers of Checks I can't see over

#4. Playing all night High-Limit Hold'Em at the Taj, where the sand turns to gold.

Well maybe not the high limit part, but everything else.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

[ QUOTE ]

#1. Rolled up aces over kings.

#2. Check raising stupid tourists,and taking huge pots off 'em.

#3. Stacks and towers of Checks I can't see over

#4. Playing all night High-Limit Hold'Em at the Taj, where the sand turns to gold.

Well maybe not the high limit part, but everything else.

[/ QUOTE ]

Clear this up for me... what is a check? Stacks of checks, he means those plate things that are used to represent big denominations yeah?

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

[/ QUOTE ] Why must they be fools if you outplay them at the table? Can't they just be some regular folk who likes to gamble and have a good time?

[/ QUOTE ]

I play online. Maybe I'm mistaken, but I think that most recreational gamblers play at casinos and other brick and mortar establishments. Most online players, in my opinion, believe that they either are or can be winning players.

So no, I don't think a poor poker player makes for a fool in general. Many people play poker poorly and are wildly succesful in other things. I think what makes for a fool is someone who thinks he can beat a game without putting a little effort into understanding it.

[ QUOTE ]
Your post sounds more like venting, perhaps from some other frustrations in life. And you THINK you're successfully making up for that at the tables.

[/ QUOTE ]

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Well, I won't argue. Every day that I'm not on vacation jeeping in the Rockies is a day of frustration for me. People frustrate me generally, and I don't particularly like or respect most that I meet.

Do I think I'm making up for this frustration by playing poker? No. It's just a bit of a safety valve. The only way I could "make up for it" is if I felt free to say exactly what was on my mind in every situation, every day of my life. But you know, job, societal niceties, the other sex and all that. Every f'n day you have to censor yourself. Maybe if I were Paul Phillips.....

The more I read about different personality types, the more I'm convinced that certain things are just hard-wired into you. I've worked a lot on my anger and frustration and have come a long way since my early twenties, but there's always going to be a small part of me that is itching to choke the sh*t out of some a$$hole because, well, just because he's being an a$$hole.

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I guess what I'm trying to say is that you should continue loving and beating the game, but show some respect for your opponents. Trust me, they're not as dumb as you think.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I never berate someone in a chat box or exhibit otherwise rude online behavior, but at the low limits, yes, they are as dumb as I think. And I just can't help my petty, spiteful little self, but I cackle everytime I run circles around someone who doesn't understand how or why he's getting beaten like a rented mule. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

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In today's America, the whiners, complainers and professional victims are coddled. In poker, there is no boss to report to, no office politics, no nepotism, no affirmative action.

[/ QUOTE ]

You convinced me, I'm going pro. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

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[ QUOTE ]

#1. Rolled up aces over kings.

#2. Check raising stupid tourists,and taking huge pots off 'em.

#3. Stacks and towers of Checks I can't see over

#4. Playing all night High-Limit Hold'Em at the Taj, where the sand turns to gold.

Well maybe not the high limit part, but everything else.

[/ QUOTE ]

Clear this up for me... what is a check? Stacks of checks, he means those plate things that are used to represent big denominations yeah?

[/ QUOTE ]

Chips = checks = plate thingies... they are all the same depending on where you play... in europe I think most places use plates exclusively

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

[ QUOTE ]
I play online. Maybe I'm mistaken, but I think that most recreational gamblers play at casinos and other brick and mortar establishments. Most online players, in my opinion, believe that they either are or can be winning players.


[/ QUOTE ]It's probably equal online and live. It just may seem that way. I would side for online having more recreational/beginners because it seems less threatening for them to just login and give it a go, anonymously, while live, they actually have to see people and fumble with their chips and such. That may just scare them away. [ QUOTE ]
I think what makes for a fool is someone who thinks he can beat a game without putting a little effort into understanding it.

[/ QUOTE ] If I misunderstood you, I apologize and stand corrected. I just get frustrated at all the negative talk by many players who think that just because they are great players (or think they are), they are better than their opponents in real life. I don't judge people's characters by their level of poker skills. [ QUOTE ]
People frustrate me generally, and I don't particularly like or respect most that I meet.

[/ QUOTE ] Now we're on the same page! I've been in sales all my life, and I have to talk to people all the time. It gets less and less interesting as time goes by. [ QUOTE ]
Well, I never berate someone in a chat box or exhibit otherwise rude online behavior, but at the low limits, yes, they are as dumb as I think. And I just can't help my petty, spiteful little self, but I cackle everytime I run circles around someone who doesn't understand how or why he's getting beaten like a rented mule.

[/ QUOTE ]They may or may not be, but if this game keeps your sanity between dragging your butt to work each day, keep up the good play! Just don't say (type) how you feel to them! [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] Good luck to you always.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

The last thing I think I am is a great poker player. I'm only in the early stages of intermediate play.

I mean, how puffed up can someone get over beating the 11's? Maybe that's why I have such disdain for the people I'm beating. Geez, study for a few hours and you should be able to break even and still have some fun.

Anyway, thanks for your response. Funny that you're in sales and get sick of people. I always assumed that salesmen actually enjoyed their personal interactions.

Taking the Myers Briggs personality test helped me to understand my personality much better. Basically it breaks your personality down into binary choices in 4 categories, making a total of 16 personality types.

1. Where do you direct your energy? Introverted or Extroverted
2. How do you process information? Sensing or Intuition
3. How do you make decisions? Thinking or Feeling
4. How do you organize your life? Judging or Perception

After I took this test, the results showed me to be 100% in the "Thinking" category for decision making. I was also moderately expressed "Introverted" meaning my focus is usually inward.

These two expressions of my personality gave me tremendous insight towards why I generally prefer to not interact with others except on my own terms. First of all, little of my personal satisfaction is derived externally. Secondly, I have a very difficult time understanding or dealing with people who make emotion based decisions. I simply don't work that way.

Anyway, off on a tangent here, but this is the psychology forum, so what the hell.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

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Seriously though, I love hitting flush draws in big pots. My absolute favourite thing to do. Ohhhhhh yeaaaaa.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's nice but it's a whole lot more fun to have the nut flush draw hit, pairing the board, when I'm sitting on a nice little set.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

OK Rush.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

i love making good folds - i find very few things as satisfying.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

I feel poker is a lot more honest then what I did on wall street. We all play by the same rules in poker.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

Having someone cap with bottom boat on a double paired board. Heaven.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

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Poker is such a joy to play. In real life, lazy ignorant people get paid to sit on their asses while others do their work for them. In today's America, the whiners, complainers and professional victims are coddled.

[/ QUOTE ]

How is "real life" different from poker? Lazy, ignorant people sit on their asses and play cards, taking money from others who work hard to earn it. Whiners, complainers and professional victims abound at the poker table, and they get plied with free drinks and buffet comps.

It isn't that poker is more pure capitalism than any other form; I think you like poker because here in poker you get to be the capitalist rather than the proletarian.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

[ QUOTE ]
How is "real life" different from poker? Lazy, ignorant people sit on their asses and play cards, taking money from others who work hard to earn it. Whiners, complainers and professional victims abound at the poker table, and they get plied with free drinks and buffet comps.


[/ QUOTE ]

Not sure I follow you here. Are you saying that consistent winners at poker are lazy and ignorant? I disagree, at least as it relates to the game. The people who are earning money at this are the one's who've put in the time and effort.

Also, I disagree that they are "taking money from others who have worked hard to earn it." Maybe they worked hard and maybe they didn't, but no one is "taking" their money. They are choosing to give it away by sitting down and playing.

And free comps aren't going to make up for some bum's losses.

I guess what I was saying originally is that no one at a poker table has a manufactured advantage over the next person. Connections at the local country club won't help you win. Threatening to sue someone won't help you win. Sucking up to the boss won't help you win. It all boils down to your skill, work ethic, and discipline. I find that very appealing.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

I love walking out of the cardroom after a session with a big wad of ca$h knowing that the hundreds of hours of reading, thinking and hard work towards poker has paid off again like usual...

I love overhearing somebody who thinks they are good giving out bad advice with a smug look on their face because they think they are great players.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

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Not sure I follow you here. Are you saying that consistent winners at poker are lazy and ignorant? I disagree, at least as it relates to the game. The people who are earning money at this are the one's who've put in the time and effort.

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Just about the best book ever written about Gardena-style draw poker is John Fox's Play Poker, Quit Work and Sleep Till Noon!. I think Fox was onto something when he picked his title.

As far as ignorance goes, I'm not going to point any fingers, but it does strike me a little odd that in your original post you savagely denounce people who do nothing and get rewarded for it in one paragraph and celebrate capitalism in the next. Do you not know what a rentier is?


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Also, I disagree that they are "taking money from others who have worked hard to earn it." Maybe they worked hard and maybe they didn't, but no one is "taking" their money. They are choosing to give it away by sitting down and playing.

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When I go out in a boat with a rod and reel, those fish are choosing to try to swallow that bright shiny lure that trolls by.

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I guess what I was saying originally is that no one at a poker table has a manufactured advantage over the next person. Connections at the local country club won't help you win. Threatening to sue someone won't help you win. Sucking up to the boss won't help you win. It all boils down to your skill, work ethic, and discipline. I find that very appealing.

[/ QUOTE ]

Poker work ethic! That's a laugh and a half.

It sure sounded to me that what you were saying originally was that you like poker because you get to punish the suckers.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

Poker is mostly luck.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

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It sure sounded to me that what you were saying originally was that you like poker because you get to punish the suckers.

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Well, yeah. To me suckers are people who are undisciplined, over emotional, and put their money at risk without having an edge.

Two sides of the same coin. I like that my own hard work and knowledge pays off. I also like that lazy complainers who are just hoping to get lucky get punished.

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As far as ignorance goes, I'm not going to point any fingers, but it does strike me a little odd that in your original post you savagely denounce people who do nothing and get rewarded for it in one paragraph and celebrate capitalism in the next. Do you not know what a rentier is?

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Yes, you socialists have it all figured out, don't you? Everyone who is better off than you was lucky or priviledged. What a victim.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

I love poker because...

Its a mentally challenging game, and I love games.
I make money when I win.
I have made over $10,000 so far in my last 2 years part time.
It rewards me for good play.
I get to use my people skills.
and...

Ok screw all that. I LOVE THE MONEY!!!

There I said it, MMM OOO NNN EEE YYY !!!!

Money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money. Gimme your god damn money you fish. Fill my pockets with gold as I evilly laugh at your stupidity while I collect the pot with just a smile and friendly chatter. Let me walk out of the casino with my pocket filled with treasures like a little kid with a pocket full of toy cars.

Damn I love poker.

In actuallity Barry Greenstein is my hero. I hope I get good enough to do what he does one day. Gotta win a couple tournaments for me 1st though.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

to play along, what I love most IN the game: flopping two pair, filling up on
the turn, with four to a flush on the board.

What I love most about the game:

I've actually been talking to my father about this a lot lately (he's 74 y.o. retired doctor, been playing in home games for his whole life, stud hi/lo
regular with a declare. . .).

I think that many of you have hit on some of the most appealing aspects of the game:

Ego: it is very fulfilling and confidence building to sit down at the poker table and walk away a winner. I know that that seems like the most obvious thing in the world, but I don't think most players realize quite how much this plays into their enjoyment of the game, or of a winning session.
I believe that the more one plays with absolute strangers the more this is true: that is to say, that when one sits down to play with their friends in a home game, there is much less satisfaction to walking away up a great deal (not that much less i guess, but it is much less of an outright ego stroke.)

The process of walking into a card room, putting your name on the list, assessing the competition, sitting down, and building a wining session is an enormous challenge that provides a great satisfaction when completed.

There is simply no other activity I have ever participated in which provides me with more confidence than knowing that I can outplay a full ring game for a couple big bets an hour at any given time (variance notwithstanding).

But, that all being said, I agree with winky51 above me: it's all about the money.

When Tiger wins the masters he's not jumping up and yelling "pass the sugga!", they don't fill the stanley cup with cash, after winning the super bowl apparently they all go to disneyland rather than the bank. But for all of these major sporting events the payoff is the real reason anyone really plays (give me that love of the game [censored] some other day). Poker is the only place where the money is quite simply out on the table. I'd love to see 10 million in cash at the fifty yard line of the super bowl, or behind home plate at the world series, but really we're supposed to believe that these guys are playing their hearts out just for the ring? I'm not buying it. For the 40 million in endorsements maybe, but not just the ring.

I just like how straightforward poker is. Put the money on the table. If I can
walk away with more money than you, then i beat you. Fair and square.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
As far as ignorance goes, I'm not going to point any fingers, but it does strike me a little odd that in your original post you savagely denounce people who do nothing and get rewarded for it in one paragraph and celebrate capitalism in the next. Do you not know what a rentier is?

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Yes, you socialists have it all figured out, don't you? Everyone who is better off than you was lucky or priviledged. What a victim.

[/ QUOTE ]

Because this is the Psychology forum, let me introduce a psychological concept: "Projection."

Let's see now ... you start thread with a post whining about how lazy ignorant people sit on their asses and get things they don't deserve, and follow it up with a complaint about country-club cronyism ... and you are calling me a victim?

BUAHAHAHAHAHA!

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

Only if I let a real or perceived injustice be an excuse for personal failure am I a victim.

You've spent about 5 posts here trying to make some point that I don't really understand. As far as I can see, you like to play poker and win money at it, same as the rest of us.

Yet you come here and defend the poor victims whom you say poker players exploit. You assert that poker players are truly the "lazy" and "ignorant" among us. You say that poker players take advantage of "hardworking" people and essentially steal their money.

Errr....ok. But you play poker, too ,right? So either you're a hypocrite who somehow thinks that typing a few sympathetic words about the fish from whom you win money somehow mitigates the injustice that you, yourself, assert is being visited upon them or you're a losing player who is bitter about his fate.

Either way, pal, you really aren't worth my time.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some strategy posts to read; afterwhich I'll make my way to the tables, laughing maniacally and steepling my fingers like Mr Burns as I rake each pot. I can only pray that my winnings come from a women's shelter director off on a bender due to the pressure of government budget cuts courtesy of George W Bush's and his tax cuts for the rich.

I'm thinking I'll invest my winnings in oil. Big Oil.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

[ QUOTE ]

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some strategy posts to read; afterwhich I'll make my way to the tables, laughing maniacally and steepling my fingers like Mr Burns as I rake each pot. I can only pray that my winnings come from a women's shelter director off on a bender due to the pressure of government budget cuts courtesy of George W Bush's and his tax cuts for the rich.



[/ QUOTE ]

http://www.electronicfreedom.org/images/monty_burns.png

Excellent...

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

Socialism: The ideology of the lazy and the college student brainwashed by their professors.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

If only there were some tax cuts. We pay 40 percent overall in state, federal and local taxes. Social Justice=Keeping what you earn

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

The Myers-Briggs is a bogus test without validity or reliability. It also is not normed. Like astrology, some of the conclusions may happen to correspond with your life though.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

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You've spent about 5 posts here trying to make some point that I don't really understand. As far as I can see, you like to play poker and win money at it, same as the rest of us.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll spell it out in short words, so that even you can understand it:

When you complained about "whiners", you were whining.

You put down "victims" while simultaneously complaining about being victimized.

You ignorantly and lazily railed against laziness and ignorance.

In short, you are the person you are complaining about.

That's projection, in a nutshell.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You've spent about 5 posts here trying to make some point that I don't really understand. As far as I can see, you like to play poker and win money at it, same as the rest of us.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll spell it out in short words, so that even you can understand it:

When you complained about "whiners", you were whining.

You put down "victims" while simultaneously complaining about being victimized.

You ignorantly and lazily railed against laziness and ignorance.

In short, you are the person you are complaining about.

That's projection, in a nutshell.

[/ QUOTE ]

People make this argument on every internet forum there is. They are all, without exception, ignorant douches.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

What do I love about poker:

Hmmm...

1) Rolled up Aces over Kings
2) Check raising stupid tourists and taking huge pots of them
3) Playing all night, high limit hold-em at the Taj, where the sand turns to gold.

That's what I love about poker.

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

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Poker is mostly luck.

[/ QUOTE ]

are you serious?

Re: What I Love Most About Poker
 

Ahhh....I see. The old "I'm rubber you're glue" argument.

Whooohoo! Projection! What a smartie!!!!