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You have a fairly simplistic notion of what constitutes "value" to society. Tell me, should we herd off the musicians and force them work in a coal mine or do something else more "productive" with their time? How about the guys working the financial markets? Besides stocks, there are now all sorts of esoteric financial instruments, like options on options and so on. Should we ban those? Send the guys running the hedge funds into the coal mine too?

There's more to "value" than just producing things you can physically touch. There's value in entertainment, value in creating capital, and yes, value in playing poker. That is, unless you're a hermit who doesn't spend any of the money he earns (no house, no food, no clothing, no taxes, no investments, nothing).

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I agree with this, but have a couple of further points to add. The OP mentions that he is going back to live in a third world country. I've lived in a third world country. I understand what goes on in that environment. By playing poker online you are going to be bringing hard cash directly into a place that needs it the most. You can't tell me that this isn't a benefit. Figure out what you want to do with it but I'm sure you can put a small percentage of it to good use.

Another thing. Everyone needs to have a vice. No matter how straight they seemingly are. Some people admit they have vices, other people lie to themselves. But we all have at least one. Being a model train collector for example is a vice. How much money do these guys spend? What use is it to the social good? What about people who play golf for chrissake? The list is endless.
My vice makes me money. And even if it didn't, compared to what a lot of other people spend on vices, it wouldn't be much.