[ricdaman]

(1) I am a Christian, who is a respected member of my church.
(2) My mom watched her uncle go through a divorce and lose everything because of his gambling addiction and his losses at poker.

Knowing these 2 things, I told everyone that I "ran a business" instead of played poker. About 6 months ago though, my brother (who is also a pro) and I told my mom and dad that we played poker. At first, my mom was heartbroken. But after we took the time to show her our poker logs and our years of winning money, and after she had a chance to watch it on TV, she accepted it. IN FACT... my mom and dad PLAY POKER now!!!!

Also, I told some people at my church that I play poker and that "my business" is really playing poker. Know what they said??? "SO DO I."!!!!! WOW!!! Here are these people at church I was afraid would condemn me for gambling, and they said, "I play poker too."

Poker is not what it used to be. It is widely accepted as a game of skill, and the number of people who condemn it and look down upon it today are few and far between.