Am I addicted?

[dawade]

My mother just gave me a big long speech about how I am becoming addicted to poker/gambling. (I don't even gamble on anything other than poker.)

She says that I have "all" these books (4), and I come home and do nothing but play poker (from like 3-12 or 1 in the morning, I play poker maybe 2 hours unless something else is going on). She says that if I don't stop gambling she will not buy me a laptop for college because she is afraid I will use it to just gamble all the time.

How can I tell her that not only am I not addicted, but that I'm actually doing pretty decent? (Deposited $50 end of March up to $650 now) She says she doesn't care how much I'm winning because one day "my luck could be good and then the next day I could lose everything".

This is so frustrating. None of this would even have happened if I didn't have to get a Social Security form so stupid Neteller could open my account!

[imported_CaseClosed326]

Is she any good at math? If not...you're possibly SOL. If she is then explain the math behind it as best you can.

It does not seem like you are addicted. Maybe check out the gamblers annonmous (sp) site if you are worried about that.

I had the same problem with my mom, but I got the lap top first [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]. Just try to explain it to her best you can. And if she won't comply tell her you will stop and take the lap top. It's not worth going to war over with your parents.

[Chykynlyps]

she just raised huge - its time to bluff her out and take down the pot - tell her you dont play anymore and only play when she is not around or asleep - you have to be passive aggressive in this situation so you can get the laptop to play in college but you also want to keep playing

[BoxLiquid]

can you live without poker? If not then you're addicted... simple as that. People that do not know about the mathematics and logics involved about poker will think it's just another "game" where there is nothing more than chance involved, Like Craps and roulette. It's only natural that your mom is acting like this. Phil Hellmuth and probably a ton of the 2+2'ers here have been where you've been.

[csuf_gambler]

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can you live without poker? If not then you're addicted... simple as that.

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absurd. if someone has a job and works at mcdonalds and goes to work everyday, is he addicted to working at mcdonalds?

poker is a form of income to a lot of us here, just cause we want to work and make money doesn't mean we are "addicted" to poker.

if i never had to play another hand of poker in my life, that would be great. but unfortunatly thats not going to happen because i love making money.

[Equal]

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can you live without poker? If not then you're addicted... simple as that.

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absurd. if someone has a job and works at mcdonalds and goes to work everyday, is he addicted to working at mcdonalds?

poker is a form of income to a lot of us here, just cause we want to work and make money doesn't mean we are "addicted" to poker.

if i never had to play another hand of poker in my life, that would be great. but unfortunatly thats not going to happen because i love making money.

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Took the words out of my mouth. Let me say that if poker wasn't for money I would never play another hand. It's a good game, and complex, but if I could only play for play money I wouldn't. There are way better games out there.

Except maybe NL tournaments, I might play those. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Ogre]

This sounds a lot like my parents. Try to teach them that it is a game of skill and the better player will win a majority of the time. Also, proving to your parents that you are not addicted is very important. Tell them you are going to take a week or 2 off from poker to prove this to them. If you are unable do this then maybe you are addicted. Explain to them playing poker is more productive then watching tv or playing video games. Once my parents saw some real results and realized that most of the money was going to college they started to like poker more.


Here is my story

[party36master]

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can you live without poker? If not then you're addicted... simple as that.

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poker is a form of income to a lot of us here, just cause we want to work and make money doesn't mean we are "addicted" to poker.

if i never had to play another hand of poker in my life, that would be great. but unfortunatly thats not going to happen because i love making money.

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Took the words out of my mouth. Let me say that if poker wasn't for money I would never play another hand. It's a good game, and complex, but if I could only play for play money I wouldn't. There are way better games out there.

Except maybe NL tournaments, I might play those. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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If I didn't see the Yankees box scores for a week (like when I go to Montana), I would get antsy. But I would hardly say I'm addicted to the Yankees.

When I play poker when my wife wants my company, then she'll be upset. But if I play when she's busy, its fine.
But the same thing would be true if I wanted to spend 5 hours playing golf every Saturday, or stare at the Yankees every night on TV. If you don't want to keep up your relationship because you'd rather play poker all the time, then that's either an addiction problem or a relationship problem.

If you seriously wouldn't play poker ever again if it weren't for the money, and you don't enjoy the game, then you probably want to find something else to do with your time. Eventually, you're likely not to play well if you're not into it. Also, if you don't like poker, and if you're smart enough to make big money at it, then you're smart enough to find a job you like doing that pays well.

[fireman664]

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

[shoepolish]

Tell your mom that you quit poker, and don't play until you are off at college with your brand new laptop.. And then once you are there, you can ruin your education by playing as much as you want.