Poker: A question of morality

[Earthy Tones]

This forum has produced some interesting talk about religion and other things.. and I was wondering if people would mind chiming in on this topic.

For those of who play poker for a living, or otherwise, do you feel it is immoral in anyway? Does it offend you if/when people associate you with deadbeat gamblers (hope i dont offend anyone) who live at the track or the casino, gambling away their rent money every week?

I'm still in school but I'm considering sustaining myself with poker after graduation for a while, which would be very feasible, but in the back of my head I can't get past the fact that I would be gambling for a living. Not that this bothers me at all, but I feel like the way I've been brought up has taught me to look down upon that kind of thing. And after 8 years of my parents paying for school, I don't think they see playing poker as an acceptable profession. I love poker and everything about it, and it's pretty much the only thing I have a passion for.

I once heard Cloutier say (or maybe i read it), when asked about playing poker for a living, something to the affect of "I love it, it works for me, but sitting at a poker table for 10 hours a day isnt glamorous, if you could be a doctor or a lawyer or something, do that."

Then I think about matt damon in rounders, who drops out of law school to play poker.

I'm so confused and conflicted. Sorry for a long winded and weird post.

any thoughts? any truth to any of this? follow your heart? listen to TJ?