Ok guys. Admit it. Poker is NOT cool.

[SNOWBALL138]

I went to 7/11 lastnight at 2am, and I met this cute girl that I vaguely recognized from school. We talked for a minute, and she asked if I wanted to exchange numbers. So, I say sure, and I end up hanging out with her and her friends until about 7am over at my place. We played cards, drank beer, talked, and had a pretty cool time.

So, at one point in the night, one of them asked me what I do. I tried to give a cover answer. "I do small scale, short term, low risk, high return investment." Anyway, they wanted details, and bugged me about it for a little while, until I finally folded, and told them exactly what I "invest" in.

They're all young like me (22ish) so they were nice about it. I explained that I don't like to tell people what I do because they judge me for it, and it seemed ok. However, I can never be sure if I'm being judged or not.

Here's my theory. I think poker is like the mafia. Certain people think its cool, and they are totally oblivious to the fact that most people think the exact opposite. Also, just like the mafia, no one that doesn't play poker has any idea what its like to do it for a living. On the other hand, everyone THINKS they know what its like because of the stupid things they've heard from people they know or because of the portrayals or it in movies.

So, whereas everyone knows what you mean when you say "I am a lawyer", no one even knows what you are talking about when you say "I play cards". When you say "I play cards" to person A they hear "I am a sicko gambler". When you say it to person B, they hear "I am a filthy criminal", or person C hears "I am a dirty lowlife unable to work a real job" or person D hears "I am a millionaire" or person E hears "I am a math genius, but also an amoral hustler."

I honestly think its more precise to say my cover story than to say I play cards. What do you guys do?