An actual question for buddists

[tek]

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I was raised by a Buddhist family, and my father became a Buddhist monk years and years ago, but he's been really supportive and intrigued by my poker playing. He thinks it's great that I'm making money for myself while I'm in college, but he also has strongly suggested getting a "real" job at some point too for the experience.

I haven't asked him any specific questions regarding poker and Buddhism though, so take that for what it's worth. I suppose I could ask him if you care enough about his answer.

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Drop a quarter in his beggar's bowl and tell him to buzz off [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[tek]

Why any poker player would look at a pansy-azz philosophy like buddhism is beyond me.

Samurai philosophy is the way to go [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Idaho Ave]

The Samurai were Zen Buddhists
Read "The Way of The Sword: Arming the psych of the samurai.”

[tek]

Yes, but their outlook was different. They killed for a living...

Some guys here are worrying that playing poker for a living is bad [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

[WaimanaloSlim]

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Why any poker player would look at a pansy-azz philosophy like buddhism is beyond me.

Samurai philosophy is the way to go [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

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As someone else pointed out, the Samurai were Buddhists.

I'd guess most of the Vietnamese contingent that dominate the tournament scene are Buddhists. John Juanda, who is Chinese-Indonesian, is another, and he actually has a Zen style game. Even Howard Lederer has acknowledged that a study of Zen has helped his game.

[poker-penguin]

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I'd guess most of the Vietnamese contingent that dominate the tournament scene are Buddhists. John Juanda, who is Chinese-Indonesian, is another, and he actually has a Zen style game. Even Howard Lederer has acknowledged that a study of Zen has helped his game.

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{[political cheap shot}And George Bush claims to be a Christian. Just because people claim to belong to a religion, doesn't mean they uphold its basic tenets. {/political cheap shot}

I know that principles of zen help people's poker games. I was asking about the more fundamental principles - what a "serious" or "good" or "comitted" or (whatever other adjective might describe it better) buddhist would think of poker as a profession.

[carpe2k]

One of the great things about Buddhism is that you do not judge others. [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] For more info, check out "THE TAO OF POKER" and "ZEN POKER" if you are really interested in incorporating the philosophy. [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] "Tournament Poker & the Art of War" can be of help as well. [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]
Good Luck on your journey.

[WaimanaloSlim]

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I'd guess most of the Vietnamese contingent that dominate the tournament scene are Buddhists. John Juanda, who is Chinese-Indonesian, is another, and he actually has a Zen style game. Even Howard Lederer has acknowledged that a study of Zen has helped his game.

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I know that principles of zen help people's poker games. I was asking about the more fundamental principles - what a "serious" or "good" or "comitted" or (whatever other adjective might describe it better) buddhist would think of poker as a profession.

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It depends.

- How good are you? Specifically, I'd rely on hourly rate to judge this. And how likely is it for you to improve this?

- How much would you enjoy putting in worklike hours at the table? Be honest here, because I think a lot of recreational players don't realize how much of a grind it really is.

- What are your financial goals? And I don't really mean: How much you want to accumulate, but what you want to spend it on?

- What other interests do you have? What are you sacrificing to do this?

I've read posts of players writing about conflicts between poker and other things in their life:

Poker and family: "My wife hates poker."
Poker and work: "Should I quit my job?"
Poker and school: "I'm thinking of dropping out."

It's really unhealthy to let it come to that. I don't think poker and these things are mutually exclusive. I think you can have all these things. It's not easy, because life often throws curveballs, or as Buddhists say, "Life is Suffering," but they also say that moderation is the key.

[BluffTHIS!]

I'm a Christian but have always been interested in Zen and was curious about your post. I googled and found the following:

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Certain jobs and professions are immoral and harmful in themselves - anything to do with killing or harming, with prostitution, with the traffic of arms, drugs and drinks, for example . It is not always possible to find work which mirrors our ideals of great compassion, but if the work is not harmful to ourselves or others and is helpful, then it is Right Livehood (Samma Ajiva). Of course, if one observes right speech and right action right livelihood follows automatically.

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link


Buddha mouth
Snake mind.
A Zen Forest:Sayings of the Masters

[poker-penguin]

I guess it comes back to the argument that this forum has every X weeks - is poker harmful to others, or is it just entertainment to the fish, same as they'd spend on skiing, or beer, or tickets to WWE?