People's extreme misconceptions about professional poker playing

[Voltron87]

I think in my father's case it is ignorance of poker. He doesn't subscribe to the "well you can't beat the rake" theory because he doesn't know what rake is. In the context I was discussing it with him I very much understand why he was skeptical, his teenage son was saying "but dad i could make tens and tens of thousands of dollars doing this" so he naturally said "wtf no".

[Voltron87]

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My father has a Phd and works as a statistician, and he doesn't believe me when I tell him that I am a winning poker player

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I think this is pretty damn interesting.
Not sure how he would not be able to see this.



My Dad took a couple of stats or probabilities courses in college and has done extremely well long-term in the stock-market (he retired at 50).
He knows nothing about poker really...but understands that it's kinda/sorta similar to the market.
He basically is aware that if you hasve a 0.5% advantage you can turn that into a HUGE long-term advantage IF you are given the opportunity to hit that teeny advantage over and over and over.
Thus, he understands there will be variance and fluctuations, but if one plays just better enough than their opponents (and the effect of the rake) then one will still be able to obtain a profit (as long as they have the bankroll to withstand the fluctuations).


I mean, some of this stuff can get pretty complicated sometimes...especially for those who don't know diddly about poker.
But the basics of just hitting that smallish advantage over and over really shouldn't be that tough to figure out for someone in statistics with a PhD.

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his phd isnt in statistics, its in a humanities field but he did a lot of fieldwork and has a high level knowledge of statistics. i think its because he just knows nothing about poker. literally, nothing. if i explained everything to him and showed him how everything worked i have zero doubt that he would see "ahhh, you can be a long term winner etc". i would also be skeptical if my teenage son came up to me and said "but dad i could make 100K a year doing this!"

My point was that someone who is highly educated and who is in the academic field can have these misconceptions. In my father's case it is because he knows nothing about poker.

[KaneKungFu123]

pool hustlers dont cheat people, they allow other people to hang themselves with their own greed.

[Brock Landers]

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pool hustlers dont cheat people, they allow other people to hang themselves with their own greed.

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Very well put.

[BluffTHIS!]

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2. It is dangerous and involves contact with unsavory elements. Certainly 40 years ago it was a somewhat dangerous occupation.

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It wasn't just 40 years and is the same now. Go play in a private club for big stakes. You will still meet all kinds. And if you live in a concealed carry state you better be carrying.

And if you don't smoke get ready to give your lungs a workout. But of course all that is why I like playing almost totally online now. I'd almost even rather know I was going to get robbed than suck up all that smoke.