Re-directing gambling impulses to poker, healthy/unhealthy?

[Swampy]

If poker is your primary source of income, remember that there are plenty of other people who are also addicted to their professions; for many, being a cop, a stockbroker or an artist is as all-consuming as gambling is to others. It's just a more acceptable form of addiction than card-playing.

Have you considered that the mere fact you're asking the question is an indicator of a problem? It's worth exploring -- you're obviously wondering if the need you feel to play the game is somehow negatively affecting your life or at least if it has the potential to do so.

[Boltsfan1992]

Hiya -

Ed Miller writes, "Poker is gambling."

The connotation of "gambler" conjures images of degenerates who make bad bets and lose money.

When people make a bet on a hand, there is still an uknown factor, random chance, that could improve your hand, or improve someone else's hand, or degrade your hand as someone else improves. We figure the odds and what the chances are to improve and win the pot, but even with a 4:1 there is still a chance that a player will lose. However, knowing what to do when faced with those chances is the key that separates poker from the other gambling games out there.

Poker is a good gambling game because people are involved in the decision making against you and not on the performance on sports teams, number generators (i.e. lottery), or roulette. A casino's house advantage is huge in the slots and roulette because the house has a higher edge. Blackjack, craps, and baccarat the edge is smaller but on some nights, the player can walk away with money making correct decisions.

Poker is a game where players can exploit the mistakes of others. Long term winners do this pretty consistently. However, always knowing the odds and how that influences decisions does not mean you will win all of the time. In the long run, yes, but sometimes, in the short run, no. Last week, I played well technically, but had a player win pot after pot after pot. I have yet to analyze that day but this week has been good to me (making fewer mistakes) so I have put it off.

I think however, when poker consumes your entire life, and degrades the other more important areas of your life, spouse, girlfriend, friends, other recreational pursuits, then I would think that there is a problem. I would also surmise that if one was stealing money, borrowing money, or being really deceptive about it with the people closest to him or her, then I would think there would be a problem too.

The edge does go the player who knows what to do and when to do it. That edge gets thinner when the table is filled with other players of the same caliber and it turns into a game of psychology as well as gambling.

FWIW

[Michael J. Sykes]

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"Would you be able to give up poker, can you imagine your life without it?"

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Yes. If someone bought a lottery ticket for me (I do not knowingly make -EV bets) and I hit the big one, I would probably quit poker.

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...I live a full life outside of poker...

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If this is true, then it seems you may have your gambling problem under control. Due to your gambling history, however, I would recommend that you be vigilant about not gambling without an edge (i.e., recreational gambling or poker games in which you are not a favorite) and not playing too big for your bankroll.

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I've been winning 1.77BB/hr over the last six months since I started $15/$30.

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Six months is not enough time to get a reliable picture [unless perhaps you have been multi-tabling online]. You will be better able to evaluate your degree of control after experiencing a bad run of cards that lasts a couple of months.

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Does winning mark the difference between an addict and a player? They both have to play.

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No. A winning poker player can be an addict if poker interferes with living a balanced and fullfilled life.

-MJS