Ok guys. Admit it. Poker is NOT cool.

[Lawrence Ng]

Tell them you are an Online Gaming Analyst or just a Gaming Analyst and that you crunch numbers and [censored] like that. Confuse 'em, make it sound important and that'll shut 'em up.

My friends think poker is cool. A lot of them are playing now. The thing is they know I'm pro so they won't invite me. [censored] assholes those guys.

Lawrence

[ATbx22]

so....umm..... did u hit it?...

[tdarko]

[ QUOTE ]
Certain people think its cool, and they are totally oblivious to the fact that most people think the exact opposite.

[/ QUOTE ]
i think its more widely accepted than you think, especially amongst twentysomething's. the only people i have really found that have a problem with it are elders and the real old but who cares about old people they are just here to go to the library, doctor, vote and bitch about anything different than what once was.

[FatalError]

I just tell people i'm a professional poker player, i'm 21 so in the same boat... if someone makes a smartass comment to be a dick, i'll generally toss my car keys in their face... they generally shut up at that point

[jason_t]

[ QUOTE ]
peaks their curiosity

[/ QUOTE ]

piques their curuosity

[Bodhi]

I am not a pro, not by a longshot, but I am living off my bankroll for the summer. Anyway, I just give it to them straight. I say, "I'm playing cards for money this summer." If you approach people with confidence, they will respect you. Some people think I'm joking until I report that I already played 1000 hands from 9am-1pm and spent the afternoon outside or studying for the GRE.

[imported_anacardo]

I tell people I'm self-employed; I have an Internet business. Seems like nobody wants to hear about it after that.

[mdeck]

To people closer to me, I usually tell them what I'm doing, but often not to those who I don't know as well. To those I don't know as well, I tell them I play the stock market (half-truth, I do, but only for side income - and it's another form of gambling, too) - It's seen as being more skill-dependant by the average person. Those closer to me are more open and it's easier to explain to them why it's so profitable.

I get mixed results - people closer to me tend to be impressed that it's possible to make as much as I do playing in the convenience of my own home, and at my age.

People that don't know me as well believe that I'm wasting my time playing online and that I should get a traditional, bitch-work summer job and blah blah blah. I've gotten tired trying to explain how it works and throwing my hourly rate out there because even that doesn't buy it credibility often, so now I just say I play the stocks. You get less questions, and have to do less defending yourself.

The concept of poker may be cool to people around my age (19), but there's nothing cool about sitting at your computer for 4 hours a day, and it doesn't carry the same type of social clout that saying you play the stocks does. Regardless of being confident or not in what I do for money, it's not worth going through the same gambit of unoriginal questions everytime someone asks what I do.

[Wally Weeks]

How about just shocking people with "I'm a degenerate gambler waiting to blow his bankroll." Jaws will drop, uncomfortable silence will commence. Also, say regular jobs are for squares and clydes that have no sense of gamble and need to have the comfort of a consistent, steady paycheck. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Seriously, I'd just say that I don't have a job but am currently looking for one or something crap like that. If they ask how you pay your bills just say that you have some money saved up to last awhile (read poker bankroll and winnings). Yeah, it won't impress the chicks, but you can come up with something else for them.

[brick]

You just need to be confident.

"I'm a professional poker player.
I kick major a** and win lots of money.
Let me pay for your smokes, 22oz mickey's, and bag of peepered beef jerkey. It's nothin' to me."