Look Mom/Dad I won 12K

[revots33]

You need to accept that playing poker may never win your parent's approval. But that's OK, since you're actually playing for your own profit and satisfaction, not theirs. In the future save your good news for your friends (and for us on 2+2), who will actually be happy for you. I know it sucks that your parents can't share your happiness over a nice win but sadly that's how it is.

I'm sure many players have parents who think their kids are gambling their money away on poker. These parents are often the same people who spend lots of money on the daily numbers, getting 500-1 on a 1000-1 shot. They lump all gambling together and obviously don't know anything about odds or EV.

[Pyromaniac]

[ QUOTE ]
The odds of me making more than my parents are slim-to-none. This is what makes it very difficult for me. My dad is a top-notch physician in a well-paying field. I don't want to mention specific numbers, but replecating this win weekly would be short of this feat.

[/ QUOTE ]

I dunno, man...sounds like this is about your father's issues, not your own. It's like doctor psychology here, you know? This is how doctors think.

1) Your father went to school for a lot of years, worked a lot of lonnnng weeks/nights/hours, and paid a lot of money to get himself to a place where he makes his $12k+ per week. There's a helluva lotta ego involved there. He's not going to be impressed that you read a couple of books and studied on your own and have now been successful, because it doesn't compare to his own success story. Or to the rest of your family's successes. What he doesn't realize is that med/law school is one path to success, but only one path. Not the only path or the best path. And while it might have been the best path for him, it may be totally the worst path for *you*. There are a lot of more-or-less miserable doctors out there who wish they were doing something different with their lives...

2) Your father's not only a doctor, he sounds like he's a specialist of some sort, not just a GP. This means, in his daily work, that he's God...he knows more about what he's doing than anyone else around him, and he *knows* that he knows more than anyone else. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean he knows much about anything else...like what's best for *you* for your life.

So. As far as he's concerned, he's worked harder than you and he knows more than you. You're not going to convince him. Fold or reraise but stop calling this hand.

[AceHiStation]

Some great replies guys, I appreciate them all. Most of you advised to do exactly what I plan on doing. I'm going to keep playing about as much as I did but just not tell my parents about it. I plan on playing more bigger buy-in tournaments with the money I was fortunate enough to win. The feeling I felt was basically gone after 24 hours and I'm back on the tables and back to normal. I agree with one poster my direction in which I took to come out of the poker closet, if you will, was a poor one. I also realized I picked a bad time to tell him as he was already in a bad mood and found out our AC unit was to be replaced. Anyhow, I hope to get a couple more big cashes in the upcoming months and have been contemplating qualifying for a big tournament(Either Bellagio WPT or Aussie Open) and see how they react to that, but moreso for my own enjoyment =)

Thanks again for the feedback its definately a good place to vent,
-Ace

[Jeffage]

I go the opposite way...I tell them nothing regarding the amount of money I make playing. I go with the maxim, "The state of a player's bankroll is a well-kept secret." I don't want to worry them with the large monetary swings I go through. I do tell them I pay taxes on it and they realize it's significant money (though prob have no idea how much it really is). But I think more details would worry them too much and cause me anxiety.

Many Many times though, I wish I was totally straight with them from the start. Sometimes I feel like I'm living a total double life.

Jeff

[capone0]

I might be stupid but a 550% increase in investment is 110 bucks 5.5*20=110 bucks? A 100% increase is 40 bucks. He made 600 times his investment or 60000%. There's a huge difference here.

[ QUOTE ]
I might be stupid but a 550% increase in investment is 110 bucks 5.5*20=110 bucks? A 100% increase is 40 bucks. He made 600 times his investment or 60000%. There's a huge difference here.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, my bad, sorry. Closer to 54,600%, though.

[cadillac1234]

Be glad you didn't have to tell them you lost $12K and now need money for the rent...

[AceHiStation]

Also, I didn't really qualify. I bought-in for the full $150+12 but I guess I wanted to ease them into the fact that throwing $162 at a tournament isn't a big deal.

[ChicagoTroy]

[ QUOTE ]
Also, I didn't really qualify. I bought-in for the full $150+12 but I guess I wanted to ease them into the fact that throwing $162 at a tournament isn't a big deal.

[/ QUOTE ]

Then you are effectively lying about your gambling. Not a good sign.

[Dave H.]

I have raised 3 sons. Other than trying to give them a value system, I think our #1 wish for them is that they dream and not be afraid to pursue those dreams. And when they come up with a new dream, I want to hear about it and understand it and research it with them. I'm not talking about living vicariously through my children; I'm talking about being genuinely interested. There's enough negativity in this world to squash one's dreams; I will do the opposite for mine...I will encourage them with my interest.

Guess what...each of them is (in the world's eyes) successful. And guess what else...I don't think that matters to any of them and that makes them supremely successful in my view!

You sound very intelligent...pursue your dreams!