Soft play vs. gambling addicts

[rgschackelford]

Hello sir,

I understand you plea for human decency, and this is one of the hardest parts of poker. But, at the table, there are no friends or family. You are there to win chips, not friends. It sounds evil, but you must check your heart and emotions at the door. It hurts to see it happen, but it's the truth of the matter.

Furthermore, if he doesn't lose his money to you, he will lose it to someone else or to the casino. He going to give it up anyway, so why not let him give it up to you.

Have you ever heard the statement, "You should be willing to bust your own Grandmother, if the opportunity arises at a poker table."? It may sound crass, but don't ask, "Should I be taking this poor shlub's money?" Ask yourself, "If this person sat down at a poker table (or walked into a casino for that matter), then he knows the risk before he plays, and he's saying, "I have the money to lose." If he doesn't and loses it, that's his fault. It sounds nothing short of evil, but that's the way it goes.

Yours in darkness [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img],

Rusty G. Schackelford

[mackthefork]

Its different, this is like offering a drink to an alcoholic, sure he can say no, but why offer.

Mack

[Snoogins47]

I have a friend who, as an unemployed student, would burn through three figures worth of money very frequently, playing... $10 max buy in NL games that my hometown buds and I will play to fart around.

I would pull him aside and tell him he shouldn't play. I'd tell him that he shouldn't gamble with money he doesn't have. I don't want to play him, I don't want him to play, he shouldn't play, and I make no secret about it. Once he's at the table, I'm not going to ease up.

Poker can definitely get to be an ugly game. For me, it seems their battles are really fought and won/lost away from the poker table. Once he's bought in and made the decision to play, the only thing altering my play against him will do is make him less likely to bust, and more likely to NOT get the picture.

This is slightly different than the anonymous face you think is most likely addicted, but it goes along with my general philosophy on it, I think. If this kid's issue with gambling ever gets out of hand (luckily he's either kept it in check, run good, or just never gambled for all that much money yet) I'd gladly chip in a good chunk of change for him to get help, but I wouldn't let up with my value bets.