Money Etiquette - Page 7

rwanger · #61 10-19-2005, 09:09 AM

I've seen similar posts like this once or twice, and it seems like there are a lot of "it is none of their damn business" type responses. That's true I suppose, but you must see how it's not exactly equivalent to "how much do you make at your programming job".

Playing poker profesionally is waaay more accepted these days than it ever has been before, and people are just curious. It's different because success in poker is pretty much measured by how much you make (relative to the blinds etc), or at least, that's the easiest way to judge how well someone is doing.

I've been telling most people how well I am doing, although, now that I keep moving up, I've started to be more vague (saying I make $30 an hour is not that ridiculous, even to someone with a crappy job). Now that I have a real job, I can say "yeah I make $80 an hour, but I only get to play like 10 hours a week or so". Which you could say whether you are playing 40 hours or whatnot.

Maybe I just don't have a lot of friends who are mooches, so I have a different view. All along I've been disclosing exact figures, hoping partially to legitimize it with friends and family, so that they know I know what I'm doing, and should be supportive rather than worried.

That being said, now that I'm making more, I'm starting to say things like "it's a whole other income".

A lot of people just want to live psuedo-vicariously through you, especially people interested in poker. They want to be able to say "I know a guy who makes $100k a year playing poker online."

If they do want figures, it's probably best to tell them about 1 or two big scores, rather than an hourly rate I'd imagine. That way you can say, "I won $5k in a pot one time" but follow it up with "Yeah, that's a lot of money, but I've lost $2k on MANY occasions, so it's not as crazy as you think".

Also just talking about tournies seems better than cash games. "I won a tourney with 2200 players" always woos the crowd. You can say you won "a few thousand".
[img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Bosox · #62 10-19-2005, 09:09 AM

Maybe i should have posted this here instead. I was tired and pissed off when i wrote it. 40 bucks really doesn't mean anything but i think it's a perfectly good example of what's been talked about on here.
I do have no problem talking poker among my poker buddies. The competition of it can help motivate.

my angry thread

NoSkills · #63 10-19-2005, 09:34 AM

I'm a financial markets prop trader although not a great poker player yet [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]. The money dynamics are similar to high stakes poker I think.
I've been doing it for 14 years now and this question is one I've been asked alot. A couple of times when I was young - out of vanity - I gave an honest answer ... to a friend and to a brother. No good came of it. There is no upside to it. Now I always try to play it down, invariably I answer "How are you doing at work" usually from my mum with "up and down, mum, up and down". I try to avoid discussing it even when I'm ripping it because I DON'T want to discuss it when I'm doing my conkers. I think you can stick to relative terms if are pushed into it - as in "better this week", "not so great just now", not as in "more money than god" etc
Just be thankful yourself and keep it to yourself
skills

AceHiStation · #64 10-19-2005, 10:50 AM

First off, this is a great thread and I've really enjoyed reading some of the responses...

but, I take a completely different approach. I think people who have a negative take on poker aren't going to change their views if people like us are trying to be shady about it. My parents hate gambling. They heard I was going to Las Vegas and assumed it was just a fun trip with friends with a little gambling, which it was, but there were definately a few 8-hour sessions in there. I took 3rd in a Party Super and told my parents of my win, and they were upset with me for "wasting my time" and compared the money to "winning the lottery". I continued to play until I won the Super Tuesday a couple weeks ago and went to my parents the next day and explained to them "I know you guys don't really agree with my poker hobby, but I feel I should be honest about it." After explaining the situation to my parents and my dad asking me how you get money into PartyPoker, whether its safe, who runs it, how I trust them with my money, how much I put at risk, etc... he was willing to understand a little bit more. I can still tell he prefers me not to play poker, but he admitted that my honesty meant a lot to me and that he just didn't want me getting carried away.

I also have a few poker playing friends and 2 close friends that don't play poker. I've told all of them of my wins and my losses. I am as honest as possible and I think it helps make poker look better by being honest about it. I've told my friend that "Yeah, I won $32.5k in one night... but I was down $6K in the past week." Anyways, I hate to sound like a cheeseball, but I think honesty is the way to go. And as far as buying drinks and all that goes? I love it. My friends don't expect it. Sometimes I buy them, sometimes I don't. To be honest, I'm the same way with my money as I would be if I had a $100K/year job. And no, I'm not up $100K, but I am halway there now and not looking back =)

Anyways, enjoyed the thread, and looking forward to some more responses,
-Ace

rwanger · #65 10-19-2005, 11:24 AM

[ QUOTE ]
And no, I'm not up $100K, but I am halway there now and not looking back =)

[/ QUOTE ]

So the $32k you won in a night must have been from a tourney then....right?

What limits do you play in cash games?

AceHiStation · #66 10-19-2005, 11:30 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
And no, I'm not up $100K, but I am halway there now and not looking back =)

[/ QUOTE ]

So the $32k you won in a night must have been from a tourney then....right?

What limits do you play in cash games?

[/ QUOTE ]

Right, the $32K was from a tournament. I've moved to $3/$6NL (6-max) and I'm absolutely loving it, but I am running unbelievably hot. I have 5000 hands at 15.93PTBB/100 so I'm waiting for that awful session that puts me back to reality, but we'll see what happens.

Allinlife · #67 10-19-2005, 12:09 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
And no, I'm not up $100K, but I am halway there now and not looking back =)

[/ QUOTE ]

So the $32k you won in a night must have been from a tourney then....right?

What limits do you play in cash games?

[/ QUOTE ]

Right, the $32K was from a tournament. I've moved to $3/$6NL (6-max) and I'm absolutely loving it, but I am running unbelievably hot. I have 5000 hands at 15.93PTBB/100 so I'm waiting for that awful session that puts me back to reality, but we'll see what happens.

[/ QUOTE ]
move up dude

AceHiStation · #68 10-19-2005, 01:26 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
And no, I'm not up $100K, but I am halway there now and not looking back =)

[/ QUOTE ]

So the $32k you won in a night must have been from a tourney then....right?

What limits do you play in cash games?

[/ QUOTE ]

Right, the $32K was from a tournament. I've moved to $3/$6NL (6-max) and I'm absolutely loving it, but I am running unbelievably hot. I have 5000 hands at 15.93PTBB/100 so I'm waiting for that awful session that puts me back to reality, but we'll see what happens.

[/ QUOTE ]
move up dude

[/ QUOTE ]

Everytime I have tried moving up I have taken a couple big beats and then tilt a little bit more. Last time I moved up to 2K i got all-in on a flush on the flop and lost to a set turning a boat for $4800+. Also, winning a tournament gives me no right to move up and assume I can maintain whatever winrate I had before. I plan on sticking at $3/$6NL (6-max) until I beat the game through 20K hands+ at a 7PTBB/100 or better.

Diplomat · #69 10-19-2005, 02:21 PM

It's pretty interesting that, generally speaking, people in this thread are so open with other poker players.

I've always been honest with my wife about this stuff, as well as...two other people. Telling anyone else, imo, would be bad for business. Heck, even telling the people besides my wife probably wasn't a good idea either.

-Diplomat

#70 10-19-2005, 04:01 PM

[ QUOTE ]
It's pretty interesting that, generally speaking, people in this thread are so open with other poker players.

I've always been honest with my wife about this stuff, as well as...two other people. Telling anyone else, imo, would be bad for business. Heck, even telling the people besides my wife probably wasn't a good idea either.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm honest with my friends, not my customers. To them, I'm a perpetual loser with a bottomless bankroll that has lost every session they haven't witnessed and tonight, well, I'm just lucky.