Do you ever wish you were innocent?? - Page 4

daryn · #31 07-07-2004, 12:43 AM

it's not about that. it's not like i think i'm the smartest guy in the world, i just realize that i'm smart enough to be contemplating the infinity of the universe and how meaningless everything is, and there are people out there that would never think of such things.

sometimes, when i'm in "that kind of mood", i wish i was one of them.

joker122 · #32 07-07-2004, 01:17 AM

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i mean it's a joke that you guys think that you're so tortured and intelligent. odds are unfathomably high that you just think too much of yourself and take yourself too seriously.

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The irony in this post is shocking. I've been a member of this forum for 7 months and I've read hundreds of your posts. Most of your responses reek of condescension and self-importance. Touche, astro.

SlyR · #33 07-07-2004, 01:21 AM

No, I wish no such thing. The best line of defense I've had against friends who were concerned about my "gambling problem" is the fact that I only play poker. And I can comfortably back up that line of defense because knowledge of the odds keeps me comfortably away from the house games.

2283 · #34 07-07-2004, 01:33 AM

i thought it was clear that i meant it sucks to go through life believing that nothing really matters. don't you agree?

i also believe that being religious means nothing.

Cry Me A River · #35 07-07-2004, 10:08 AM

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i guess by stupid i meant, they could either get past the deep thoughts i have and go out and enjoy themselves, or they weren't the type of people to ever start thinking those deep thoughts in the first place.

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And I mean't that level of intelligence has about zero correlation to happiness.

If you've taken to blaming your depression on intelligence you really need to give your head a shake, or a shrink...

MEbenhoe · #36 07-07-2004, 10:42 AM

I think the real key to it all is you just need to know how to loosen up. I'll give you an example of mine that relates directly to this. I have a group of a few friends who all play poker pretty seriously, some of us are more experienced and knowledgeable than others in this group, but relatively are all pretty solid players. The nearest card club to us is Canterbury Park (little over 2 hour drive away). We usually make a weekly trip there to play. As soon as we walk in there we're all quite serious and play our best games every time in. I don't have records on the rest of my friends but i'm over 90% sure that all of us are ahead from playing there, I myself am up a good amount and rarely leave from a session there down.

So you're asking whats the point of all this? Well this same group of friends who all take poker seriously, are winning players, and know all the math behind poker can relate things to EV, have made it a tradition that following every trip we'll go each put in a buck and buy lottery tickets. It usually happens that we stop at a gas station afterwards, someone says hey look what the jackpot is up to and we're all in. We'll then go and talk ridiculously of what we'll all do with our share of the winnings when we hit it big. Also, quite a few of my friends after a long poker session will cash out up a couple hundred bucks and then go take $10 or $20 over to the table games in the back and throw it away there.

What the point of all this was is that someone who takes poker seriously, knows all the odds, the math, EV, can still go and throw away a few bucks here and there just having fun if you have the proper attitude about it. Loosen up, have fun, take a vacation, play some really low buy in poker with friends who dont really know what they're doing and rather than concentrating on your playing just have fun, hey you'll only lose $5 doing it anyways. But you'll gain a better attitude, and you won't see throwing a few bucks away every once in awhile as such a bad thing, and you'll learn to have fun with it. Hope that helped.

Cohiba Al · #37 07-07-2004, 10:51 AM

I agree with this.

I play poker because it is fun to play. The fun isn't always tied into the money I win or lose; that is, a winning session isn't necessary for me to have a successful day. Yet that doesn't mean I'm not there for the money, I am. But I measure my poker day by how well I played, not my take.

But as for fun, I bring that with me, win or lose. I enjoy being at the table. I enjoy talking with the regulars who know me, meeting new people. I tease the waitresses and the dealers. I make jokes, and laugh with good cheer at those made at my expense. I cheer when great play has beat me for a pot (sure a suck-out sours me a tad). I announce to the entire room when a royal hits the table (why not? It's a great and rare thing for that person and he should get the most bang for it). I talk about weather, sex, politics, sports, poker, life, philosophy, poker, anything. I bring the fun with me.

Doing something that is -EV or +EV only affects my wallet. Doing something that is FUN is, as always, entirely up to me and how I approach my activity.

mackthefork · #38 07-07-2004, 11:06 AM

Horses are good, definitely '-EV' but very good all the same, go lose some money, and enjoy it, it's good for the soul.

Regards ML

mackthefork · #39 07-07-2004, 11:22 AM

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sometimes i start thinking about the world, the universe, philosophising to myself, and i think myself into deep depression about how existence is meaningless.

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Really, I love the fact that existence is meaningless.

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then i just picture some group of idiots out there drinking beers at a bar and living it up. they are just pleased to be alive, and i think that's what it's all about.

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Couldn't agree more with that.

Regards ML

mackthefork · #40 07-07-2004, 11:38 AM

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I agree, the word ignorant has nothing to do with intelligence and I didn't mean to imply that people who believe in God are stupid. Because I believe it to be "the truth" that God does not exist I am saying that IMO people who fail to recognize this are "ignorant" because they are not aware of this truth. However, since I can't prove that I'm right about God's existence or lack thereof, the word ignorant was probably a poor choice of words. I said it because it was mentioned in the original post with regard to EV and I wanted to tie that in. I take it back.

PS. If a guy was 100% convinced that God did exist, then his calling me ignorant on the subject would be fair from his perspective. In his opinion the existence of God is a fact and I am failing to realize this "fact". His calling me stupid however would not be fair.

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It's pretty much a recognised fact, that god (or all religion) is a tool of the state created to manipulate the masses. In early civilisations this was the only way to keep any sort of order, things have changed a bit since then though. People can believe what they want, but to say someone is wrong to deny the existence of god is not fair, they have as much right to say it as the guys who go door to door have to sell their ideas.

Regards ML