Value of the "profession," bereft?

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

people pay $8.95 (or so) for a few hours' entertainment and escapism

That's not value? Have we all been poisoned by Calvinist humbug??

[onegymrat]

SIGH, same here. [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[JayKon]

[ QUOTE ]
Hardly any good poker players -- and almost no professionals -- do drugs because of the knowledge that they prevent people from playing well.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have lost count of the times a player has come back from a "break" and my nose twitched from the spell of pot (yes, I know what it smells like - ill spent youth and all that).

I don't mind, they play worse.

Jay

[Al Schoonmaker]

I said GOOD players.
Al

[TheGrifter]

[ QUOTE ]
How many top poker players have had sex with 600 or 20,000 women?

[/ QUOTE ]

Not for lack of trying I'm sure!!! [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[JayKon]

Touché

[CrisBrown]

Hiya Kurn,

My point was, if we really want to come down to it, who DOES contribute "value" to our society in terms of what they do? I suspect that if you listed the 50 "most valuable" jobs, well over half would be in the lowest pay scales: construction workers, factory workers, cooks, bakers, teachers, etc., etc. As for "least valuable" jobs, I'd put Trust Fund Baby right up there at the top, yet no one challenges their "right" to be wealthy.

In fact, my writing contributes quite a bit to society. It contributes to keeping my agent and editor (and their assistants), along with senior editors, copy editors, cover artists, typesetters, sales agents, reviewers, and your local bookseller gainfully employed.

The same can be said for "outlandish" actors' salaries. Bruce Willis may get paid $12M to make a movie, but he's paid that because he'll bring in an audience, whose ticket purchases not only pay his salary but also the director's, cinematographer's, grips', costume and makeup designers', caterers', wranglers', armorers', drivers', etc., etc. ... right on down to the 17-year-old who's trying to pay for his car insurance by selling Raisinettes, popcorn, and 25-gallon soft drinks at the local movie theatre.

What do I contribute to society as a poker player? At least as much as any Trust Fund Baby....

Cris

[Roy Munson]

1. You pay rake that goes to the house to pay salaries of employees.

2. Most play the game for entertainment, which is very valuable to a culture. A culture without amusement and diversions lacks vibrancy and creativity.

I am sure that there is other value that poker provides that I can't think of but I will leave that for the enlightened members of the forum to expand upon.

[TheArtist]

To add to that:

The Casino has to pay taxes on the rakes that they make from us. The goverment use the tax money to improve puplic infrastructures, provide health care, unemployment income, assistance for the homeless, and providing student loans to those who can't afford higher education.

This is especially valuable in Canada because most of the Casino earnings goes to paying taxes.

TheArtist

[FredJones888]

I'm definitely not a socialist, and I am a stock trader for the past 11 years, politically I am a libertarian.

the difference between a stock trader and a gambler is that stock traders get some measure of respect from the public and the standard deviation of an unleveraged trader is much smaller.