poker ethics: do you wonder about who you're taking money from?

[moondogg]

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I have no problem whatsoever. They would only have bought crack and beer with that money anyway.

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Nobody buys crack and beer. If you're buying crack, you're washing it down with Mad Dog 20/20.

[Uglyowl]

It is the cost of enertainment for alot of people. Also...

If it isn't me making money then it is someone else.

I figure these people are going to lose their money at a casino, scratch tickets, at poker, so might as well be me better off.

[Wetdog]

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Are we not, as habitually winning poker players, bigger leaches on society than people that abuse the unemployment/welfare program? We are taking money straight from the pockets of other people, granted a smaller population than that of the taxpayers of your given country.

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Nope. We're more like entertainers and athletes.

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That population obviously consists of many different types of people, some of which one might feel bad about taking from (pathological gamblers, bored housewives) and some not (frat boys, the guy on TILT).

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We are not responsible for the weakness of others. There are helplines that are advertised plenty for people with problems.

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But on the whole, do you figure they've put themselves at risk and thus are ultimately responsible? Are you providing them with entertainment, and your winnings off of them are the price of that entertainment?

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Bingo.

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If someone was walking down the street in front of you and dropped 20 bucks out of their pocket, would you pick it up and put it in yours?

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No, that's an accident. I have returned $20 bills that I've seen people drop. But if they drop it on the table, it's in play.

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I'm not trying to preach fire and brimstone or anything, I'm just wondering if this is something anybody's thought about.

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I've thought about it briefly.

[Jeffage]

Never feel bad. This is a competition...when they sit in the game, their inherent goal is to take YOUR money. Play hard at anybody and don't worry about it.

Jeff

[Idaho Ave]

I actually love this aspect of poker.
I am a vampire, I rob others of their life energy and life force in order to exault my own. The same reason they can't afford shoes is the same reason mine shine. The same reason their girlfriends are ashamed and enfurated at them, is the same reason I split a bottle of pinot with mine. God himself didn't designate me to be a winning player, or them to be losers. These are acts of freewill. Ones living quality will always be the result of the critical decisions they make, and poker is a brutally honest. Everybody has a decision to make for themselves. <font color="red"> </font>
Idaho

[Mr_J]

"Not a leach? What service of any value do we provide to society?"

Rubbish. You pay tax. You spend your winnings on goods and services, where as the gamblers would just lose it. You are putting $$$ back in to your local economy, instead of it being given to an offshore company.

Even if you live in a tax free country (like me), you still spend your income and boost your local economy (more so than the average person, since we earn more). It goes even further for someone like me. I take money from non-Australians and bring the money into the Australian economy.

Our jobs might not provide a social benefit, but our incomes do. Plenty of normal jobs don't benefit society. Just because you offer a product or service doesn't make it beneficial. At least what we do doesn't hurt society, which is more than what you can say for alot of 'normal' or 'socially acceptable' jobs out there.

[Acesover8s]

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Quote:
Are we not, as habitually winning poker players, bigger leaches on society than people that abuse the unemployment/welfare program? We are taking money straight from the pockets of other people, granted a smaller population than that of the taxpayers of your given country.



Nope. We're more like entertainers and athletes.

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Really? You don't seem all that entertaining.

The entertainment analogy isn't a very good one as people seek out entertainers for specifically what they are good at doing. While most casual gamblers don't care who they are playing with, and if given the option would chose to play with lesser skilled players.

If you're having doubts about the usefulness of your profession you are probably correct, and many people in other professions should feel the same way. So perhaps the solution is to not hoard all the money you can, and give some amount back in a useful way.

[parttimepro]

Yeah, I asked about this earlier in the psychology forum. Nobody really seems to know who's losing all this money to us. My guess is you've got some people who play poker instead of blackjack, and who expect to lose but want to gambool, and some others who are honestly trying to make money but either suck or are playing above their skill level.

As for demographics, who knows? There are a hell of a lot of college students playing, and I think as a whole they're probably long-term losers. Other than that, people who have enough excess income to lose a couple hundred dollars a month, or who have exceedingly poor financial management skills.

I don't really feel guilty about it. I figure they're trying to take my money too, it's just that I'm better at it. But, yes, there's no question my time could be used to help society in a more substantive but less financially rewarding way.

[Jordan]

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But on the whole, do you figure they've put themselves at risk and thus are ultimately responsible? Are you providing them with entertainment, and your winnings off of them are the price of that entertainment?

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bingo! not so much as them paying for entertainment... i used to think a lot about this, and i used to feel bad about trying to take other's money, especially when i played with friends, but then i came to an important conclusion. they're trying to take my money! i don't think i should feel bad for being better than them, when they know full well what they're getting into.

[MD2020]

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I have no problem whatsoever. They would only have bought crack and beer with that money anyway.

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Nobody buys crack and beer. If you're buying crack, you're washing it down with Mad Dog 20/20.

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I don't think I like the tone of your post...