I tried it for the first time this past weekend...and failed.

[TripleH68]

Talking to my parents about poker. More specifically online poker and texas hold'em.

Oh they know I play. They even bought me SSH for Christmas last year. My father and grandfather taught me poker growing up - 5 card draw, 7 card stud, 5 card Chicago, wildcard games. And I am 37 years old. And they are retired. (Sadly my grandfather died from smoking years ago.) They watch tournament poker on television all the time and my dad plays Hoyle's computer game for fun.

To this point I have followed my father's advice from my college days. "Don't tell your mother." Well I have not told either of them very much to this point. Only that I am a winning player. The only questions they ever ask are "how much?" Funny this was the only question my mother ever asked my dad when he came home from bowling/poker night when I was a kid!?

So this past weekend I was in town visiting and they brought it up. They keep wanting to know why I don't play in tournaments. When am I going to try it? "So-and-so just won 1.4 million dollars in this one the other night." My mom even thinks she could see me on tv.

So I decide it is time to educate them. Mistake. I approached them with the ideas of avoiding risk, bankroll building and management. I talked to them about how I have played 25,000 hands of 2/4 online this year with a current winrate of 1.02bb/100. About my eventual goals of moving up and/or playing higher at the casino. My dad says "you play too tight." I say "how do you know?" He says "one bet every 100 hands! How can you stand it? I would be way too bored. That's not poker. I couldn't do that. What happens the other 99 hands?" <insert fatherly condescending tone> I had to give up relatively soon after that. I even tried explaining 2+2 and how many semi-pro players have offered me advice and are giving me a solid foundation - free of charge. It flew over their heads. I also tried explaining to my mother that I do not play NL. Sheesh. She just laughs and says "that's not much money to win for all that time. It can't be worth it." Ugh.

I am not one to bother others with my adventures, so this experience was frustrating. Perhaps typical of my relationship with my parents.

Point is it has made me appreciate 2+2 even more.

Thanks, HHH.