What good are we? As poker players, are we socially responsible?

Hi and thank you for the replies. Let me start off by saying that the last thing that my original post was intended to do was attack somebody or argue against playing, so there is no need for anybody's defense mechanisms to kick in and to get personal. I also play and I was just trying to hopefully spark a discussion...

Here is my reply to adsman and the poster before him. I don't think my definition of what is of "value" to society is simplistic. I personally understand something that is of value to society as something that adds more to the well being (spelling???) of society than it takes away. You mention a musician: a musician creates music that might be of value to somebody else who might pay money to hear it. In any case, by creating some music, the musician doesn't hurt another in any way (creating music is certainly not a zero sum or a negative sum game as poker). Or you mention guys who work in finance: They provide a service (be it financial advice or whatever) that is of value of others. By providing their financial services they facilitate many benifitial activities (be it to manage risk or to create a market for a certain transaction; I mean you wouldn't be a able to lease a car if there wasn't a bank to approve your lease or an insurace company to insure your car and so on....) Again, whatever the case is, people in finance (in general) do not hurt anybody by providing their services [Of course there are exceptions like George Soros supposedly profiting from the Asian financial crisis, but in general the benefits that financial markets provide outweigh the harm they cause by a large margin]... These are just specific cases.

This is how understand simple economics: people/agents, whatever you want to call them, have different preferences and therefore place different value on goods and services. That is why usually when a voluntary transaction takes place, both sides benefit or at least they are indifferent. An example with a person who works at a coal was given. You work at a coal mine and are a part of organization that produces a good/service that is of value to somebody else. Same with musicians, hedge managers, whatever....

Is it the same with poker? I wouldn't say so. I am not discovering hot water here by saying that in order for you to win money at poker, somebody else needs to lose. Do you provide any good or service for the money you have won? No, unless you count the "entertainment/recreation" you provide to the other guy by taking his money. During a play of a hand, is anything that is of any value created? In general, how would describe an activity (I would even call it just a transaction) during which 90+% of the people involved are left worse off so that the rest can profit benefitial to society? [The argument that there are many other situations in life that are not fair, doesn't make poker any more or less socially responsible. It sounds more like making an excuse or trying to avoid responsibility for doing something that you know is "wrong" by claiming that others are doing it too. Only people who don't have any alternatives have SOME right to make that argument]

Anyways, these are just thoughts that have been going through my head lately. As much as I like poker, I cannot deny the fact that I am doing it purely for my own entertainment and benefit with a certain disregards for other people's well being. Or am I wrong?

Bate