Poker and your social circle

Juan Oro

Juan Oro

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Poker and your social circle, as we already know, poker within the society that surrounds us is very difficult to fit in, since this great game has been highly stigmatized and has been pointed out as a vice that is linked to chance and that is also the game of gangsters or the rich, this is due to underground games

The question is.

when they ask you this question: what do you do?

If your thing is poker and you are on the way to fulfill your dreams, which is to be a professional poker player.

It is difficult for me to answer these kinds of questions to the society around me as it is very difficult for someone who does not play poker and does not know anything about the game to understand this.

Has it ever happened to you?
 
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Joe

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Tell them you do something else? :)

"I work in risk management..."

"I own a chain of candy floss stalls...'

"I'm a vicar..."

"I work in a variety of roles.."

"I'm a freelance contractor..."

Firstly, you shouldn't really care what people's opinions are of what you do- if you are content and happy, that is all that should matter..

If you can't help but be affected by how other people perceive what you do- tell them you do something else..?

Better yet, be elusive, evasive and skirt around their questions- the mystery will make you far more intriguing if you flat-out don't answer their question or are vague.

This probably isn't the kind of helpful answer you're looking for, but it is how I feel about such things..

Nobody has the God-given right to know what you do- it's none of their business!

If you care about their opinion and they don't like what you do, perhaps they aren't the right person for you to choose as a confidant, friend, lover or whatever...
 
Juan Oro

Juan Oro

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Tell them you do something else? :)

"I work in risk management ..."

"I own a chain of cotton candy stands ..."

"I am a vicar ..."

"I work in a variety of roles ..."

"I am a self employed contractor. .. "

First of all, you shouldn't care about people's opinion of what you do. If you are content and happy, that is all that should matter.

If you can't help but be affected by the way other people perceive what you do, tell them you do something else ...

Better yet, be elusive, evasive and dodge their questions, the mystery will make you that much more intriguing if you don't answer outright to your question or are you lazy.

This is probably not the kind of helpful answer you're looking for, but it's how I feel about those things.

No one has a God-given right to know what you're doing, it's none of their business!

If you care about his opinion and he doesn't like what you do, he might not be the right person for you to choose as your confidant, friend, lover or whatever ...

excellent answer you gave me several options to answer them, but sometimes I am more inclined to the option of avoiding them and not answering them so as not to be attacked for their prejudices about the game or my lifestyle.

I can also tell you that I am undertaking and investing in a new business so as not to go into details that will be difficult for you to understand.
 
Joe

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excellent answer you gave me several options to answer them, but sometimes I am more inclined to the option of avoiding them and not answering them so as not to be attacked for their prejudices about the game or my lifestyle.

I can also tell you that I am undertaking and investing in a new business so as not to go into details that will be difficult for you to understand.
I'm guessing you translated my message because it was a little different when you quoted me, haha..

It seems the ideas translated pretty much ok though...

I generally don't discuss poker or my poker ambitions with people who don't play poker themselves- they mostly don't understand.

I decided a while ago that when I breakthrough, and have already won my way into a competitive bankroll, at that point I will be able to be more open about the fact I'm a poker player, because they will not be able to say anything like "that's bad" or "you'll never make it" because that will already be demonstrably untrue.

I (generally speaking) couldn't care less about what other people think or believe.

People are stupid, who cares what they think? :laugh:
 
Evan Jarvis

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Poker and your social circle, as we already know, poker within the society that surrounds us is very difficult to fit in, since this great game has been highly stigmatized and has been pointed out as a vice that is linked to chance and that is also the game of gangsters or the rich, this is due to underground games

The question is.

when they ask you this question: what do you do?

If your thing is poker and you are on the way to fulfill your dreams, which is to be a professional poker player.

It is difficult for me to answer these kinds of questions to the society around me as it is very difficult for someone who does not play poker and does not know anything about the game to understand this.

Has it ever happened to you?

I like to be honest when it comes with these sort of things.

I love playing poker and I run an online business.

Those who are genuinely interested will ask you to tell them more, and those who aren't will shut it out. Nothing wrong with that... you don't need to get along with everyone :)

By having more going than just poker though it certainly is easier to relate to people :icon_stud
 
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the_bridge222

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Tell them the truth, the goals you have in poker. How difficult it is, but the good results that can be had with perseverance and study. Explain that almost everything takes effort, and regardless of whether you are far or close to each goal, you give everything to be able to progress each day.
 
GeckoAA

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You owe it to yourself to be proud of who you are, and who you aspire to be no matter how negative some people may be in your social circle.

Use telling the truth to see how people react. This might be a good opportunity to learn if they are a true friend and even worthy of continuing to be in your social circle.

People are usually afraid or nervous of things they don't understand, so we can try to help them by explaining or maybe even have them watch you play a bit of a poker session.

Surround yourself with supportive, loving people.

Here's one - "I am a Bank Roll Manager" :)
 
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I know how you fell

I really am very resilient at answer people, I consider very much who is asking so I can answer properly. By this, I mean, if is someone really out of what is poker, I don't even bother getting deep in the subject, if is someone open minded, so I try to have a real discussion about my goals in poker.
Poker and your social circle, as we already know, poker within the society that surrounds us is very difficult to fit in, since this great game has been highly stigmatized and has been pointed out as a vice that is linked to chance and that is also the game of gangsters or the rich, this is due to underground games

The question is.

when they ask you this question: what do you do?

If your thing is poker and you are on the way to fulfill your dreams, which is to be a professional poker player.

It is difficult for me to answer these kinds of questions to the society around me as it is very difficult for someone who does not play poker and does not know anything about the game to understand this.

Has it ever happened to you?
 
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casique31

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The truth is that in my environment I only know two poker players, I really feel alone in this race the good thing that nobody asks. the bad thing is that you can not share in a meeting or in a meeting of friends the topic
 
infonazar

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Honestly, I do not care about the opinion of others. I'm just working on achieving my goals and realizing my dreams.
 
VVi10

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One of the positive factors of playing poker, among others, is exactly that, the possibility of establishing a social network of friends to play and discuss poker, that´s great!
 
Juan Oro

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The truth is that in my environment I only know two poker players, I really feel alone in this race the good thing that nobody asks. the bad thing is that you can't share the topic
in a meeting or a meeting of friends

If when you meet with friends or family who do not know anything about poker it is difficult for them to understand about this topic or the world of poker, it is also full of prejudices and criticisms about this profession since they do not see it that way and they compare chance with luck.

Honestly, I don't care about the opinion of others. I'm just working to achieve my goals and make my dreams come true.

We exactly have to focus on our vision in our dreams to achieve it.
 
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Joe

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I like to be honest when it comes with these sort of things.

I love playing poker and I run an online business.

Those who are genuinely interested will ask you to tell them more, and those who aren't will shut it out. Nothing wrong with that... you don't need to get along with everyone :)

By having more going than just poker though it certainly is easier to relate to people :icon_stud
Generally speaking, I'm a big proponent of 'honesty is the best policy' so, on that level at least, I tend to agree with you.

However, there are a couple of reasons why I think it's much less of an issue for you to be open and direct about poker as it might be for some others..

Firstly, from where I'm sitting, you're an established pro with a proven track record of success and earnings. This gives you much more weight in any discussion about the viability and validity of poker as a serious career path.

Secondly, is culture. Different parts of the world perceive poker as a profession very differently. In some countries/cultures is perfectly acceptable to be a pro poker player. Others, very much less so.

If you were in an environment where whenever you said "I'm a poker player/aspiring poker player" you received the same ill-informed, negative misconceptions- you might eventually be less inclined to declare also... :eek:

As I like to avoid lying, if I had to say something, I'd be economical with the truth and say something like 'risk management' so I felt like I wasn't lying nor exposing myself to unnecessary negativity.

The truth is that in my environment I only know two poker players, I really feel alone in this race the good thing that nobody asks. the bad thing is that you can not share in a meeting or in a meeting of friends the topic
This makes cardschat wondrous, right? :biggrin:

Honestly, I do not care about the opinion of others. I'm just working on achieving my goals and realizing my dreams.
:five:

I like you.
 
COMIRRR

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There is no one in my circle of friends who plays poker and I had many discussions with them on this topic. They advised me that it is not a profitable game, especially in the online game, they are skeptical about the players in the online environment regarding that not everything would be right and they try with various programs to deceive their opponents. However, they agree with me that when you like something you don't have to give up, they are sports betting players ...
 
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neptun1914

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Here in Bulgaria most people do not know about poker and consider it as pure gambling. If somebody asks me if i play poker i will tell them the truth - i play at micro stakes for fun and i like this game. If they are interested to learn more i try to explain them the main differences between poker and pure gambling casino games:

1. Playing poker you play against other players and not against casino. Casino always takes its rake so it does not care who wins and who looses.
2. Game outcome do not depend only on pure chance but also on skills of the players which in long run makes some players winners and other players loosers.

Conclusion from those two differences shows that in poker you can win in a long run if you are better player while in other casino games you can't as they are made in such way that the casino will always have edge in a long run. I tell them that i never play anything except poker in casino which is true.

Some people understand this and their view of poker changes. I personally only care about the opinion of my family, friends and colleagues at work. What other people or the society in general thinks does not matter too much for me.
 
Maiuchi

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It is true, it is difficult to fit into society being a card player, but I try to avoid those discussions, on the other hand my job is another for the moment I am a recreational player, but I would like it to be my job and I will tell you with total pride in what I have achieved.
 
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