Felt like writing something, hope you guys enjoy...

Playing poker for a better life<SPAN> </SPAN>
<SPAN> </SPAN>I’ve read all over about playing poker professionally, I’ve read the pros, the cons, the struggles, the benefits, and much more, but I feel like even the successful pros out there are missing the big picture. Some people play poker for fun, depositing money online or dumping money live and they are fine with that, its entertainment. Others try to play poker for money, but seem to not be able to make any because their just not there yet, and end up donating becoming degenerate gamblers. Next, you have the players that are not making money yet but they are working at their game and will eventually fall into the next category which is players who play to make extra money. These players make extra income and use that to pay bills, go out and party, or buy things that they might not have been able to, without the extra money. Finally you have the players that play for a living, some make more than others but these are the people that grind all day and all<SPAN> </SPAN>night and call the felt their home, virtual or live. Now the point of this is not to classify players but rather to focus more on the last two categories, or basically the players that make money from this game.

<SPAN> </SPAN>First off, if you make money consistently at this game, than congrats you have a gift. Whether you have that natural ability to read people or worked you ass off to learn strategy basically breathing poker, you now have a gift that others want, and that you should take pride in. Although, why do some not understand this gift? Doctors have the gift to save people, architects have the gift to design amazing buildings, basketball players have the ability to seem immortal at times making moves and draining shots that are unthinkable, and poker players have the ability to read people and pull moves that others couldn’t even think of. It’s a gift.. It’s a gift knowing that when you check on the the river with the nuts your opponent will bluff all in with his busted flush draw, it’s a gift calling down a guy with bottom pair, knowing he over plays his AK every time, it’s a gift being able to 4 bet a guy all in with any hand because you know he will lay down everything but Aces, and it’s a gift to be able to lose a monster pot to some fish who caught his 2 outer on the river, but you know that your good enough to grind your 20 big blind stack and still win the tourney. Basically start appreciating your gift. But why do poker players get such grief for what they do? Whether it’s parents, girlfriends, or friends, why do they continue to see poker as not a respectful thing to do and the government in some states compares it to sex offenders. Besides the doctors, the teachers and certain other jobs that obviously benefit society in a huge way, where does poker seem different. Lets take a look, at some of the objections of playing poker for a living.

1. <LI class=MsoNormal>You are not contributing to society? Really that’s strange because to begin with, many players who make a lot of money at this game splurge their money on electronics, restaurants, houses, and basically contribute to an economy that is falling apart, so to be honest, this economy needs poker players more than ever.</LI> <LI class=MsoNormal>It is not a respectable job. Okay this is one that really bugs me, who sets the standards for a respectable job. I have friends who think its amazing that I make money at this game, and are very proud of me. So am I trying to get respect from people who don’t understand the skill involved or do I want respect from my peers? Also, how is making $10/hr at some crummy job whether it is working in a cubicle answering phones or working at a convince store any more respectable. </LI> <LI class=MsoNormal>Your taking money from people and that’s just unethical. Really? Unethical? You know its funny because when I go to buy a keyboard for $60 and some of the keys don’t work because the company paid $2 to make it instead of losing an extra $1 of profit to make my keyboard work well, and you want to talk about ethics? I just bought a puppy for $1,100 and it costs them around $400 or so to buy it, so what is really unethical. Everything we purchase is over priced and every day so called respectable businesses are ripping us off yet poker players are the unethical ones? Yes, to make money at this game a poker player must take it from someone else, but when I go and buy my puppy with my poker winnings and they make $700 profit off it, I really don’t feel like im the bad guy, I mean maybe the Petland owner is one of the people I made money from and I just gave it back, with interest!!</LI> <LI class=MsoNormal>Lastly poker is a game of luck and not skill. Now I don’t need to prove this because all winning poker players understand it, and really just laugh when people say this. So basically the people that say this are saying the top pros are not good, they are just really lucky, online pros like AJK, moorman, Durr and all the other top pros, along with Daniel, Matusow, and the other great live pros, they must just be lucky right? Now some of them may run good in some key spots in major tourneys, but in the long run they will always be winners, always, and that goes for all profitable players. What makes a player profitable is in the long run if they can always beat the game.</LI>

There are more objections but I think those are the main ones, now let’s look at some of the benefits:

1. <LI class=MsoNormal>Being your own Boss: As a poker player, you set your own hours, you set your goals, and you are the man. Im sure almost everyone has worked for someone who they knew they were smarter than, yet had to listen and put up with their crap, don’t have to do that when the person you answer to is yourself</LI> <LI class=MsoNormal>You can play when you want: If you want a day off you can take it, if your sick, you don’t have to worry about how many sick days you have</LI> <LI class=MsoNormal>Money: This is basically pretty simple, there is a lot of money to be made in this game</LI>

And the list goes on, but the point of this article wasn’t really to list pros/cons, that’s been done and most know what they are. The point is people need to start seeing the real benefits from playing poker. Ill use myself as an example, I do not consider myself a professional, yet, that is, but I do make my extra money from poker, and as a result I have been able to eat out whenever I want, buy extra things like a new computer, video games/systems, HD TV’s, a puppy, and my favorite being able to go on vacations whenever and wherever I want. Now I don’t even make that much compared to others, now if you take what I buy and compare it to someone who makes 300K+ a year!!! Basically all in all we all need to appreciate that we can do these things, which lead me to my next thing, responsibility.

<SPAN> </SPAN>Whether you think so or not, we all have a responsibility to help the less fortunate, and guess what, since we make a lot more money than most people can, poker players are perfect to help the world. People have a negative image of poker players but they don’t see the ones that do charity events, and donate countless money, but everyone needs to do it. Everyone can even set up a poker player’s charity fund managed by poker players that help out everyone, from poor children around the world, to buying school supplies for poor parts of the <st1:country-region>USA</st1:country-region>. We all have extra money to change things so lets start it. When people say I work for a respectable company making 70K a year, and they ask what do you do? You respond, I am a professional poker player, and they make that face. Than you say, yes I made over 100K last year, and helped feed poor children in China, as well as contributed to building a school all while being able to travel the world. Who’s more respectable?

<SPAN> </SPAN>To sum things up, playing poker opens the door for many things, people use that money to accomplish things that they would never be able to accomplish. People open businesses because of poker, pay for law school because of poker, and the list goes on. Its time for people to appreciate their gift, and start living life to the fullest while helping others who wouldn’t survive without us. Let’s change how people think and show them that poker is a job that contributes more than they would ever imagine. Poker players may live in a dream world and not be considered normal, but you only live once, so why not enjoy what you do. So the next time someone makes a face when you mention poker, just know that your gift is going to do wonders for yourself and others, its time for poker to be recognized for what it is, a gate key, which unlocks dreams that one wouldn’t be able to accomplish without this game we love. Its time to take responsibility and recognize that we have a gift now lets live life to the fullest and smile when we say that we play poker, and were damn proud of it.

-Josh Hillock

+1 well said, agree ;)

I'll read this tomorrow when I can fully concentrate...prolly gonna agree tho :]