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Poker an' Politics

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  1. ben4poker ben4poker is offline

    Glenside, PA
    United States

    Posts: 88
    Joined: Mar 05

    Aug 11th, 2005 (8/11/2005 4:55pm)

    I guess I'm just curious about the over trends regarding the political affiliation of poker players. It's a individual pursuit, where it's you against everyone else. And the only real purpose is to make money. This sort of mentality is something I would normally attribute to Republicans (IE free market capitalism, etc). On the other hand, several poker pros (Andy Bloch, Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Chris Furgeson, etc) are outspoken liberals. Given the socially conservative nature of the U.S. right, I would also assume many evengelical Christians look down on "gambling." Anyone have any thoughts about this?
  2. politjunkie politjunkie is offline

    Posts: 11
    Joined: Aug 05

    Aug 11th, 2005 (8/11/2005 5:24pm) in reply to ben4poker

    There are two things in life that suck. The Yankees and Democrats
  3. drglen drglen is offline

    Brooklyn, NY
    United States

    Posts: 430
    Joined: May 05

    Aug 11th, 2005 (8/11/2005 5:28pm) in reply to politjunkie

    i disagree hole-heartidly with one part of this statement. i will leave it up to you guys to figure out which part but i'll share that i was born in queens.
  4. da_bill da_bill is offline

    Posts: 213
    Joined: Apr 05

    Aug 11th, 2005 (8/11/2005 5:32pm) in reply to ben4poker

    This prolly belongs in the off topic forum ;)
  5. sandwich sandwich is offline

    Berkeley, CA
    United States

    Posts: 224
    Joined: Jul 05

    Aug 11th, 2005 (8/11/2005 5:40pm) in reply to da_bill

    republicans/ and yankees suck
  6. tymzend tymzend is offline

    South Beloit, IL
    United States

    Posts: 205
    Joined: Feb 05

    Aug 11th, 2005 (8/11/2005 6:06pm) in reply to ben4poker

    Liberals play more freerolls (they love the opportunity of getting something for nothing), and bitch harder when they take a bad beat, trying to blame it on....."the man (the web site)", rather than just taking it for what it is. Pure, unadulterate poker violence.

    Conservatives start at low limits, with the sole purpose of building a bankroll and being able to play higher limits, all in the pursuit of the mighty dollar, and just to piss off the liberals who are chucking their way through a 2000 person freeroll for $50, only to miss the FT and finish 11th.

    It's a beautiful thing.
  7. CUlater CUlater is offline

    Monroe, LA
    United States

    Posts: 30
    Joined: Mar 05

    Aug 11th, 2005 (8/11/2005 10:24pm) in reply to ben4poker

    You notice that the really smart pros like Jesus, Bloch, and Greenstein are liberals? Wonder if there is something to that?
  8. JazzyJ33 JazzyJ33 is offline

    Posts: 550
    Joined: Aug 05

    Aug 11th, 2005 (8/11/2005 10:40pm) in reply to CUlater

    The nature of gambling and its lifestyle--and everything it connotes--is highly liberal. So you're obviously going to find them mostly being liberal. Most religions (esp. Christian) definitely frown upon gambling. However, I am a Christian conservative.

    P.S. No need to call names, people. If you want to have a REAL political discussion, bring it on.
  9. oBOBCATu oBOBCATu is offline

    Burundi

    Posts: 7,910
    Joined: Jun 05

    Aug 11th, 2005 (8/11/2005 11:02pm) in reply to JazzyJ33

    yankees and red sox suck.....err wait this is a political discussion
  10. politjunkie politjunkie is offline

    Posts: 11
    Joined: Aug 05

    Aug 11th, 2005 (8/11/2005 11:13pm) in reply to JazzyJ33

    Also a christian conservative and i do not like gambling. That is the reason i stick to poker and not craps or slots and why i stay away from party poker
  11. Groovykool Groovykool is offline

    Lawrence, KS
    United States

    Posts: 129
    Joined: Apr 05

    Aug 11th, 2005 (8/11/2005 11:25pm) in reply to JazzyJ33

    I'm an independent. But I don't like it that the GOP is against online gambling including poker.

    This is from there platform.

    "Millions of Americans suffer from problem or pathological gambling that can destroy families. We support legislation prohibiting gambling over the Internet or in student athletics by student athletes who are participating in competitive sports. Training Our 21st Century Workforce"
  12. Dyzalot Dyzalot is offline

    Candia, NH
    United States

    Posts: 14,473
    Joined: May 05

    Aug 12th, 2005 (8/12/2005 12:42am) in reply to JazzyJ33

    Actually I would characterize it as libertarian in nature since the word "liberal" has been corrupted to mean other than it actually should.
     3
  13. Alyosha Alyosha is offline

    Bellevue, WA
    United States

    Posts: 15
    Joined: Mar 05

    Aug 12th, 2005 (8/12/2005 1:13am) in reply to ben4poker

    I am not so much a Democrat as I am an anti-Republican. Economically speaking, I'm a moderate -- not a fan of tax-and-spend big government, but not a slash-and-burn libertarian either. (Although, I'd take either one would be be an improvement of the borrow-and-squander status quo). Socially speaking, I'm quite libertarian, which sets me against the paternalism of social conservatives mostly, but I think the left at times goes to extremes as well.

    And poker, for me, isn't about the money I make (which is quite meagre), but it's more for the challenge -- I like the compeitition, and I like to improve my abilities at anything I compete in.
  14. Artiecat Artiecat is offline

    Togo

    Posts: 5,639
    Joined: Jan 05

    Aug 12th, 2005 (8/12/2005 8:24am) in reply to Alyosha

    tymzend has hit the nail on the head. I was laughing my ass off. I experienced a perfect example of the difference between liberals and conservatives this past weekend. I was in NYC with my fiance' and we were having lunch with a friend of hers and discussing work topics. I am conservative and he is a liberal. We are both business owners (I'm a financial advisor and he is a psychologist) and we were on the subject of one of his employees who is in an unhappy marriage. When I asked him why she hasn't asked for a divorce, he explained to me that it was for his health benefits. He then told that he doesn't provide health insurance to his employees. This floored me because I thought that's what liberals want. "Every American is entitled to health insurance...blah....blah....blah." But then I realized...ahh...they don't want to pay for it, they want someone else to pay for it. Conservatives like myself offer health benefits to their employees in order to compete for the best employees. We don't do it just out of the goodness of our hearts. I just think it's a good business decision. Happy, healthy, successful employees leads to a happy, healthy, successful business.

    Now, before every single liberal business owner on this website starts in on me about how they provide health ins. to their employees, I just thought this was an interesting difference to point out.

    So, how does this all relate to poker? I play because I love it, and it's a microcosm of the life. Survival of the fittest along with a little luck. A lifetime crammed into 5 hours. I have always said that all liberals are conservative....they just don't realize it yet.
     
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