It's hard for people that don't know the game to understand how some can make a living out of it. Just keep grinding and just leave it out of conversation with them.

i just say that I am in "investment management" or that I "invest aggressively"..

 

Originally Posted by SCooker

i just say that I am in "investment management" or that I "invest aggressively"..

lol, nice. I guess I'm just lucky, but most people I know are happy and encouraging, including most of my family members.

 

Originally Posted by mdshack14

It's hard for people that don't know the game to understand how some can make a living out of it. Just keep grinding and just leave it out of conversation with them.

this

Most people surprisingly aren't very negative in my experiences, and are interested contrary to popular belief.

I tell people what I do and try to leave it at that. Its too hard to explain anything to people who don't know the game. Save yourself the trouble

Well poker is not a career for me, but I love it, and do alright out of it.

Even though Australia has a pretty strong gambling culture, no one, can understand how the local High School Principal, could be involved with poker.

People think I'm some kind of 'secret gambling addict'.

 

Originally Posted by z06fanatic

I avoid mentioning it at all costs - regardless of how well you do you're not going to get a positive reaction - its either going to be disproval or jealousy - I guess theres some people that legit will be like wow thats cool, but such a small percentage....

I'm actually at a loss for what to tell random people, but lately I've just been telling the truth without getting into it too much. I think it's probably better this way because I'd rather meet cool, open-minded people than disguise a large part of my personal identity in some vain attempt to fit in with overly judgmental people.

 

Originally Posted by Gags30

had one person tell me if they just lost that much they wouldnt' be able to sleep and would just cry all night...told them i was gonna sleep real soundly

I lol'd

I think in general people aren't trying to be rude when asking about playing poker. It is really just a very interesting profession. That said, when people ask me what I do for a living, I go with my other profession of owning a salon. The only downside to this is that eventually i have to tell them that its not going well but poker supplements my income. I have no trouble talking about it with people. I think it is important to be patient when explaining to people, as it really is a very unique profession.

On a side note, I was meeting my mother and sister at a bar that my Uncle's band was playing last weekend and I also had a live poker tournament that started at noon and told them I would be there if I could. It turns out they told the rest of my family this so when I showed up everyone was like..."oh you are here, so I take it poker didn't go very well" that was definitely tough cause I was not upset at all that, I mean obviously I wish I had won the tournament, but for the other people in my family to expect me to be upset was kind of upsetting to me for some reason.

Well being from the South, i definitely get a mix of responses. Most of the traditionalists that I talk to including my parents, will never understand why I do what I do and just think that I am a gambling addict, but dont really understand that it is tough work and you have to put a lot of hours into it. Many people in the younger generation (in their 20's), seem real fascinated by the idea of what I do and think it is real cool, but you can still sense a lot of skepticism from a few people in the younger generation. I think it is just the fact that most people dont have any real idea of what a normal online grinder does unless they actually watched for a few weeks

 

Originally Posted by apology7

I'm actually at a loss for what to tell random people, but lately I've just been telling the truth without getting into it too much. I think it's probably better this way because I'd rather meet cool, open-minded people than disguise a large part of my personal identity in some vain attempt to fit in with overly judgmental people.

This is spot on, as are most of your posts. All of my friends know about my love for poker and all of them understand and are supportive of it. I've met many people who aren't supportive or think i'm some kind of addict, and i choose to simply ignore them. I've also met a lot of randoms who are extremely interested in it and although its difficult to explain it all to them if they are open-minded they usually give me a lot of respect.

Also, being a winning player DEF helps lol

What are you doing?
--Playing some poker online

Are you winning?
--asdfjasdfhlkjasdfhlkajsdfhlaskdjfh

 

Originally Posted by djames88

I avoid it, people either think its way more baller then it is, or think its way more degen then it is...i've given up explaining it, I just say I work for a website

This made me chuckle because I actually do work for a website, and it's actually more difficult explaining to people about the site I work for than it is to tell people I play poker part time.

 

Originally Posted by chancew

this

Most people surprisingly aren't very negative in my experiences, and are interested contrary to popular belief.

I tell people what I do and try to leave it at that. Its too hard to explain anything to people who don't know the game. Save yourself the trouble

my experience is COMPLETELY the opposite,, in fact, playing poker for a semi-living or being as passoinate as i am for it, has shown me how negative, judgemental, ignorant, erragant and did i say judgemental. I have gotten to the point where i try not bring it up at all but somehow after a few drinks with the random people you see when out and comes out and its AMAZING how different they look at you or talk to you. just was at a theme park and met this cool (thought she was) older chick and my girl and i started drinking and talkin with her. She was like ooohh ur so cute and such a good boyfriend and then after the poker thing came out, she was like "ur a gambler" and then i had to explain the whole thing, then starts grillin me and judging me and later when we left my girl said while was in the restroom she was like,, you need to watch out and u'll find someone one day that will take care of you and all that bs,, yeah,, who the paid the Halloween Horror NIght tickets and the bar tab that she was drinking on? EXACTLY , dont tell em,, aint worth it,, fk em anyway,, but just sayin