Ban Gambling, but Legalize Poker

[seymourflops]

Yeah, yeah, I know.  Poker IS gambling, right?

But poker is not like other gambling games for reasons I describe in this article:


keepcalmrebuy.com/poker-as-a-gambling-game/

Poker isn't a game where people spend the rent money or get into debt with bad fellas.  I've met some degens in my life and they are rarely poker players.  Not real poker plalyers, anyway.  Some of them will sit playing poker, but also at the same time watch games that they have money on and annoy other players by coming up with silly prop bets.  The over-whelming majority of real poker players take the game seriously and  treat it like a job.  

[12bar]

Alright, I'll bite. What's a "degen" and how do you pronounce it?

I think you're right I know a lot of poker players and none of them are problem gamblers. Too much math in poker, compulsive gamblers will want the excitement of rolling dice or whatever. I have met problem gamblers who bet on sports. I know one guy who reps himself as a horse handicapper, but he loses money consistently so he must not be too good at it. I can understand addiction to fast paced gambling because of the adrinaline, but I don't get how you become addicted to laying bets on a game or a horse and waiting half an hour to even a couple of days to find out if you win. But it happens so . . .

[seymourflops]

That's a degenerate gambler. Or degenerate anything, I guess.

Say it like Dee-Jen.