[Closed] Poker ethics

Originally posted by zayd88
What part do I play in the lives of people who have gambling addictions?

You don't really play a part at all, other than you being just one of many thousands of possible opponents a gambler could come accross when sitting down at a table.

Originally posted by zayd88
I want to be a good person though, but what does this say about me? What are my responsibilities?

It sounds to me like you are a good person. You have no responsibility to these people at all my friend. None. They are wholly responsible for their own actions, they make decisions every day like you or I. Don't beat yourself up over it, it's supposed to be fun (it is a game after all)

If you enjoy the game but are worried about taking people's money then switch to play money games.

If you just feel the need to justify taking people's money to your conscience, then you could donate a percentage of your winnings every year to gamblers anonymous.

Alternatively you could say 10 Hail Marys every time you win a pot...

i feel you zayd88...

people comparing it to earning money by working or eating an apple are missing the point imo.
there's a difference between having something that could otherwise have been someone else's, and trying to trick someone into getting theirs.
part of poker is looking for specific players and preying on their weaknesses.
we here are taking a smart approach to the game, but a lot of people don't do that and probably aren't even aware of this. they think they play good and lose because of bad luck.
sometimes at a table it is very obvious certain players have no control over their game and then, occasionally, i can feel sorry for them too.
that won't stop me from taking their money when i get the chance, though. (after all, they're trying to take mine too, right?)
and although i can feel sorry for them, i don't feel responsible.
you have to understand that we are not feeding their addiction or hurting them. they are hurting themselves.
their money is already in the game, and they will lose it anyway. so the only people you are hurting are the other winning players who would have gotten the money otherwise.
if you want to help those people, there are ways, but simply not playing against them isn't one of them...

anyway, imo it's anything but silly and rather normal to ask yourself these questions, but you can never let it interfere with your game.
either you play poker and be as ruthless at it as you can, or it's time to quit...

nice thread. I agree, we take people's money. Im sorry, just not very sorry, cause if you'd ask my honest opinion... I dont care. If Id care, my life would be horrible. Should I care about the bum in front of the supermarket? Sure, but not too long, since thats just life. Life sucks, get over it. Its a cruel world out there, and most people make money by asking too much for their services. If someone is addicted to sex, should a hooker feel bad about that? No, it's just her job. Lots of people are happy, and lots of people are not happy. Thats just the way it is.

Originally posted by 7Ponky7
On parle de poker online, y'a pas d'éthique, y'a pas de traditions, on est la pour gagner du fric sur le dos des joueurs plus mauvais que nous

roughly translates to

This is online poker, there are no ethics, no traditions; we're here to make money off of worse players

sums it up

but no, I don't care about taking someone's money, because it's their choice to play, and therefore to accept the risk of losing. Same goes for gambling addicts; they brought it on themselves, no need to feel sorry for them (no, i will not listen to the people who say "it's an illness". it isn't.)

Originally posted by zayd88

Originally posted by NRGBlaze
wow! and i thought that i have issues!
man you must be feeling really bad when you're taking your salary from your boss. You earned it but think about how happy his family will be with these extra money

Believe it or not when you work hard people are more than happy to pay you a salary. You don't even have to take it, they just give it to you! Weird huh?

So? When you play good your opponents just give you the money also.
I cannot understand this "we all should hold our hands and make out to increase our karma" burst, but I can tell you a few things about that subject - do the lawyers feel bad when they exploit each other's mistakes? Do do professional sports players do that when they are fighting for a medal? Does a real estates broker have thoughts like that when he sells an apartment that falls apart two months after you bought it?
If you think about it almost every single job in the world is about something like that.
So what should we do? - I got it! Lets all buy guns and commit mass suicide! The human race is a race of liars and deceivers! We should all perish!
I do not understand you man. Go and plant flowers for a living! - If that will make you happy.
I just cannot imagine that a guy from the third world that feeds his whole family with a single cookie for 3 days, will play poker on the internet.
I don't know if you are really that naive or you are just trying to get more attention, but I'm just sick and tired of people talking like that.

No fun at all - Believers!

Originally posted by NRGBlaze
I don't know if you are really that naive or you are just trying to get more attention, but I'm just sick and tired of people talking like that.

I think we just disagree, which isn't strange at all.

Seriously, they would lose money anyway to someone else.

Personally I think addicts who go broke, lose their life savings and end up looking for scraps behind a dumpster is a very healthy thing for humanity.

Natural Selection

Originally posted by ManniXXX
Personally I think addicts who go broke, lose their life savings and end up looking for scraps behind a dumpster is a very healthy thing for humanity.

Natural Selection

♦

Well, the whole objective of the game is to get all the money from the other player. Imagine playing chess and not willing to take the queen because the opponent is inexperienced. That's cool if you are playing with your 8-yr old son, but not anywhere else.

My suggestion is, if you've got problems with taking other people's money, play SNG's, where you take chips and not money. Maybe it will make more sense to you.

1) Someone else would do it if I didn't
2) If I'm able to take money from bad players consistently, that proves that I'm more intelligent than them. Which implies that I have a greater potential to actually do something fruitful with the money I'm getting(donating it to a good cause, investing it so economy blooms a bit more,...)
3) Nobody forces them to play against me. I agree that some people have to be protected against themselves, but that's not my job. I'm more than happy enough to vote for a law that restricts some compulsive, losing gamblers to play, just because it goes against my ethics to ruin other families. But let's face it: such players are by far a minority. I personally only know maybe 1 or 2 fishes that were playing me 4 months ago already. The rest goes busto and gives up, making room for another one.