This post is about some issues that have been on my mind for quite a while. I am sure most of you have heard stories of sick, desperate people stuck in a never ending spiral of gambling, losing, lying and gambling more to cover the losses and return to daylight. The consequences for these people and their families can be devastating, basically and sometimes literally life destroying.
While anyone involved with gambling of any kind should carefully scrutinize their souls for signs of compulsive gambling, or problem gambling, as is a more correct term for the psychological disorder, this post is not really about that aspect of it. Rather, I am considering the problem from a viewpoint of someone who has no problems controlling his urge to gamble, but instead chooses to take advantage of those who do.
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That was a harsh thing to write about yourself, but let's not sugar coat things here. I have played a lot of poker during the last couple of years, and it is an undeniable fact that during this time I have happily taken money off people with severe gambling problems, even though I am not aware of it when it happens. This is not something I am proud of, and it weighs down on this activity/hobby/job that I am pursuing, that ultimately, it is only about taking advantage of other peoples weaknesses and shortcomings. For those few who pursue poker purely for the intellectual challenge, good for you, your hands are clean. The rest of us who are also in it for the money to some degree, not so much.
The last thing I want is to be responsible for other peoples misery. Luckily, my opinion is that as a professional poker player I am not directly responsible for this particular type of misery. If I chose to stop playing poker, and somehow could convince every other professional player to also stop taking advantage of these people, what would be left would be casual gamblers, problem gamblers, and the casinos, who would still do very well. All surveys indicate that problem gamblers seek out whichever game is available, so putting an end to poker completely, would not even help the issue. But still, given that I choose to take bets from people who are unable to control their addiction, I must accept some responsibility, even if I am not directly to blame.
Since I am not willing to take full responsibility, where then, shall we look to find the villains here? The closest thing to bad guys we can find here, are probably the casinos and those who advertise for casinos. In my opinion, any operating casino is directly responsible for problem gamblers using their facilities. By heavily marketing their gambling offers, they help induce impossible dreams in the heads of problem gamblers. By being present everywhere in the media, along with the rich successful people we all want to become, the weakest minds are tempted beyond self control. I accept some responsibility here as well. By blogging and discussing poker, including bragging about my positive results, I am part of the massive gambling promotion taking place. However, I am currently debating myself whether or not to accept casino adds on this blog. I think I won't, but it's a pretty easy decision right now, since the amount of traffic here would not generate any significant revenue. The only affiliate business I currently want to involve myself with directly, is with friends I have reason to believe are either winning players, or completely in control of their gambling urges.
However, this is not meant to be a rant on the inherent evil of casinos. It seems society condones gambling in general, and that a majority prefer to have gambling opportunities available. Even the government sanctioned gambling company in Denmark Danske Spil is advertising its games on national TV. When the Danish government is directly responsible for prime time gambling commercials, how can I object to honest businessmen running profitable casinos to the best of their ability? Quite frankly, I am not sure that I can. It appears everyone wants to gamble, so what is the problem?
Maybe there is no problem. Only somewhere, deep down I have this nagging feeling that my hands are just a little bit dirty. Hopefully, after a few more 5 figure months, the feeling will go away.
Please drop me a comment and give me your thoughts on the moral aspects of playing poker for a living.
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2 comments:
Person responsibility.
Everey addict is responsible for his own vice, regard less of what he/she is addicted to. All of the 'prevention' in the world won't stop a compulsive gambler until that person makes a decision to stop. The $ they are losing to you would be lost to someone else if you weren't there.
Good post, I sometimes feel a little bit guilty myself, but when I sit and think about it there is no reason to. People who have gambling problems will still find ways to get their fix, regardless if you are there to stack them or if Party Poker ceases to exist. Poker isn't exactly the most honorable profession though, for sure.
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