The Poker Lama :: Poker Moralitiy and Lessons of the Journey

Poker Etiquette and Lessons of the Journey

The Life of a Poker Pro

There are no fundamental lessons or tools here, just a few stories, thoughts and discusion topics to take with you on your journey. This section is just simply my story and perspectives on gambling.

The First Wager

A can still remember my first tough loss of my gambling career that did not come from my older brothers. It was the fall of 1988 and I was only in grade six. I had never really bet on anything seriously before but this was an opportunity I could not refuse. The heavily favored Oakland Athletics where about to play the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series of Baseball. The situation was made even better by the fact that Dodgers ace Orel Hershiser had to pitch game 7 of the NLCS and would not be available for game one of the series. On the day of game one, I spent my recesses and lunch making bets with any kid who would take the Dodgers in the series. I was able to wager $35 in total spread out over several of my classmates. It was all the money I had access to including next week's allowance. I remember watching game one of the series like it was yesterday. The Dodger's Kirk Gibson who was not suppose to play and could hardly walk, came hobbling out of the dug out to pinch hit (click here to watch). He could hardly even stand, but somehow he managed to hit a walk off homerun to win the game. The Dodgers would win the best of seven series in five games; Kirk Gibson's memorable homerun was his only at bat of the series. Long story short, I had to eat homemade lunches while my friends paraded around school with bags full of food from the store.

If you can call losing $35 going broke then that was the first and last time in my gambling career that I went broke. That is not to say there have not been major set backs on the way. Twenty years later I would still make the same bet again given the same circumstances. This is a difficult concept for people to understand; most people think because I lost it was a bad bet. The truth is that it was a great bet that had a bad outcome. Let us investigate the situation further before someone loses everything they have and floods my email account with hate mail. First off, I was eleven at the time so even if I lost the bet everything was still taken care of. The following week I would get another $10 allowance and everything was back to normal; provided my parents didn't find out I gambled away the last $35 they gave me. So I was playing with expendable money and I got to make a straight up bet on a heavy favorite. I doubt I gave it this much thought at the time but it was a smart risk to take. There is a reason why lots of millionaires go broke before they become rich. It is not like they keep making stupid decisions until they figure it out and then all of a sudden start making all the right decisions. The reality is most of the time they keep making the same choices with the information they are given, it is just the result that varies.

The Transition

Despite my young start at gambling I never seriously picked it back up for well over a decade. After high school I went on to university, I also went backpacking to Australia-New Zealand, South America and Europe in three separate trips. After finally graduating I joined the work force and got a pretty good entry job at a firm. It really wasn't a good job but it was a great career opportunity. It might have been the freedom of traveling or university life but a job in the business world never sat well with me. I remember being interviewed for the job, all I could think of was that this whole process never made any sense. I was thinking to myself, ‘I have to go through all of this effort to get a job with this firm just so they can exploit my labor'. I told them what I thought they wanted to hear and convinced them that I had more to offer than the other candidates. Shortly after starting the job I began playing poker online, over the next few years I managed to build up a large bankroll and eventually quit my job.

I probably would have been just as successful in the business world. Lots of people disagreed with my decision including some of my family and friends. But in the end, I realized that the person I had to answer to the most was myself. Truth be told, I probably would be making more money today if I stayed in the business world. The freedom poker provides more than makes up for the difference. Today, I can take off to anywhere at a moments notice, for as much time as I desire. No more rushing to work or deadlines to meet. If you asked me what the best part is about my life as a poker player I would say freedom.

The Return to Gambling on Sports

People often think I am crazy that I gamble on sports when I can win at poker. There is a distinction between the two; poker I do not consider to be a gamble since I come out ahead. I view it as more of an investment. Sports betting on the other hand I do for pure enjoyment and would probably not come out ahead in the long run. So when I wager on sports I do consider it gambling. That is what makes fun; I just pick a team and watch the game. I have absolutely no influence over the result. It is also a relatively cheap hobby; if I were to wager $20 on a game I might win or lose. My expected value, assuming I know nothing is only minus $1-2; and for that I get three hours of entertainment. I think for a lot of people that is how they view poker; it is just a game and it is all for fun. I hope players enjoy playing poker as much as I enjoy watching a game with a vested interest.

What is Poker Etiquette?

According to definition, etiquette can be described as 'rules governing socially acceptable behavior’. This page is intended to both help enlighten and challenge players to define the ‘poker code’.

Tracking Software. Unethical?

Its a hot topic in the world of online poker. The Lama now shares his thoughts.

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