Morality and Poker

Gambling is never considered the most moral of enterprises. You are risking money to win more, generally in a position where the odds are not in your favour. The battle between the bookmakers and the punter who thinks they know better regarding value or winning enough to profit has been raging for decades. We all read about poker players winning a lot of money, we read their life stories on wikipedia or their own website and marvel at their decadent lifestyle and skills to win. But in winning we are causing others to lose, is this right and proper to fellow human beings?

Poker is a game where you are aiming to win your opponents entire stack. Those with a charitable nature will not last long playing and will certainly not win. When you are in a tournament you must bust your opponent with no care as to how they bought in, whether they could afford to, or the impact losing their buy-in may have on them.

The morality of poker comes into question when as a skilled player you beat money knowingly from a person who has a gambling problem. Whilst it is easy to shrug your shoulders and say ‘it is their decision not mine to play, they must live with the consequences’, many consider it a contradiction when poker players stake each other one week, then bust each other the next. I liken it to a boxing match where the participants beat each other up badly then thank god for their ability to do so.

The other consideration is that poker does not make you feel like you are contributing to the world. You are playing solely for your own financial gain with no consideration to that pursuit’s impact on others. Poker is a selfish game, professional poker even more so. Professional poker players are regularly quoted in articles as saying they are playing whilst they figure out what to do with the rest of their lives, even subliminally most players feel like it is a meaningless exercise to play without aiming for either starting a business, or living a better life. While poker fills out a need (if you win) of obtaining money and possessions it does little towards feeling fulfilled spiritually. If you research Phil Hellmuth you will see he does a lot of charity work, which is commendable, but only after winning millions of dollars playing the game beating others out of their money.

I was once drawn into a debate where a relative said that if a professional wins money from a player addicted to poker then they are like a drug dealer profiting from drug addicts. I countered this by saying that I would advise anyone to get help who is not in control of their playing but as in business the weak are taken advantage of and it is the individual’s responsibility to ensure they are the ones in the position of strength. Poker is like a polarised version of life where the people with an edge win the money from the people who either wrongfully think they are at an advantage or do not care to make the effort to win.

I researched some of the arguments rationalising poker. As it is considered a skill game then anyone losing has the ability to learn a better way to play. It can be argued that variance allows many players to win and it is about discipline, self control and self awareness. If you are in the game then you are fair game, a principle where if you are prepared to risk you must be prepared to lose. Poker systems are sold saying you can win money from the fish therefore taking money from the bad players. Poker can be cut throat and there is certainly no room for sentiment when playing. In order to win you must be ruthless and develop a single minded approach. Every professional poker player has this trait, whether they give to charity or not.

By Malcolm Clarke

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