".....I decided to try and take advantage of the situation by organizing a poker game."
I think that sentence in Rebbecca's article goes a long way towards the discussion about poker and addiction. Not only can poker be addictive but it can be used as a tool to take advantage of people. The fact that Rebecca decided to "take advantage" of her drunk buddies and take their money is deceitful - I'm not sure if I was a father how proud I would be of that.
I still am unsure if and when I have kids, if I will ever teach them the game. And again, it is a game, if approached that way it can be fun and also financially rewarding. Maybe if my kids ask I'll teach them, but I will not go out of my way. I've seen to many friends go broke, only temporarily - none to the extent of the extreme addiction xamples roryk was talking about. I think a big consideration before getting someone into it is their personality type. I have a friend I'm teaching now - he's a smart guy so I trust him with poker. I'm teaching him 4-8 because there he can get his feet wet and learn while not losing too much. He's anxious to move up to higher levels but I insist he doesn't. He listens to me, reads the books I suggest and pays attention to advice. I guess I'll have to wait to see what types my kids are before deciding to teach them poker also.
Like anything, some people you trust to "be careful" more than others. Getting someone into poker needs to be handled in a certain way. My dad taught me to shoot a shotgun when I was ten years old. A 357 magnum when I was fourteen. Looking back on it now - I think that was irresponsible and I would never teach my kids about guns. But because I was a smart kid and listened, he trusted me to be careful and I was.
no subject
I think that sentence in Rebbecca's article goes a long way towards the discussion about poker and addiction. Not only can poker be addictive but it can be used as a tool to take advantage of people. The fact that Rebecca decided to "take advantage" of her drunk buddies and take their money is deceitful - I'm not sure if I was a father how proud I would be of that.
I still am unsure if and when I have kids, if I will ever teach them the game. And again, it is a game, if approached that way it can be fun and also financially rewarding. Maybe if my kids ask I'll teach them, but I will not go out of my way. I've seen to many friends go broke, only temporarily - none to the extent of the extreme addiction xamples roryk was talking about. I think a big consideration before getting someone into it is their personality type. I have a friend I'm teaching now - he's a smart guy so I trust him with poker. I'm teaching him 4-8 because there he can get his feet wet and learn while not losing too much. He's anxious to move up to higher levels but I insist he doesn't. He listens to me, reads the books I suggest and pays attention to advice. I guess I'll have to wait to see what types my kids are before deciding to teach them poker also.
Like anything, some people you trust to "be careful" more than others. Getting someone into poker needs to be handled in a certain way. My dad taught me to shoot a shotgun when I was ten years old. A 357 magnum when I was fourteen. Looking back on it now - I think that was irresponsible and I would never teach my kids about guns. But because I was a smart kid and listened, he trusted me to be careful and I was.
So goes the teacher goes the student.