An Open Letter to My Mother
While grinding it out at a $10-20 limit game tonight, my thoughts began to drift towards a topic that has been difficult for me over the past 5 years: How to convince mom that playing poker is a worthwhile venture for her #1 son. I quit my job as a productivity engineer at GE appliances to begin my career as a full time poker player, and mom, God bless her, has been a little nervous about my income since she does not completely understand the game herself and that if played correctly, can support at least a family of one (myself).
So mom, since the in person arguments have not been of much success, let me try a well-written, critical essay to let you know why playing poker is OK for me.
Mom’s first argument vs. poker is the clientele that frequent poker rooms. She believes that only the scum of society venture into casinos on a regular basis. Here is my rebuttal.
First of all, I need to refute mom’s assumption that there only dead-beats, scum bags, and hookers that hang out in poker rooms. In reality, you’ll find all walks of life taking statistical risks in the poker room. At my home casino at Caesar’s IN, on any given night you will find white people, black people, Asians, Latin Americans, bus drivers, lawyers, magicians, engineers, dentists, legit “hustlers”, drug dealers, club owners, home builders, real estate moguls, electricians, financial analysts, NASCAR drivers, and ex-Hall of Fame basketball coaches, just to name a few (did I miss anyone??).
Mom’s second argument is that she is concerned about my financial success as a poker player. She believes poker is simply a “luck” game and CANNOT be beaten on a regular basis. Here is my rebuttal to that.
Mom believes that poker is a game based purely on luck, and despite my attempts to explain to her that there is a large component of skill to it as well, she stands strong on her belief. The truth is that unlike blackjack, where the house enjoys a 1% edge, Caribbean Stud, where the house enjoys a 16% edge, or roulette, where the house pays you 35/1 on a 38/1 bet, poker is a game where the truly skilled players enjoy an edge. The great Johnny Chan, who has played a few hands of poker in his life, estimates that poker is 65% skill and 35% luck. This means that a true professional who plays the game daily and understands the ins and outs of the game, will enjoy a 15% edge on average and below average players. Only the bluest of blue chip stocks can offer you a 15% return on your money on an annual basis.
Let’s do a case study on my 5 month career as a poker player. I have been playing poker professionally since St. Patty’s day weekend of this year. In that 5 month period, I have never:
-not eaten for a day
-asked my parents for money
-slept in a cardboard box because of failing to pay my mortgage payment
-not been able to take my girlfriend out for a date
Get the point? Good.
That being said Mom, I still am out looking for what you would consider a “good” job. I have some leads at some major pharmaceutical companies and liquor manufacturing giants, and Chris, if I get one of these jobs, I hope you are not too disappointed if I take it. After all, moms are right about 99% of the time, especially if you have a good one like mine. Mom, keep in mind that when I do land this other job, I will continue to play poker because I am passionate about and love to play the game.
I hope this article helps out anyone else who struggles to convince loved ones, especially moms, that playing poker is at least some time well spent (if you know what you are doing).
Mom, if you are reading, I netted $350 in the game tonight after dumping $15 in one of the slot machines and buying 5 white castle burgers and an order of onion rings.
Now that that’s off my chest, let’s play another hand…..
