Talking about Winnings and Losses...

[GreekStein]

After reading the 'What is a winning player thread?' I got thinking about something else.

I was having a conversation with someone I'd met recently at a poker venue and after chatting for a while we were talking about how much rakeback each other gets, money we've won and lost and how much we were making from poker, times we'd donked off a load on house games etc etc. Suffice to say I probably had a greater idea of how much he was worth and vice versa than his parents.

It was weird to tell basically a complete stranger about this but I felt more comfortable telling a guy who was a poker player about my finances than I would friends and relatives who arent poker players. In the same way I would find it a bit unacceptable if at a work do or something someone asked me what my salary was (and would never ask anyone else) yet if i was playing poker would happily tell another poker player I was up or down x amount over a given period.

Do other people find this is the case too? If so why?

[TheChipPrince]

Because poker is 'taboo' for lots of ppl who've never played, and they think 100% that poker is purley a gamble, like the lottery...

[jakally]

When I had my first sustained winning period, I was bursting to tell people (whether I knew them well or not!) of the fact, and exactly how much I was making.

There were those who warned me of the dangers of gambling, and those whose eyes glazed over with indifference.

But mostly people wanted to know how much I had lost, and why gamblers only told people when they won, and not when they lost.
My initial reaction was very defensive - I was not a gambler, and I was winning consistently (in my own mind), so it wasn't a case of publicising wins and hiding losses.

But I was wrong. I hadn't told anyone when I had started playing, and had lost. And I was now boasting of my good fortune.

And typically that's what it is - a brag, a boast - and I've come to think that it is quite vulgar, and unattractive to others, going round telling people when I've won, and how much.

So I try and keep stum now. I don't always succeed, but at least I know how bad it sounds when I start to spout.

[action man]

ive never heard someone tell me they are down (lifetime) at poker and dont think i ever will.

[Snatiramas]

When I had my first sustained winning period, I was bursting to tell people (whether I knew them well or not!) of the fact, and exactly how much I was making.

There were those who warned me of the dangers of gambling, and those whose eyes glazed over with indifference.

But mostly people wanted to know how much I had lost, and why gamblers only told people when they won, and not when they lost.
My initial reaction was very defensive - I was not a gambler, and I was winning consistently (in my own mind), so it wasn't a case of publicising wins and hiding losses.

But I was wrong. I hadn't told anyone when I had started playing, and had lost. And I was now boasting of my good fortune.

And typically that's what it is - a brag, a boast - and I've come to think that it is quite vulgar, and unattractive to others, going round telling people when I've won, and how much.

So I try and keep stum now. I don't always succeed, but at least I know how bad it sounds when I start to spout.

I won a nice glass vase once...................
Does it matter whether you win or lose at poker.........who cares. I look on it as a bit of a badbeat story when people tell me. When I go to the cinema I don't keep score as to whether I was entertained or not and if not entertained over an extended period do i decide to give up the cinema. Even more so when applied to my favourite rugby team. This weekend a whole group of us will get together, have a drink or two, play a bit of poker, and take the mickey out of Kev......how do I put that in a record of wins and losses. Whatever happens I win this weekend

[Grier78]

Thank god for all the people who lose money at poker, if it were not for them then the game would not exist.

[alexross]

Thank god for all the people who RUN BAD at poker, if it were not for them then the game would not exist.

This could have been your post in a parallel universe..
(yes, I am running baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad)

[DaveShoelace]

I think about this quite a bit. I always laugh when two people are talking about a previous tournament and someone says "No I didnt cash in that........but I did well in the cash games'

People always want to make sure everyone knew they came back from X place with a profit.

As for talking about private stuff, its a bit different player to player, because its like keeping score and lots of it is publicly available anyway (THM, sharkscope, pokerdb etc) - I think we all know of a few bull shiters with regards to cash games though and the 'oh all my winning is done on a different account' brigade. I tend not to mention my specific results to non players unless specifically asked, because whether I actually was or not, people sometimes infer you are being big headed when you tell them (As I learnt after my first MTT win and the intervention that followed)

[RED-DOG]

I tend to tell people when I win, because it's a celebratory, happy thing. I tend not to tell people when I lose because it's a whingy whiney thing.

Also, although I have been playing quite a lot of cash, I'm a tourney player at heart, and when you play tourneys you win nothing a lot more often than you win something.

I've never looked at it from a "bragging about winning" point of view. Full time poker is a hard slog. I need the encouragement approval of my peers, it builds my confidence and helps me  through the tough stretches.

I enjoy any bit of limelight I can get.


Gimme an R.....

[Graham C]

Also, although I have been playing quite a lot of cash, I'm a tourney player at heart, and when you play tourneys you win nothing a lot more often than you win something.

But when you win a tourney, it's something awesome and great to share.  When you win a nice cash pot, it's not quite the same

imo

[Snatiramas]

Also, although I have been playing quite a lot of cash, I'm a tourney player at heart, and when you play tourneys you win nothing a lot more often than you win something.

But when you win a tourney, it's something awesome and great to share.  When you win a nice cash pot, it's not quite the same

imo

 

[FuglyBaz]

I don't talk about poker to many people personally. But if results are mentioned I am always honest in that I have won a few times, donked chips to somebody else but I have run bad as well. I always blame my bankroll mismanagement as my downfall but in terms of how I actually play poker, long term I could be a winner.

I learned from playing darts that if you do well or just improve that other people will talk for you. "Let your darts do the talking" is the common phrase I was told by many, including ifm. And I suppose in poker the same should apply really, in letting your results do the talking. It isnt quite the same but you can't run bad forever, so we'll see. But I never want to go to people and try to justify myself for my bad runs, because how I play will be evident when people sit across me on the table.

As a little aside, I'd be afraid of telling people I win nowadays anyway as they always try and nip at you for a tenner. And that's something I could do without. Barry Greenstein (from what Ive seen of him) is probably the perfect role model for poker, if there is one. Accepts his wins and losses with dignity and never really brags. It would just be nice if I could win 10% of what he has in poker!

[M3boy]

Because poker is 'taboo' for lots of ppl who've never played, and they think 100% that poker is purley a gamble, like the lottery...

My mum says she is going to include a clause in her will that I cannot use any of the money to play poker with! lol

[alexross]

Because poker is 'taboo' for lots of ppl who've never played, and they think 100% that poker is purley a gamble, like the lottery...

My mum says she is going to include a clause in her will that I cannot use any of the money to play poker with! lol

lmfao. My old boy said something similar when i was a young reprobate.. his buddy was to adminster the will if cash if he died until A) I got a degree /msc/phd or B) a fat job.  thankfully my old boy is alive and kicking, and I am educated, self employed and I don't need his money   plus he doesn't need to worry about me slitting his throat in his sleep for hte cash either haha.
looks like you won't be killing your mum when you go busto either

[AlexMartin]

Because poker is 'taboo' for lots of ppl who've never played, and they think 100% that poker is purley a gamble, like the lottery...

My mum says she is going to include a clause in her will that I cannot use any of the money to play poker with! lol

lmfao. My old boy said something similar when i was a young reprobate.. his buddy was to adminster the will if cash if he died until A) I got a degree /msc/phd or B) a fat job.  thankfully my old boy is alive and kicking, and I am educated, self employed and I don't need his money   plus he doesn't need to worry about me slitting his throat in his sleep for hte cash either haha.
looks like you won't be killing your mum when you go busto either

be honest, ur a sick sick man who need help right.