Only logged-in members can vote!
→ Click here to create a Mob account which gives you access to our forum and all our free bankrolls (no deposit bonuses) → Log in to existing account!
Joined: Feb '08
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 1886
If there was no such thing as greed...
What would be the consequences for poker? Would poker even exist?
You can interpret greed as 'wanting more than your fair share in life' or 'being prepared to risk what you have for even more' or even 'never slowing down and not trying to improve your life' but whether greed is good or bad, it's clear that gambling is a product of greed.
Joined: Mar '12
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 40 (M)
Posts: 1277
Ultimately it's a question that can't be answered.
Because alot of people play for fun, or just with friends. There's no greed involved.
even if I'm playing to win, that doesn't mean I'm greedy, just that I want to win more money, to make correct decisions and for it to possibly improve my standard of living.
Greedy in this arena would be someone making $10000000 from poker and continuing to play - but then it isn't is it? Because they maybe simply love the game, winning is a by-product in some respects.
Joined: Nov '11
Location: Poland
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 1090
I checked the options with "skillfull" but I'm not sure why... I mean that the poker player don't need to play too aggresive, or think "I want the money, I must be in the ITM", because they only want to play better and better without paying attention to cash.
BTW. Maybe it's mini off-topic, but I'm sure, that if the greedy don't exist, the people will never "invent" a war...
Joined: Dec '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 38 (M)
Posts: 707
if there was no such thing as greed there wouldnt be a war in iraq/afghan caused by the yanks looking for oil, but imo poker isnt played as a greedy game, its a mind/skill sport, the same as chess, football,rugby, boxing....etc.
money is involved in all games/sports but that doesnt mean that there is greed involved, but then poker is interpreted differently my alot of people who still see it as gambling
Joined: Feb '08
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 1886
Posted by remco2504: If there was no such thing pokersites wouldnt be rigged..
Ahem... If you're suggesting that big corporations are motivated by greed then surely if there was no greed there wouldn't be poker sites at all. Yes, we are all aware that some companies do immoral things such as dodge tax and make unethical contracts in order to obtain more profit but equally they only invent new products and offer a highly competitive service in order to raise their profits. This is why capitalist supporters regularly spout the line 'greed is good'.
Does anyone really think that poker sites like party poker would exist if there weren't greedy businessmen? Maybe there would be lots of independent, not-for-profit sites but there would be no big networks, no big promotions, no sponsorship, no advertising campaigns.
------------
Posted by noonlion: Ultimately it's a question that can't be answered.
Because alot of people play for fun, or just with friends. There's no greed involved.
even if I'm playing to win, that doesn't mean I'm greedy, just that I want to win more money, to make correct decisions and for it to possibly improve my standard of living.
Greedy in this arena would be someone making $10000000 from poker and continuing to play - but then it isn't is it? Because they maybe simply love the game, winning is a by-product in some respects.
I have to disagree with your interpretation of high-stakes poker. I don't think the millionaires are playing for love of the game alone. They actually want more. I despise the millionaire actors and popstars who complain about paying more tax when actually they are massively overpaid for a job they love to do. It is a sad trait that no matter how rich some people get, the more wealth they have the more prepared they are to crush the common man to get more stuff. Most poker players want to win money. Otherwise they would play with play chips.
I agree that a night in with your friends playing poker isn't necessarily greed-motivated but playing to increase your standard of living is. I'm not saying that's a bad thing but greed is difficult to interpret and covers a huge scale so simply wanting to go out to dinner twice a week instead of once is technically greed though obviously small and not particularly immoral. You could do without and it's just something you want for self-gain so it is greed.
Joined: Apr '09
Location: Portugal
Age: 44 (M)
Posts: 4827
Poker would be less aggressive, for sure! The greed is the will to win pushed to an extreme that turns it into something bad, for the person who feels it and for the others who surround it, that may suffer because of that person's feeling. The willing to fight for something is good, like in a sport. Having Phelps swimming 8 hours per day to try to beat himself is honourable for everyone, but if he says he just want to be considered as best than any other swimmer, that may sound bad, and he's being greed.
Joined: Mar '12
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 40 (M)
Posts: 1277
Posted by awood88:
Posted by remco2504: If there was no such thing pokersites wouldnt be rigged..
Ahem... If you're suggesting that big corporations are motivated by greed then surely if there was no greed there wouldn't be poker sites at all. Yes, we are all aware that some companies do immoral things such as dodge tax and make unethical contracts in order to obtain more profit but equally they only invent new products and offer a highly competitive service in order to raise their profits. This is why capitalist supporters regularly spout the line 'greed is good'.
Does anyone really think that poker sites like party poker would exist if there weren't greedy businessmen? Maybe there would be lots of independent, not-for-profit sites but there would be no big networks, no big promotions, no sponsorship, no advertising campaigns.
------------
Posted by noonlion: Ultimately it's a question that can't be answered.
Because alot of people play for fun, or just with friends. There's no greed involved.
even if I'm playing to win, that doesn't mean I'm greedy, just that I want to win more money, to make correct decisions and for it to possibly improve my standard of living.
Greedy in this arena would be someone making $10000000 from poker and continuing to play - but then it isn't is it? Because they maybe simply love the game, winning is a by-product in some respects.
I have to disagree with your interpretation of high-stakes poker. I don't think the millionaires are playing for love of the game alone. They actually want more. I despise the millionaire actors and popstars who complain about paying more tax when actually they are massively overpaid for a job they love to do. It is a sad trait that no matter how rich some people get, the more wealth they have the more prepared they are to crush the common man to get more stuff. Most poker players want to win money. Otherwise they would play with play chips.
I agree that a night in with your friends playing poker isn't necessarily greed-motivated but playing to increase your standard of living is. I'm not saying that's a bad thing but greed is difficult to interpret and covers a huge scale so simply wanting to go out to dinner twice a week instead of once is technically greed though obviously small and not particularly immoral. You could do without and it's just something you want for self-gain so it is greed.
This is an entire philosophical debate that can't really be done justice on here.
In regards to taxation for rich people yeah it is greed when they can't take the governments slice of the pie.
Fact is if you make $1m - and the government takes half (don't know US tax rates, but UK is incremental on various amounts). Technically you have earned $1m - then the government takes $500,000 - that would be hard to take regardless, even though you have more money than most.
However lets say you earn $40,000 a year - the government takes $8,000 - that feels nasty, but you're not gonna be as pissed as if you'd 'lost' half your dough.
It's all relative. Also if you're used to a million dollar lifestyle and that becomes affected by some factor, you're not gonna be happy, because we all become accustomed to a certain standard of living.
Joined: Apr '11
Location: Romania
Age: 58 (M)
Posts: 2432
Posted by grahamy27: if there was no such thing as greed there wouldnt be a war in iraq/afghan caused by the yanks looking for oil,
War is about a lot of money,guns,strategic situation,etc.Guns need to be replaced by new ones,better and more expensive,so wars still be there Greed is excessive or rapacious desire, especially for wealth or possessions. poker is more than that.Just greed is not enought
