Economics and Poker Simplified

Hi. Come on in. I got us a big deli platter with smoked fish, and a bag of assorted bagels. You toast - I'll spread.

Now and again, I'll hear someone make the statement that poker is a "nonproductive" or degenerate activity. This usually veils a concern about "the evils of gambling." I've heard it over a period of 30 years. I have even heard this concern expressed within the poker community.

In the past, my responses to this assertion have mostly been with the attitude: "Maybe so, maybe not, but what does it matter?" My current response, after some thought, is, "Horsefeathers." So, now I've polished my suit of armor to a glossy shine and have rented a white horse, upon which I shall charge to the defense of my beloved game of poker. (Do you hear the sound of a distant trumpet?)

To those who say poker does not have a "product," I ask: What is the "product" of life insurance? The answer is money. When you buy the insurance, you get a piece of paper containing a promise to pay money in the event of some specific future occurrence.

If you were to buy a commercial on a radio station, what's the "product"? Words about your business come out of the radio and are gone - no product. But you hope that people will hear the words and come to your place of business to spend their money. So, again, money is the bottom line. It isn't the advertising you want, it's the turnover of money. In our society, the idea is to keep the money flowing. That's always the "product."

Taxes are also a product. A poker room might have 50 to 75 employees, whose incomes are taxed. Those taxes go toward the common good - schools, roads, hospitals, and various other public services. The employees' take-home pay is then used for mortgages or rent, food and clothes, entertainment, transportation, insurance, and other necessities of life. As that money is spent, it is, once again, taxed, and the people who receive the money are taxed, and it again goes for the public good.

As the poker room employee spends his money in the community, jobs are created. These jobs create more jobs, and the money stays in circulation.

We all love the spectacular stage shows in Las Vegas, but what is the "product" of such shows? If you pay $100 to see a major star or show, you don't get a product that you can take home. You get a couple of cocktails, which certainly are not worth $100. But, you also get recreation and enjoyment (and maybe an ashtray you snatched on the way out).

That same $100 taken by a player to a poker table also provides recreation and enjoyment - and he can go back home to Minneapolis and tell his friends how he played poker with the guys out in Las Vegas - and with some luck, that player can actually win money. He can't come out of a showroom with more money than he had when he went in, but we don't call the show a nonproductive or degenerate activity.

Some folks don't like the fact that poker is gambling. True, the possibility of losing exists, but playing the stock market is also gambling. You can win and you can lose, but how many people play the stock market for recreation?

If you open a business, you're gambling; 80 percent of all new small businesses fail. But we wouldn't refer to playing the stock market or opening a business as a nonproductive or degenerate activity.

There is a brighter side to be looked at - the fact that you can make money at poker. Many people enjoy a fairly decent life because of poker. They don't have a 9-to-5 job that they dislike. They're doing something they enjoy, and they can fairly well set their own hours. If they want to take two weeks off four times a year, they can - without getting permission from the boss.

It could happen to you. The option does exist for you to become a skillful poker player and a consistent winner. You can go into "business" for yourself as a professional poker player with no overhead. The poker room supplies everything you need to conduct business, including telephone and refreshments, for a small fee. If you are willing to study and learn your craft - and exercise your discipline - you can succeed. If you aren't, you will fail.

So, do you still think poker is a nonproductive activity? Ha! I hope my trusty steed and I have slain that dragon for all time.

Dragon slaying tires me; I require repose. Make up a couple of more bagels to eat on the way home - and kill the light on your way out.

Editor's note: Roy West, author of the bestseller 7 Card Stud, the Complete Course in Winning (available from Card Player), continues to give his successful poker lessons in Las Vegas to both tourists and locals. Ladies are welcome. Get his toll-free 800 number from his ad on Page 89.