The Ethics of Poker by Todd M. Furman

The Ethics of Poker by Todd M. Furman

Author:Todd M. Furman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McFarland
Published: 2017-07-27T16:00:00+00:00


2: Home Wreckers

Some home games are not unlike casino games, cutthroat profiteering for substantial stakes. Blitzkrieg attacks on others followed by a retreat to safety by way of cashing out are the order of the day. Here hit-and-runs are considered a virtue.

Other home games are contests meant to establish who the best poker player is over the long haul. Any attempt to pull off a hit-and-run in these circumstances is considered a violation of the social contract and will be met with a tirade of insults hurled at the offending player—what a wussy, too afraid to continue to play, don’t come back around here until you’re man enough to see the game through to the end—the end being when one player has acquired everyone else’s chips.

There is a third sort of home game, however, which is probably the most popular. The social game is a home game usually played for low stakes. The point is not to determine who the best poker player is, nor is it to make a profit off of one’s friends. Rather, the social home game is an excuse to leave one’s troubles behind for a few hours, talk sports, and cut up with friends. The winning of any money over the course of the night is considered a bonus, and the loss of any money on the night is simply considered the cost of a night’s worth of entertainment, money well spent. The social contract here revolves around everyone having a good time. Call this perspective on poker the entertainment perspective.

In a home game governed by the entertainment perspective, without any mitigating circumstances, a hit-and-run is a clear and serious violation of the social contract, a serious moral offense.

A hit-and-run in the context of a social home game is such a serious moral offense it may very well lead to a death sentence. No. The other players won’t put the offending player to death. Rather, the moral offense is likely to lead to the exclusion from any future games. The first offense may result in a mere warning, but repeat offenders will be banished from the game.

Why such a harsh punishment? A hit-and-run in the context of a social home game is absolutely antithetical to the very spirit of a social home game. A hit-and-run is similar to being mugged. And being mugged and watching your assailant run off with your wallet is no fun. Hence, the offense of a hit-and-run in a social game is a mortal sin committed against the gods of social poker.



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