What is your opinion on poker players?

I lived with someone for two years who was really into playing poker. Never again!

see if yall can tell by my facial expression

getting some poker time in is great. Playing cards isn't bad either. Har har.

seems like a bit of a strange question to me. As if playing poker is a defining characteristic of someone. it's typically more of a hobby than a lifestyle. Of course there are exceptions. I play in a tournament over a friends once a month. Played last night in fact. The buy in is only $30 but usually about 30 people show up so you have the chance of winning a fair amount of money. I came in second and won $325. I enjoy the game. It combines mathematics, psychology, strategy and luck. Oh, yeah, the question. I think poker players are slightly below animal fuckers and slightly above pederast.

Fucking love poker, started playing in 6th form for skittles, occasionally play it at a casino in the town over, not for much though it's about the enjoyment of the game for me rather than the money or risk,

As long as someone wasn't ruining their life by playing it I don't care, even then they have an adiction which is usually representative of something larger, I wouldn't judge them for it and they should probably get help for it but in my eyes as long as they're responsible adults it's their money they can do what they want with it, if they want to risk it all its their prerogative

As long as people who aren't addicts understand that, things are good. I played poker with some friends on a regular basis in days passed, but we always kept the buy-in at around $5, and nobody ended up dropping more than $15 in a single night. That way, nobody lost much money but there's still something at stake.

When you start betting real money, I imagine that real problems can arise. I've definitely heard about people partly funding schooling through online poker, but poker is a zero sum game-that means the money came from somebody else.

I'm biased, if someone says they play poker I instantly think "sleaze-ball/wheeler-dealer".

As long as it's played for fun as seekelp described, I see nothing wrong with it. But the instant someone gets in a bad mood when they lose or needs the game in exclusion of other parts of their lives, then it stops being a pastime it can become a real problem.
I have known a couple of professional gamblers and they are some of the most unemotional people I have ever met. During work (to them gambling IS work), or after, you would never know whether they were winning or losing by their mood.
For most penny ante poker for fun should be their game. Any body who needs the money, should not seek it in the deal or the roll of the dice.

gonna catch 'em all