Is Poker Still Taboo?
As online poker players, we are often so entrenched in our poker online world that we fail to realize that not everyone thinks like us. Sometimes we don’t realize that other people in the world may still associate old style taboos with poker. For many people, poker is still associated with sin and gambling. Even if poker has become slightly more mainstream with the popularity of televised poker shows there are still cultural roadblocks in place that prevent poker players from truly being accepted by everyone in society. As a poker player, it is worthwhile to be prepared for stigmas you may face in society.
If you need an example of how these taboos still exist, think about really popular poker online celebrities. These poker celebrities earn a big chunk of their paycheck off of endorsements instead of actually through the pots they win. Next time you have a chance, take a good hard look at what these poker celebrities endorse. Almost inevitably they endorse something poker related, like a website or a card company. They almost never endorse main stream companies that have family friendly images, like Disney. It is very hard for players to make that jump to the mainstream because society is simply just not ready to consider poker completely acceptable.
