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Dewey, Checkum & Rayez
Friday, December 28, 2007

I got to thinking yesterday, which is scary and quite possibly dangerous to the general public. I was thinking about poker bloggers and their professions. We pretty much run the gamete when it comes to bringing home the bacon. The more I thought about it, however, one particular profession seemed to stick out.

Attorneys.

What is it that lures so many attorneys to poker and poker blogging?

Is it the almighty dorra dorra birr?
Is it an escape from "the real world."
Is it control - or to 180 that notion - lack there of?
Is it for the same reasons that most anyone plays poker, thus rendering this post pointless?

Or is it just a coincidence that so many poker bloggers are attorneys? Maybe I'm wrong, but I can immediately think of 5 poker bloggers and friends I read on a daily basis that are attorneys. I can't think of any other profession that stands out as much from my blogroll. And I'm sure there are many more I'm not thinking of.

So that is the question of the day...and I certainly hope a few poker blogging attorneys will chime in with their thoughts.

And on a totally random note, while searching for a picture that might go well with this post, I came across the above book image. Might possibly be an interesting read...or not. If someone reads, or has already read it, let me know what you thought.

Until next time, may the felt be with you.

posted by TripJax @ 9:27 AM,

21 Comments:

At 10:44 AM, Blogger Otis said...

Trip...

I think you're right about there being a abunch of attorneys among the poker and blogging sets. Disproportionate? I don't think so. I think it's like buying a new car and then seeing the same car all over town.

Ask the accountants and see if they feel the same way.

 
At 10:44 AM, Blogger Otis said...

Oh, and see you on on Jan 1.

 
At 10:52 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

Interesting Theory.

But then Otis was in the broadcast media, with Pauly in the written media and I in radio...

Are there a disproportional amount of "Media People" also?

And coincidentally... my sister is a (GASP) lawyer.

I think it takes the stress out of their lives. Also its a coping mechanism for their inability to win EVERY case they are involved in. (No Jordan, you are not the New York Perry Mason :-) )

Keep smiling and I'll hit ya up later!

IT

 
At 10:53 AM, Blogger OhCaptain said...

I've noticed more lawyers in this community than I normally like to hang out with.

There are quite a few people in the technology fields too. I'm a software engineer, and I know there a few more of us.

If it makes you feel better, I'm seriously considering going back to school for my law degree.

My guess is that lawyers are drawn to poker because like law, it's a study in imperfect information. You got into blogging because law also requires extensive use of language.

Tech people are drawn to this because we seek to understand a system. Poker is a system that we just know we can understand, no matter how futile the effort is. We blog because frankly its the only way we socialize...OK...that's just a stereotype. But we've been writing on the Internets longer than the rest of you.

Great topic for a post!

 
At 10:55 AM, Blogger KajaPoker said...

I think it's a combination of the reasons you listed. But mostly their lack of control & competitive nature (playing) and their verbal nature (blogging). Lawyer poker blogs tend to be organized and wordy (with some exceptions), which is not a big surprise. Their play seems to be erratic and unpredictable, which might surprise some, but is probably just standard for the general poker player population. They do tend to be ruthless which, again, kind of makes sense.

I want to add to this list the element of fear. Many of the lawyer poker blogs mention(ed) underground games at less than legal establishments. I don't know what the repercussions would be for a lawyer getting sent downtown for getting caught in one of these places, but I think that is also a component.

Wow, this is a long comment. You might think I'm a lawyer or something.

 
At 11:06 AM, Blogger F-Train said...

Selection bias at work, I think. But lawyers do tend to be competitive, and deal extensively with the written word in their profession, so maybe there's something to it.

 
At 11:07 AM, Blogger TripJax said...

Otis ~ Interesting take and I considered that as well. I'd love to see a listing of everyones profession just to see how various it truly is. I know there are other financial services folks out there, like me. Could be interesting.

IT ~ So when will your sister be joining us on the virtual poker blogging felt?

Cap'n ~ I've never had issues with attorneys as friends. I think it makes for fascinating and deep thinking conversation. I think you are right about the imperfect information.

Kaj ~ You brought up a great point that I meant to put in my post, but forgot about...Competitive Nature.

 
At 11:19 AM, Blogger TripJax said...

f-train ~ selection bias...maybe, but not meant purposely or even meant in a negative way. Certainly not an indictment of the profession on my part. I have close friends in and out of poker and blogging and just thought it was interesting when I started looking at professions that attorneys stood out to me.

I'm guessing the reasons attorneys play are basically at or near the same various reasons anyone plays the game...

Thought it made for a good post though. Obviously so 'cause I never seem to get comments on Friday!

 
At 11:40 AM, Blogger on_thg said...

There are some very valid points above. At the risk of rehashing, I generally think that:

1. People in high stress jobs - e.g. but not limited to attorneys - seek outlets.
2. Those same people don't necessarily have a lot of time.
3. Both poker - at least the internet variety - and blogging offer an outlet which CAN be very time-efficient.
4. Both poker and blogging are cheaper than drinking.

There's more to it than that, of course. Competitive nature, etc.

 
At 12:02 PM, Blogger TripJax said...

on_thg ~ Funny, it was your post I read yesterday from my blackberry while eating lunch about the unsolicited $50 invoice that prompted this post. For whatever reason it just got me thinking on the subject and, voila, here is my post.

Thanks for chiming in.

 
At 1:10 PM, Blogger Special K said...

It is particularly interesting to me that this community has so many lawyers because the bar and courts hold attorneys to a much high standard when it comes to obeying the law. Getting caught in an underground game could mean their job according to a lawyer friend of mine (bankruptcy lawyer). Of course, he could be all wet.

 
At 1:28 PM, Blogger SirFWALGMan said...

Lawyers just have a lot of money to lose.. that is why they play.. and they think they are smarter than everyone else so they will do well.

I think people in the technical field are a vast majority of the players. It is a natural fit sitting on your ass all day playing a video game. It is what we do.

 
At 1:32 PM, Blogger OhCaptain said...

I think special k's comment strikes at something I've been wondering for a long time.

I wrote a post a while back about poker players apathy in defending the game in the courts and legistlature. I often wonder if its because we like being outlaws or people that are drawn to the idea of people thinking we are bad.

We get grief from friends, relatives and co-workers, but still we play on.

Are lawyers any different the other people? We seek thrills. Being naughty is a thrill.

 
At 2:15 PM, Blogger Chad C said...

Because lawyers are lying scum at birth? That is probably why they bluff so much, lying just comes natural to them. In poker they can lay vicious beats on random poor to middle class people and screw them like they do in real life?

 
At 2:50 PM, Blogger Joaquin "The Rooster" Ochoa said...

You can put any label you want on this group...but the truth is that in the end we are all fucken geeks in some way, shape and/or form. Geeks. Period.

Is there a reason all bloggers marry and date up? Most girls I know don't like Geeks.

The Rooster says that there is something there but you have to scratch a bit more young jedi...but you are getting there.

 
At 3:12 PM, Blogger BWoP said...

In certain cities, it is not illegal to be present at an underground card room.

 
At 3:59 PM, Blogger 4dbirds said...

I know this is going to come off sounding snooty, no way am I snooty but I wanted to let you know that selection bias doesn't mean you have it out for lawyers. As someone who works (as an IT person) in large clinical trials I am familiar with that term.

The term selection bias most often refers to the distortion of a statistical analysis, due to the method of collecting samples. If the selection bias is not taken into account then any conclusions drawn may be wrong.

 
At 4:43 PM, Blogger TripJax said...

Not snooty to me 4d...thanks for giving the term better detail for me.

My response to f-train wasn't meant negatively to him, and I know he wouldn't take it that way. I just didn't want it to come across like this post was a knock on attorneys. Just a good topic to discuss on an otherwise boring Friday...

 
At 10:25 AM, Blogger Hammer Player a.k.a Hoyazo said...

I can't believe not one person has mentioned this in the comments to this post. I think the overlap between lawyers and poker players is quite simple -- the same skills that one needs to be a good poker player are also the skills one needs to be a good lawyer in most cases. I really think it's that simple.

And FWIW, it sure seems to me the percentage of poker bloggers that are lawyers is far more than the math would dictate. I definitely think there are a ton of IT professionals among the blogging crew, but that I think is true about bloggers in general and not so much related to the poker aspect of things.

Do people really believe that lawyers need an outlet to relieve stress and so they play poker more than other groups? Moreso than doctors, air traffic controllers, social workers, etc? That just seems a little too pat to me.

 
At 10:34 AM, Blogger KajaPoker said...

Doctors, ATCers, social workers and teachers drink their stress away. Pre, during and post work. Lawyers have to stay somewhat coherent and need another outlet. Some play golf. Some play poker.

I keed of course.

 
At 4:47 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

Truthfully, I was surprised there wasn't more poker bloggers who work in finance like myself.

 

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