Brian's critique
From CyberOne Wiki
does it necessarily follow from a lot of time spent playing poker that a person is addicted?
The blog initially highlights time-sink factors associated with gambling addiction, but these factors seem to be more properly characterized as “priority factors” rather than “time-sink factors.” For instance, the Australian research lists “Neglecting important commitments or obligations because of gambling” and “Gambling being more important than anything else you might do.” Thus it seems initially, the blog should have divided the time sink question into two parts: addressing the actual amount of time spent playing poker and also addressing the misplacing of priorities more closely aligned with gambling addiction.
A better argument might be made to refute the time-sink question. If one were to think empathically about the opposing argument for this facet of the problem, the opponents might think that the time-sink problem is that players spend an exorbitant amount of time upon a game that is no different from video games. To address this argument, the blog should willingly concede that poker and online poker take a large amount of time. The rebuttal, however, should come on the second point, that the activity is in itself worthless.
Many worthwhile activities take a long time to master, yet few would criticize someone from participating. Athletics, reading, and chess provide a few examples. The blog does in fact quite clearly make this point in the “other Time-sink” activities link. By providing clear illustrations of activities on which one spends much time, the blog forces the viewer to think about which of these activities is valuable enough to merit the time spent. Thus it quite persuasively makes the point that just because an activity requires a large amount of time does not necessarily mean that the time is wasted.
The blog should have attempted to drive this point home by arguing that poker belongs with activities such as athletics and reading that are worthwhile activities. This question has been much debated in class, and the blog should have attempted to incorporate some of those points. In many respects, poker is similar to chess in that it is a rather simple game that sharpens a player’s critical thinking and strategic skills. Few would argue that playing chess is a waste of time, and in fact many parents encourage their children to learn. If the blog analogized between the two activities, it could drive home the point that poker, and thus time spent playing poker, is a worthwhile pursuit. The blog understandably only attempts to address the smaller time-sink problem and not the overarching question of the worth of poker, but the neglect of even a passing mention harms the blog’s argument.
II. Addressing the Problems of Priorities Associated with Addiction
In light of the stated purpose of the blog, the website attempts to propose solutions and invite attention to the time-sink aspect of addiction. As previously noted, this aspect is probably better categorized as a failure on the part of the player to establish a healthy sense of priority between poker and other activities such as work, family, etc.
Again, the blog suffers from its failure to make a distinction between the addict and the standard poker player as both spend much time playing poker. According to the resources for gambling addicts on the website, the problem with addicts is not the amount of time spent playing poker but rather the playing of poker and gambling to the exclusion of all other things. Thus it is unclear how shortening the time required to play one game or tournament would overall help the addicts’ problem. Would not a true addict just play more games or tournaments? To solve this aspect of gambling addiction requires much more than tinkering with the game. Rather counseling about addiction is really the only true solution. The links to gambling addiction resources are invaluable in this respect.
III. Refining Stated Purpose of Website
As noted earlier, using the language of addiction in regard to poker players automatically stigmatizes them. Rather one needs to refrain from automatically assuming those who spend large amounts of time playing poker are necessarily addicted. Thus as an initial matter, the website should remove the phraseology of addiction for all players outside of true addicts.
The blog therefore should change its stated purpose to one of reducing the amount of time required for true poker education. From this starting point, the blog could refine its argument into several parts. Initially, the blog should attempt to argue that the game of poker is a beneficial activity. Secondly, the blog should attempt to show that much like many other beneficial activities, poker requires a large amount of time, but that the time in itself is also a beneficial activity. Thirdly, the blog should acknowledge that many people find that other priorities in life prevent them from spending a large amount of time playing poker, but then offering the proposed time saving solution to attempt to garner some of the benefits for that group of people. Finally, the blog should acknowledge that some people are addicted to the game, but that those people can not necessarily be identified from the amount of time spent playing poker, but rather when other important priorities such as work, family and education begin to suffer. The blog should then attempt to provide resources for those players or friends of those players who feel they fall into the latter category of addicts.
IV. General Comments on Time-Saving Activities for Poker Education
In regard to the actual suggestions for saving time on poker education, many of the ideas have merit. The simulated learning environment is great for teaching players different strategies while bypassing the long waiting times between playable hands. On the other hand, it can be argued that learning patience and folding is just as important as the actual playing strategy. Of course, this can be incorporated into the simulated learning environments.
The speed poker variant has its advantages by reducing the thinking time, but reduces the ability of players to adequate reflect on every decision. Similarly, the turbo tournaments force players to change their strategies as lower quality hands must be played before the blinds increase so as to make the cost of waiting prohibitive. Both of these variants change the overall strategy of the poker game, but just because the strategy changes does not necessarily mean that the benefits to critical and strategic thinking do not accrue with these new strategies.
The blog should attempt to incorporate a comment section on this part of the page. The dialogue surrounding these variants on the time problem with poker education should be the focal point of the website. Allowing for community feedback as to the perceived benefits and drawbacks of each suggestion might allow for the community as a whole to refine a solution that best addresses all of the issues. Such a dialogue would by far be the most beneficial aspect of the website.
