would you or would you not gamble against a close friend.

i for one would never gamble with a close friend, where money is involved there is no friendship and thats the way i treat it in all aspects of life (gambling,business,loans etc.)
 
friends

Friends are a fickle bunch. Some wouldn't think twice about losing a load (or taking your bank roll) and there are some friends who would act as if you had killed their dog. Gambling is a two way proposition (at least) so all parties should be Men. They collect when they win and pay when they lose. This is a Maxium held by all gamblers (professional or otherwise). So just be a Man and expect the same from your gamnbling partner; friend or otherwise.
 
Friends are friends and business is business. I fix my buddies cues free or cheaper than anyone else can but as far as gambling, we stick to drinks or 5 dollar bills. Not worth losing a friend over. You can have just as much fun woofing and sharking over a fiver as you can a larger amount.
 
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No chance! It's just not worth the risk of losing a friend.

Who you going to Call at 3 AM when this happens if you have NO FRIENDS.
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I'd do it, but not where I would clean them out. Maybe $1-$5 because we both don't have jobs lol.
 
For those who said "yes", I must assume you are aware that there is to some degree, no matter how minimal, a risk of either an argument, or at the least one person getting far enough ahead in wins after time for the suggestion of the bets to start to increase to be a possibility, and then the arguments may start. If not, the game itself may no longer be fun or even continue.

Even if no one argues, there exists the possibility of some degree of animosity over time.

No matter how remote those possibilities are, the fact is they exist. So, using logical deduction, the friends that you have in your individual minds when saying "yes" are obviously not more important than running those minimal risks.

When asked the question, the friends that come to your minds are not more important than those risks. Either that, or your makeup is such that those things don't even enter your mind.

We all have different degree of what we consider friends. When I'm asked that question, my answer is absolutely NO.

Now... on the other hand, if I got 3 other of my friends together to play Chicago type rotation games 4 handed, I say lets bet it up. :) Partner change each game and the atmosphere is different.
 
Maybe the question should be clarified with a choice of "for big money" or "for small change".

If for small change, my answer would be different than the NO I gave earlier. A few dollars bet among friends shouldn't hurt any worthy friendships.
 
This seems almost as open-ended a question as what makes you like somebody. It really can go well beyond the simple ideas of money and friendship.

Most of the time, if I gamble with friends, we will acknowledge the current financial situation (I can't pay until tomorrow/Friday/etc) beforehand. Sometimes we just keep a tab for anything over $20. Oddly enough, I find myself losing more often the more I am owed. To me, maybe it is more of a game of how long can I keep the tab open and in my favor. Or another thing is if you're owed $20, just have them order a $10 round for the two of you and call it good.

If your 'friend' gambles with you and then turns, is that your fault? Not one bit. It isn't like you are hustling the person. I've seen fights start over $.50 and have been treated well by people I have taken a bit of money from (a few hundred).

If one of my friends lost money to me and I found out that it caused hardship, I'd probably return the money and make sure that they never gambled with me ever again.

On another note.. $20 is a pretty small price to pay to find out what kind of friends you have.

....

I forgot to mention.. my dad had a group of friends that got together every other week at alternating houses for poker night. That tradition continued for about 25 or 30 years, until health and location issues started getting in the way. It was fun to watch them progress from cigar-smoking, beer-drinking and chip-eating.... slowly to the non-alcoholic beverages, non-smoking and vegetable platters.
 
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I forgot to mention.. my dad had a group of friends that got together every other week at alternating houses for poker night. That tradition continued for about 25 or 30 years, until health and location issues started getting in the way. It was fun to watch them progress from cigar-smoking, beer-drinking and chip-eating.... slowly to the non-alcoholic beverages, non-smoking and vegetable platters.


In my mind poker is an entirely different animal. As I mentioned with Chicago type rotation games, gambling with friends is ok and is just different than going one on one looking to get his or her money. It may sit right with some, but not me. Everyone is different I suppose.
 
Oh yeah, I get it!

Who you going to Call at 3 AM when this happens if you have NO FRIENDS.
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I like your idea of "friends!"
.......and if the topic here is for real, and your gonna be gamblin' with REAL friends?
Don't you have to condescendingly, HATE the opposition, more than a little bit, TO ROB'EM?':cool:
 
Close friends no way

My close friends no I will not gamble with them for anything other than the who picks up the bar tab or beers or something along those lines

I have friends in the pool room whom I gamble with but this is the basis of our relationship . now do i call these people friends sure bt i wouldnt consider them a close friend , these are people if i see them outside the pool room we speak , I may buy em a beer in the bar but its not like I am showing up for thier kids graduation or family vacations together.

Gambling can ruin friendships pretty quick. To me if i get stuck for 1000 - 1500 in a night not that big a deal , but to my friends thats the rent , or a car note.
 
Again, this gambling thing is subject to so many individual ideas of what is or isn't gambling.

So it is ok to stick a friend with your food and drinks, but not $5 or $20? I really don't get that.

Gambling only ruins the friendship if the person is a jerkoff to begin with (and you hadn't found that out yet) or they can't afford it (and then it's their damn fault and they need help for a gambling problem).

Know what else can ruin friendships? Women. Let's see a show of hands for who's giving that one up. ;)

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For another idea.. if I want to test myself against a friend of a certain speed, why not be willing to give him my money for an honest game instead of somebody I don't like?

If it is 3AM and I'm stuck in the snow, I'd just use my ex-friends' money to call a tow truck and/or a cab. :eek: No, seriously, if you've alienated all of your friends, I'm pretty sure it's because you're a @#$%.
 
Gambling in the sense that I want to take a good chunk of the other person's money, no I wouldn't against a close friend.

Except one friend who I know is at least at good at pool as I am, and we've been playing high stakes (for our bankrolls :smile:) since the 7th grade.

My close friends and I who are decent at pool play for $1 games all the time, just to keep the game interesting. Winner usually buys a pizza or something for everyone anyway.
 
Depends, if its someone who doesn't gamble, no. Most of my close friends do gamble and we gamble with each other... Bartram and I have gambled on a thousand different things. He's close enough a friend that he was in my wedding. Its commonplace for my friends to bet each other on anything, from $10-100.

We don't try to bust each other, just pinch a little for bragging rights..
 
Again, this gambling thing is subject to so many individual ideas of what is or isn't gambling.

So it is ok to stick a friend with your food and drinks, but not $5 or $20? I really don't get that.

Gambling only ruins the friendship if the person is a jerkoff to begin with (and you hadn't found that out yet) or they can't afford it (and then it's their damn fault and they need help for a gambling problem).

Know what else can ruin friendships? Women. Let's see a show of hands for who's giving that one up. ;)

...

For another idea.. if I want to test myself against a friend of a certain speed, why not be willing to give him my money for an honest game instead of somebody I don't like?

If it is 3AM and I'm stuck in the snow, I'd just use my ex-friends' money to call a tow truck and/or a cab. :eek: No, seriously, if you've alienated all of your friends, I'm pretty sure it's because you're a @#$%.

Wow the women part is so sick cause it's true. I'm lucky that the majority of my close friends are in other states so when we get together it's all out on! The phone always works for most of our chats so no issue there. I know if they were here though and realized how much of my time my woman monopolizes it might not be all good
 
I gamble my friends on my home table and ONLY play for $20 ... no matter what the weight given/taken/situation is. I don't care if it's a single game or a race to 20 or a 10 ahead or whatever ... it's always $20 with friends.

In a couple of months I'll post a picture of my back wall in my pool room ... it's not complete yet so I don't want to ruin the image. :)

Every game has the 20 posted before hand, every new game is a new 20, and every game I win I staple their 20 to the barn board style back wall. :D My back wall is a constant reminder to my friends of every game they didnt win. Sometimes halfway through the game or set I offer to double my end and all they have to do if they lose is sign their $20 bill. Those bills have a special section on the wall, right in the middle at eye level!

One day some guy is gonna break into my house and be thrilled to take $500 off my back wall ... but in the meantime it is worth it. If I find myself robbed I'm going to all the local bars and asking all the bartenders to look at their 20's to see if they have staple holes in them!
 
Definately not for any serious money. Whenever I play my brother-in-law in golf, we always play for a snickers bar to make it fun and a little more competitive than everything always is between us. However, I would never play him or any real friend for anything serious.
 
Cheap ring games and sets less than or equal to table time, yes. Anything that matters, no. Its not that I can't play seriously against my friends, its more that I don't want their money.

Also, the pride factor makes giving it all you got worth it even for cheap sets. Even if you don't get to buy much, you get to talk shit until they beat you!

If a friend is around and we both want to gamble, I'd much rather use him as a partner and find a doubles match with other people in the room.
 
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