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What do you tell people your job is?
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 4:29 pm
by sir ratholer
I always feel pretty awkward about this, what do other pro players say?
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 5:52 pm
by quasar911
i work under my secretaries desk - its nice and warm down here.
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 6:00 pm
by barneybear
Im an estate agent, and I often wonder what I should be telling people when they ask!
Re: What do you tell people your job is?
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 7:13 pm
by blackmogu
sir ratholer wrote:I always feel pretty awkward about this, what do other pro players say?
I used to say I was an entrepreneur. Since I always had other ventures running in parallel with fruit playing, it was truthful and I could waffle on about how well my various enterprises were doing. When caught playing a fruit out of business hours by someone, I just mentioned that I was doing so well that I no longer need to work full-time.
When the inevitable question for a loan came up, due to me mentioning how well I was doing, I just muttered about liquidity and 'you know how it is..' etc.
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 7:46 pm
by ScottyNorth192
Pretty sad you've gotta lie, goes to show what low life activity fruit machines are.
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 8:00 pm
by blackmogu
ScottyNorth192 wrote:Pretty sad you've gotta lie, goes to show what low life activity fruit machines are.
On the contrary, it is sad how narrow minded people are about what an acceptable way to earn money is. Sometimes it's easier just to play to people's knee-jerk ingrained reactions about something than go through the same argument you've had before many times.
I think that fruit machine players are more socially acceptable than bailiffs, yet being a bailiff is a socially acceptable job because it fits in with what is regarded as normal and what people understand.
It's a big battle fighting the ignorant. You're outnumbered, and their ranks never seem to diminish.
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 8:39 pm
by deano8177
My family and friends all know what I do, and they accept it well. The only people I have problams explaining to is landlords.
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 9:33 pm
by Istenem
i work in a pub

Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 10:25 pm
by Spyder
i was thinking about this the other day.. doesnt apply to me tho
"im a self employed playtester for the awp gaming industry"
keep on with, hours are crap, but the pay is ok, etc etc,
report back online with any findings etc...
if you believe it enough you can pass it off as a real job?
Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 1:55 am
by redlinesman
Spyder wrote:i was thinking about this the other day.. doesnt apply to me tho
"im a self employed playtester for the awp gaming industry"
keep on with, hours are crap, but the pay is ok, etc etc,
report back online with any findings etc...
if you believe it enough you can pass it off as a real job?
Spot on there Spyder. Whatever you say, you really need to believe it and be confident about it, otherwise people will just think your lying and maybe trying to cover your insecurities up. Saying your involved in business or an entrepenuer is all well and good, but does your life and image back that up. Can the guy spending all his time in pubs and arcades wearing a pair of jeans really be a businessman? 99% of the time he won't be so people just think you are lying.
Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 8:44 am
by Been-Grant-Mitchell'd!
Most people I know are aware that I use fruit machines as a "job", and are fine with it.
Some give it the usual "get a proper job" comment, but they are, in my opinion, just jealous of it, or frustrated in their own incapabilities.
One guy even said that he was proud to pay his taxes, and that I should too. But I'm sure that if the Inland Revenue sent him a letter saying he no longer had to pay income tax if he didn't want to, he wouldn't say "No! I WANT to pay tax!"
As far as I'm concerned, anyone who slates players are just plebs. Incapable of making money like us upsets them so much they Just can't handle it.
Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 12:55 pm
by barneybear
A bit of an outsiders opinion here, hope you dont mind me chipping in!
As mentioned, I just run an estate agency in preston and only play the fruits casually.
When im playing with my mates, I often say that there are PRO players out there, who play day in day out and make a really tidy living doing it. They dont really believe me when I say....probably because I always lose.
But I look at it from this perspective. If thats what you want to do, then every credit to you. The job itself commands unsociable hours I am sure (to be there for 'doors') and hours which i am sure extend past the usual 5pm clock off time. Couple that with the fact that when you wake up in the morning, you dont KNOW how your day will go. Ive seen a post from Jack on here resulting in a £160 loss one day. Its all about CHOICE.
i valued a house once for a guy in Blackpool with my boss when I first started out. my boss was a real old school fella, proper public school boy ruggers type. He asked the fella what he did and he said blunty, 'I play fruit machines for a living'. My boss tore a right strip off him about how he pays his mortgage and feeds his kids etc and the guy just waited for him to finish, and calmy said, well I'm 35, my house is paid for and my kids want for fuck all. Needless to say we didnt get that one on the market!
There will always be a public perception of players and playing for a living, and this is an unavoidable ignorance. If I was a pro, I would just be blunt and tell people. If they dont like it at the end of the day, they can fuck off! But thats just me!
Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2011 3:32 pm
by MattJ
As i'm not a professional player,i have a job,tree-surgeon :-)