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Had dinner with a group of highly accomplished people in a field I know little about who mostly talked shop. That sounds like poor etiquette, but I *love* listening to experts talk shop, especially when they tolerate my occasional dumb questions.
@mattblaze I like to be the stupidest person at the table because that maximizes the opportunity to learn.
@robpike @mattblaze As long as it's not a poker table.
@darryl_ramm @mattblaze I guarantee I'll never be the stupidest person at a poker table because I know better than to sit down at one.
@robpike @darryl_ramm In a properly done hustle, you won’t even realize you’re at the table.
@mattblaze @robpike I remember a work poker group. First time I lost several hundred dollars, second time I thought, ah these folks are serious, I need to go prepared and think. I lost more. Took me a few goes to realize I need to not be going to those games.
@robpike @darryl_ramm @mattblaze I was a degenerate gambler for a couple of years, living in an area when there were legal places to play.
It was a lot of work, and an intermittently expensive hobby, but I used to log wins/losses, read all the books, practice the giant free roll tournaments online to get better and better at ending in the top 10% (which usually pays).
I used to really enjoy playing. You'd spend an afternoon tipping a dozen dealers a dozen dollars each, pay for lunch from your winnings, walk out no better or worse than when you came in except for lunch and conversation with the regulars or dealers. Maybe two months before I quit I made more at poker tables than at my salary, but I started curling and I didn't have time for both.
It definitely is a hobby where you can pay for an education. You can sit in on a table in the deep end and, for a price, learn things you would never learn otherwise. The school of hard knocks grades on a curve, though, and people get in trouble if their bankroll math is poor or non-existent, or think the risk/reward is better. You are there to get schooled and it only works if you are there to learn.
And, it's certainly habit forming. I wouldn't recommend it, but I don't regret it.
When I'm ancient, I hope to do something similar with chess, but without the casinos or cash. 
@robpike @mattblaze Learning is so 'woke'