Just how young (and why) are the top players online?

[SEABEAST]

young guys grew up playing videogames, using computers etc. and a lot of people that gravitate towards online poker would have been spending half their time sitting on the internet anyway (18-24 y.o. intelligent slacker types)

[Tony Eusebio]

Just schedule a late HU match. These old guys, they're up at 4 a.m., by two thirty they're wiped.

[RedManPlus]

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The believe the reason is because of the very nature of risk taking. It's good to note that the players you listed at some point all probably took very big risks and succeeded. Not to say they aren't very skilled(as they in fact are) but rather similarly skilled players probably took the same risk and failed.

As people get older it's harder to start over, so they become more risk averse. One example is to look at how a lot older people love limit Omaha/8 and Stud/8(much lower swings). Basically youth was their lucky advantage in risk taking in that going broke was probably not that important for them, as it would have been relatively easy to start over. So basically you are seeing the survivors of risk taking, which a lot of young people probably took and less older people took(also because they didn't embrace or have as much experience with the internet as young people did).

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Good post...
By your 40s a person becomes more risk averse...
Because it's much harder to start over.

But here's the BIGGEST reason:

The sort of genius-level person that is beating online poker...
By the time they are 35 or 40 or 45...
They usually have a successful career...
Or a STABLE successful business...
And are making well into 6 figures.

For example...
I have a stable business...
And net > 200K/year with huge potential.

Poker is FASCINATING...
But the variance makes it unattractive...
Unless you NEED to gamble.

If you are 20s with a few $1000...
Online poker is very attractive.

If you are in your 40s with $1 million...
You can learn to play just as well as the 20 something...
But it's just not financially attractive.

[questions]

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questions you have no idea how much you dont understand and its amazing that you've made 450 post on a pokerforum and still is this clueless. I doubt youre a winning player in anything above 10$ homegames.

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I have a prolific posting bot. Dry running it for my poker bot.

But if you'd care to offer a more concrete defense of your position than "you are a doody-head", I'm all ears. Otherwise, pockets 3's is 68% favored to win over Ace rag. I guess I find it remarkable that so many think that, lo and behold, a hand which was favored to win - WON! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Hollywood78]

how has no one mentioned determination yet? Im 29 now, and got into poker on the cusp of the Moneymaker effect. I was playing home games, and then all of a sudden, BAM! Poker everywhere.
I wanted to be a musician damn near forever. I spent every waking hour recording, writing, promoting, etc. It obviously never happened.
I am old enough to understand that dream is probably not going to come true.
But poker is another thing. Any day, any hour, that can happen. And i am determined to make it happen. I work a crap job, (no career due to the musician thing), have no girl, no kids, no home, etc. I dont consider that a beat by any means.
I have focus to make my life as a poker player come true.
I am not gunning to take down the nosebleed games on a daily basis. What i want is to have a comfortable amount of money to quit my job and do what i love. Poker happens to fall into that. As does writing music, writing books, etc.
When i hit my goal, the job will fall by the wayside faster than you can say SHIP IT!
You wont find me playing HU with Ivey and the likes.
Ill be at the 2/5 NL tables and playing tourneys. Cause i like poker. But i also like other things as well.
The freedom that poker can give me to make other things come true is the reason i keep trying.
A means to an end. Maybe us "older" people have the ability to focus on goals outside of poker. We arent all gunning for fame. Fortune, yeah. Fame might come with the territory.

[PBJaxx]

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it'd be hard to dedicate enough time to be super successful at poker if you have a full time job. So most 25+yr olds already had jobs by the time poker had it's big boom. Also, wives + kids wreck your dreams.

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I read as far as this post, and I feel no need to read anymore. This is right on.

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[Quanah Parker]

Just wait until the steampowered iRotaryDial Computers come out.

The only thing holding back the geezers are these durn complicated push button thingy majig com-pu-ters.

Dag blasted.

[suzy89222]

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old people stupid

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that's not a nice comment to make about your girlfriend, cts.

[spino1i]

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Here is the real deal from an "old" person.

Young kids have balls . I had balls when I was young.

Young kids have stamina . I had lots of stamina when I was young. Nowadays, after 3 or 4 hours I'm toast. My brain is literally fried. I played 2.5 hours today and I couldn't even think straight when I quit the game.

Young people are reckless . I was reckless when I was young, and it made me well, and broke me at the same time. But you need that adventurous attitude to make it to the big time.

Young people are willing to go broke . I went broke dozens of times when I was young, but it's something I don't even want to think about now.

Young peole think they know everything . They're cocky, arrogant, and opinionated. They may not know everything but thinking that way helps tremendously with your confidence.

Young people are not only confident, but they truly belive that they're very lucky. I happen to think I'm very unlucky. I was luckier when I was young.

When you get older you realize how stupid you were when you were young, and how lucky you are to even be alive. Age gives you a different perspective on things.

By the way, how old was the guy who got third in the main event?

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Im 22, and I dont have a lot of balls (greatest weakness in the game is fear of losing money), I have mediocre amount of stanima, definitely not reckless (been bust only once, right at the very beginning), defintely not lucky. I am very cocky though. So I guess I go against the young kid poker player stereotype.

Then again I havent made it past 25/50 NL yet, even though I've been playing 3 years now. I guess I just dont want to move up in stakes too fast.

[stan ivey]

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old people stupid

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that's not a nice comment to make about your girlfriend, cts.

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o snap lol