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

[Compit]

I'm 42, came in with the boom, never played poker before, but have been playing daily since. I learned from scratch, multi-tabling from day one, and winning. Same experience as the rest of you. Reading books, lurking on forums like this, playing and gaining skill. I play marathon sessions (from this past Fri night through Mon about noon straight with one 6 hour break and the occassional smoke break).

There is nothing about any of this that is particularly hard. Real careers are harder. You don't have to be a genius to beat most players. You don't need any particular computer savvy or manual dexterity to multi-table. Powers of concentration are not among the attributes that wain with age (see Georg Solti).

As has been mentioned, the reason more 40-somethings are not doing what I am doing is because they are already doing something better. 4-6 years invested in college, and another 15-20 invested in a career means the 40-somethings have no incentives to drop what they are doing and take up a poker career. Consider that no one starts out playing 1-2k. You start out at 1-2 dollars. Why would a senior manager in a Fortune 500 company drop his career to play 1-2 hold'em?

And as has been mentioned, most 40-somethings have more to consider than their own welfare (i.e. family). Gambling with your family's future is not appealing, especially when the sole purpose is to satisfy some adolescent predilection for game-playing.

In my case, I'm single and my job sucked. Once poker winnings outpaced my wages it was c'ya. I'll never make it to nosebleed (I didn't take this up because I wanted to work hard), but I don't see any reason why a middle-aged person couldn't. They don't exist because there aren't any trying.

P.S.- PA had been coming over the top of DB all night and DB was looking for a place to take a stand. It was 3 handed and he opened with a pp and got raised. He simply said if you have a bigger pair then nh but otherwise I'm ready to gamble. It's all situational.

P.P.S.- Above poster is correct. People in their 40s never heard of marijuana when growing up. (Oh man)

[unlucky4me]

I figure most of the kids collude and know how to cheat better.

[BigSoonerFan]

This thread is hilarious, as this 42 year "old" man reads it while multi-tabling eight tables (and trying to keep a six and a two year old in line.

[jackhigh]

[ QUOTE ]
40 year old = grown up with games in the woods (don't know how you yanks call it exactly, i mean that nature thing...) First computer contact in the office, has no clue

35 year old = grown up smoking joints, first computer contact PANG! in the gambling hall at age 13

30 year old = grown up smoking joints and doing E, first comuter contact at age 8, MS Windows 3.1, MS Flight Simulator (save donkey kong)

25 year old = grown up seeing his older brother get [censored] up on Grass and E, playing NES/SNES/PS1, first computer contact at 3, watching all those funky colors on that brand new SVGA-Monitor

20 year old = grown up in the nineties (need i say more) first computer contact at age 1,5 when his mother has had enough and lets him play with daddys playstation...

now why do you think younger players are the better multitablers?

ooh...and i think it's obvious to which age group i belong...

foldmasta, your favourite swissdonk [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Young Internet Pokah Balla = Most likely loser in HS or College, living with parents (or dorm... same thing) whacks off twice a day (no girlfriend), Makes some cash (but doesn't aquire wealth), eventually becomes a gambling degenerate (due to lazy work ethic) when the inevitable bad run starts.

Maybe makes it... prolly won't (odds are against).
see.. Newhouse, Neverwin, etc.

Stupid Poker Playing Depends Wearing Old Guy = Plays poker a few hours a week for fun. Has wife and kids to feed, house and assets to maintain, age gives him the wisdom to know gambling is a very tough way to make a living (much easier ways to make money and build wealth)
see... Andy Beal or any other poker playing CEO or Entrep. multimillionaire [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Wowliksom!]

[ QUOTE ]

P.S.- PA had been coming over the top of DB all night and DB was looking for a place to take a stand. It was 3 handed and he opened with a pp and got raised. He simply said if you have a bigger pair then nh but otherwise I'm ready to gamble. It's all situational.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, it's not situational if he has a 10bb-stack. It's an autopush not a limp/complete-call allin. This hand is a nobrainer. Terrible play by Doyle. Correct by PA to question his play which of course sucked a$$.

[nekrunanus]

Also, old people (>24) smell funny.

[Kmon]

What can I add, I would imagine that it's the 35+ 40-80K a year married men that pay most of the bills of these online whiz kids.

And with a free schedule with working 2 days a week, one interview a week I have all the time in the world to play online poker. Think that is key, remember my gf at the time hated the fact I played 4-5 hours a day even though I was bringing in a little bit of money. With a wife, kids, mortgage etc. I would not be able to play 6 hours a day play 2 or 3 tables at a time.

I like sooner fans post, that's multitasking, what stakes may i ask.

Most of the best online players are going to be young, lot's of energy, little responsibilities and what's cooler then sitting in ur boxers yelling ship it at your monitor at 2 am on a tuesday and make 50 bucks an hour.. Not a whole lot.

My generation (23) I grew up with a 286 with my father who was an engineer and a computer freak. I did use aol 1.0 so whoever said that comment earlier can pound sand. From playing computer games and playing cards for most of my life online poker just makes sense, just need to keep learning from my mistakes and grow as the stakes grow. It's a very tough gig I believe, many people sit down and think they can beat small stakes with reading hoh and playing 10k hands, but it takes a lot of dedication which is hard for this generation to stay with anything for more then 3 weeks.

I have a college degree, and I think it might of helped me, but right now my br is on it's way up so I'm going to keep playing and keep reading and keep posting.

Let's stop talking about old balls vs. young guns and setup a tourney, we'll do a shoot out 20, 20 something year olds and 20 40+ year old's and prove this.

[Compit]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

P.S.- PA had been coming over the top of DB all night and DB was looking for a place to take a stand. It was 3 handed and he opened with a pp and got raised. He simply said if you have a bigger pair then nh but otherwise I'm ready to gamble. It's all situational.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, it's not situational if he has a 10bb-stack. It's an autopush not a limp/complete-call allin. This hand is a nobrainer. Terrible play by Doyle. Correct by PA to question his play which of course sucked a$$.

[/ QUOTE ]

PA has to know DB is laying for him by this point. DB needs to double up. Think of how many hands have a2o in bad shape. It didn't have to be 33. There are 20+ combinations that have PA crushed and DB is going to limp them all. If he didn't want to see a flop he would have pushed. But with an over-aggro chip leader in the bb who's ready to double you up with a2o, limp and let him do it. Stupid read by PA to think DB is either going to limp/fold or call all in with anything he has beat.

[Schneids]

I think the old guys who are defending Doyle's play is the perfect irony to encapsulate why the young guys are the ones crushing... No further explanation necessary.

[EWS87]

this thread is like asking why are azns luckier...they just are