How good can you get if you start at age 40?

[renfurdson]

I'm 42 years old and I've only been seriously trying to get good at poker for about a year.

I know for sure that if the game in question were chess or basketball, I would have little chance of becoming a very good player, starting at this advanced age. And of course I would have no chance at all to become a professional player.

It seems that many of the successful online players started at a young age.

I would love to hear from people who started playing poker in mid-life and have become winning players.

[Simplistic]

you'll be fine.

[renfurdson]

Did you start young?

[Simplistic]

[ QUOTE ]
Did you start young?

[/ QUOTE ]yes, i'm still young. but people have to start somewhere and being young has not that many benefits, if you play live and play for hours a day then you might be at a slight disadvantage, but if you're a recreational player you have no problem.

another thing, young players might be able to multi-table online better than older people but i think that's a crock of [censored]. it just takes adapting.

honestly you'll be fine. just start slow

[suited aces]

This might be a little off-topic, but as far as multi-tabling goes, if you're really trying to improve your game, it's way overrated. I suggest playing one or two tables for a while. It's hard to really learn the game and think at the table when you've got 4, 6, 8, or however many other tables to worry about. I think one advantage to starting a little older is that you don't need to play a ton of tables to prove how "good" you are. Also, given that you probably don't need to make any money off of poker right now, you can sacrifice some of the short-term gains of multi-tabling (i.e., more hands so more money) for the long term gain of actually improving your game at a quicker pace.

[stigmata]

First: you will be fine, I really don’t think age is a major stumbling block, although it is a consideration:

In your favour, (I hope) you have maturity & discipline and should be able to approach things in a more logical manner, have better “learning skills”, better emotional control, and are more risk adverse so have less chance of busting out. Against your favour, young people learn things much faster, you will never be able to multi-table* at the same level as a younger person, and they are less risk adverse so they can move up stakes much faster.

Like chess, I don’t think you can ever become “world class” starting at 40. However, with a little intelligence, a little luck, and a lot of discipline, there is absolutely is no reason you can’t become a high stakes professional in several years.

*you should definitely play fewer tables whilst learning. Playing many tables is purely a profit-maximisation strategy, once skilled.

[renfurdson]

Very good thoughts. I've been doing two tables lately and that does feel like plenty. It also has a bit of social value since there is time for some chat.

You are right that there isn't much testosterone effect at this point.

[edfurlong]

I think Microbob is seventy or eighty, he should be along shortly.

[jzpiano]

[ QUOTE ]
I think Microbob is seventy or eighty, he should be along shortly.

[/ QUOTE ]

lol

[JeffO]

I didn't start playing serious until I was close to 40. I'm now almost 44 and play poker for a living. I got more out of two plus two than any book I ever read.

One warning. It's a tough way to make an easy living.