The average age of poker players at the WSOP and other major tournaments has decreased to the point where the November Nine is around 26.
But think about it, a lot of these kids have played more hands of poker than I have. I will be 84 next month and have really played a lot of poker. Yet on the Internet a lot of these whippersnappers have been playing sometimes as many as eight and 10 games simultaneously!
Many of the computer poker games average over 100 hands per hour and with multi game playing these young’uns have experienced the results of about a 1,000 hands of poker per hour at 10 hours or more per day!
Now in my poker playing day we played perhaps 20 hands per hour for maybe four or five hours – once or twice a week in-the-home games. Or many of us old timers learned how to play during the war.
So it is easy to see these kids are just better players than us old hands if you rate the experience factor. And many of them have never had to work or hold down a job of any kind.
Yes, in the poker game of today, the kids are just the best.
But that is only poker. They have not experienced the fires of life or learned such words as please, thank you or may I help you.
And these youngsters have not learned the poker code of polite society such as this expression, “There is a tall weed in the grass.”
Most of the old time players of the old school had manners and social skills. They had to act like ladies and gentlemen to get invited back to the home games of poker. These whippersnappers have not been taught at home or ever heard of the cotillion.
The expression “a tall weed is in the grass” was a code used when a lady came into the poker parlor! One of the players would notice a player’s lady was present and he would say those words.
All the players would be careful of their manners and words when a lady was present. In a recent column I was talking to the folks about the obligations the older poker players (“The Seniors”) have to the younger people who wish to play poker or to become professional poker players.
I believe each generation is a little bit smarter than the ones who have gone on before them. There are many exceptions, but in general I think this is true.
I look around me and I see computers, cells and other telephones, the color television (with its remote control), the radio, the fax, air conditioners, automatic fire protection devices and many other things.
When I go to the casino later to play a little poker, I will find automatic door openers and shuffle machines in use at the blackjack and poker tables, as well as all types of electronic computer devices and slot machines used in gaming.
When I was born, over 90 percent of the discoveries in medicine, inventions of machines and things that we now use everyday did not exist.
So, how did we get all these things?
Well, the youth of today and each generation that follows will have more to start with and more intelligence to create more things than the generation that came before them.
If this were not true, civilization as we know it would not exist. If you wish to go back in time, you would find that mankind would still be in the dark ages or even back to the cave.
Seniors have experience at being tested in the fire of life. It is The Seniors’ responsibility to share this experience with the young poker players.
In some future columns I hope to give young poker players a little bit of the advice that today I am giving to my four grandchildren and my four great grandchildren.
OKJ Tip of the Week:
This advice comes from Dr. Max Stern, a member in good standing of The Seniors WCOP Poker Players Hall of Fame:
“Poker is life itself. Each of us has a measured life span. And each of us will die someday. Since poker is so similar to life, I think that at the last table in tournaments, you must understand that at some point, your chips may all be gone and you will die.
And in the moment you realize that you may lose all of your chips and die, you will fight to save your chips. You will begin to live, and you may win the tournament.
Remember until next time to Stay Lucky!!!
players.
I believe that each generation is a little bit smarter than the ones who have gone on before them. There are many exceptions, but in general I think this is true.
I look around me and I see computers, cells and other telephones, the color television (with its remote control), the radio, the fax, air conditioner, automatic fire protection devices and many other things.
When I go outside I will see cars of all types, buses and trucks, street lights, airplanes, automatic sprinklers watering the lawns, automatic yard lights, solar panels on the houses, and so much more.
At home I see a trash compactor, electric can opener, smoke alarms, door bells, microwave oven, and a lot of other things that are all designed for us to enjoy and make things easier for us in this life.
When I go to the casino later to play a little poker, I will find automatic door openers and shuffle machines that will be in use at the blackjack and poker tables, as well as all types of electric computer devices and slot machines used in gaming.
When I was born, over 90 percent of the discoveries in medicine, inventions of machines and things that we now use everyday did not exist.
So, how did we get all these things?
Well, the youth of today and each generation that follows will have more to start with and more intelligence to create more things than the generation that came before them.
If this were not true, civilization as we know it would not exist. If you wish to go back in time, you would find that mankind would still be in the dark ages or even back to the cave.
Seniors have experience and being tested in the fire of life. It is “The Seniors” responsibility to share this experience with the young poker players.
In some future columns I hope to give young poker players a little bit of the advice that today I am giving to my four grandchildren and my four great grandchildren.
OKJ Tip of the Week:
This advice comes from Dr. Max Stern, a member in good standing of “The Seniors” WCOP Poker Players Hall of Fame:
“Poker is life itself. Each of us has a measured life span. And each of us will die someday. Since poker is so similar to life, I think that at the last table in tournaments, you must understand that at some point, that your chips may all be gone and that you will die.
And in that moment that you realize that you may lose all of your chips and die, you will fight to save your chips. You will begin to live, and you may win the tournament.
Thanks Doc. May you and your lovely wife Maria live long and prosper.
Remember until next time to Stay Lucky!!!