Youth Vs. Experience

You never know what a poker player is thinking, especially if he's under the age of 25.

When I first started playing poker in the 1970s, most of the players I faced were mean, tough -- and old. There weren't any women to speak of, and the few females you did run into in Gardena, CA. or Las Vegas were jaded mule-skinner types rather than the sharp feminists who ply their trade these days.

Times change.

Television, the camera under the table, and lifestyles have altered the makeup of people who play poker as a hobby or for a living. Today's players are much better informed about the odds and rate of return and other concepts that were basically unknown to us in those early years of poker.

We played, we lost, sometimes we won and we learned.

Today when I sit down in a poker tournament, the young kid with the fuzzy mustache trying to look older than his years might have a PH.d in poker for all I know. When he goes all in on a small bet, who knows what he's holding? His hand could be anything from pocket aces to 10-4 offsuit. That is the game many of these kids are playing and it's tough on us old-timers.

Now I hate to refer to myself as an old-timer. Nobody enjoys getting old, but life happens and you're stuck with it.

When a person is young, he thinks he can do anything. Nothing is impossible, especially when it comes to poker.

I remember an old-time poker player named Whitey who just hated young players. Whitey got his nickname because his hair was pure white. He had a habit of stammering when he got excited and nothing set him off like a wise kid who sat down at his stable and tried to muscle the other players into submissions.

'Those d-d-damn retards t-t-think they're so damned s-s-smart,' he would hiss beneath his breath. 'G-g-give me a hand and I'll s-s-show them what's h-h-happening.'

Sure you will, Whitey.

The fact is that most of us old-timers felt the same about the young Rounders as Whitey. We just weren't as articulate as expressing ourselves.

Players in their teens or 20s are computer literate. They haven't had the opportunity to experience the many bad beats that an old-timer has, and therefore, they think they are invincible.

They sit down at a table with their Daddy's money or with the cash they earned working at the car wash, and go after the the chips of the people who have played this game for a while. People like yours truly.

Sometimes they win and sometimes they lose.

While the younger players have the gonads, the older players have the experiences and a few moves the 20-year-olds have never seen. I pulled off such a move the other night in a cash game at Wild Horse Pass near Chandler, AZ. The 20-something player I beat out of a big pot was gap-mouthed. All he could do was shake his head and say, 'Wow.' The other players at the table just smiled.

Youth vs experience.

If I had my choice, I would rather be the young player on the move, willing to tackle all odds for cash and glory. But life being what it is, I have to play the role of the old-timer. Maybe the joints creak and the vision gets a little bleary after hours at the table, but I still have the moves. Let the games begin.

Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.

(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).