Why are younger players so much better than older ones?

Try this exercise:  How many world-class players in their 20’s can you think of?  I could probably sit down and name a hundred or so just off the top of my head.

Now, how many can you name who are in their 60’s (or older)?  Hmm … Doyle of course … Dan Harrington … T.J. Cloutier … who else?  “Miami John” Cernuto?  The list of AARP-eligible poker players is mighty thin.

So … this proves that players in their 20’s are better than the old timers, doesn’t it?  Have you ever wondered why?

I thought about this for a long time, before I realized what the answer was:

They’re not!

Believe me … I have spent hours at the table with scores of youngsters, many of whom are young enough to be my own kids (I’m 44).  And, by and large, they are atrocious.  Loose; easy to read, figure out, and manipulate; intensely self-assured of their own superiority.  They end up walking away from the table flat broke and unable to figure out why.

Which brings us back to our first question – why are so many of them in the winner’s circle?

It’s because there are so many of them, period!

Think about it:  When you’re 20-something, you’ve got nothing else to do.  You’re in college (or not); you’ve got plenty of free time; you’ve got no financial commitments to worry about – after all, Mumsie and Pops are paying the bills.  So, let’s hang out at the poker room!

Then, you get to your 30’s.  Now, you’re married.  You have kids. You have a career to manage.  A mortgage to pay.  Hmm, maybe even a sub-prime mortgage!  Consequently, you don’t have the time any more to fritter away at the casino.

As I consider this, I realize that the only professional players in their 30’s (and 40’s) are probably playing today only because they achieved success in their 20’s, and didn’t need to get themselves real jobs.  Ivey, Ferguson, Hellmuth, Cunningham, etc.

So, my theory is, “x” percent of any group of poker players  will be successful regardless of age.  The hundred or so twenty-somethings on my list represent “x” percent of all players in their 20’s.  Apply that same “x” to players in their 30’s, and you get Ivey, Cunningham, et al.  Same with the rest of the age groups..