teaching poker to a kid

tcummo · Apr 10, 2011

if you do decide to teach him
make sure first thing is proper BRM

BigJamo · Apr 10, 2011

Life is full of gambles, and, poker is still a card game.

I have an 8 year old boy you loves playing poker, and, as you all know it is illegal for him to play at the sites im at.

But I let him play at Party Poker, (I have an account but i havent deposited yet and dont play there myself).

He loves the fact that he can win against older players without them knowing, although im there if he needs my help, most of the time he goes alright by himself.

thebigdawg · Apr 10, 2011

My older brother taught me how to play how to play when I was around 14. He first taught me the rankings of hands and how it worked. Then we would play dollar games of heads up tournament. He would take me with him when he played with his friends and people around the area and he would show me his cards and how he played them. Then I just played whenever he took me with him and just went from there.

Page TheRage · May 15, 2012

I don't know what you did finally, but, a/p my personal experience, I learned gambling (5 cards draw, black jack, roulette, ...) from 12-13 years old during home family games... 20 years later : I'm not an addited to gambling and I'm not and anonymous, but I exploited these talents in mobile funny casinos, where I was hired as table dealer for several types of games, and I was working a lot! I was doing a great job... but I LOVED it...

Today (I'm 34), I'm addicted to poker, but in a good way... This is the only game I play. Why? No system, no play decieded by the way the cards are shuffled, this is about strategy! I did not bankrupt and I'm not (yet

) in big debts... but I try to push more!

Until I was 18 years old, I was severly restricted about gambling and I wasn't authorise by my parents to gamble at all (maybe a slap in the face or a kick in the butt, but nothing more

) without them and outside of the family house. Also, I had a very limited initial stack (like 5$, that I was growing sometime up to 100$ some night) and if they heard that I was gambling somewhere else, it was the end for me at home and my parents told me that I'll have to go to bed when they'll play.. my parents was playing cards at least 1 saturday night on 3.. didn't want to go in bed at 7pm!

--

Diya05 · May 15, 2012

When I was 7, I started watching my dad play poker, and I helped him. He constantly talks about previous hands and random goings on on the table, so I kind of absorbed some things that way.
I also played a lot of poker on kids gaming sites, like Miniclip (but that was when I was really really young).
I guess there's a lot of things you can do.
Just let him watch you play and contribute at first, then switch the roles around.

archangelzx · May 15, 2012

Id have to say dont encourage poker at a young age mainly because it can get addictive and out of control.

When I was 16 I was playing tournaments at my local pub with a Fake I.D and doing alright. The pub owners found out and said it was okay as long as i was willing show it to the police if they ever requested it.

It was this encouragement that I feel was wrong, I then went to online poker at 17 and was losing alot of money. Only now that I am 18, I have finally become a winning player at the low limits.

My point is, poker is addictive at a young age, most teenagers won't be able to handle it if it is availalbe in real money form. Stay away from poker until you are mentally ready to handle the swings.

Shufflin · May 15, 2012

This is a long read but there are some great points. It's called "Poker is Good for You"

http://www.twoplustwo.com/magazine/issue33/sklansky-schoonmaker-poker-good-for-you.php

fletchdad · May 15, 2012

My daughter is 9 and she watches me a lot. She wants to learn, but when I start to tell her stuff, off she goes. If Barbie comes out with a poker movie, that will all change, but for now,I am the sole "gambler" in the family, and always have been.

If she ever wants to learn more, I will teach her. Kids are gonna kid, and that will always be so. Responsible kids will be responsible players. Or to put it another way, responsible kids will be responsible. Whatever they do. If we, as parents, do our job right, our kids will have a better chance no matter what "games" we teach them.

Of course, some kids just go their own way, and that will happen as well. We, as parents, are helpless vs this. But if we are there as parents, our kids have a chance at life IMO.

And isnt "potheadwoman" a guy????

fugitive67 · May 15, 2012

well if poker distracts him from getting married then it will be +EV

jolubman · May 15, 2012

Help him and let him play. Make sure he doesn't become a fish. Nip that in the bud.

luckyhearts · May 15, 2012

1. How many hours a week do you play poker?
2. Do you think that is a good thing?
3. How about for a teenager?

My point is, older people have no lives, nothing better to do-gambling is addictive as hell, I would be very careful here.

sam1chips · May 16, 2012

i started playing SnGs at my friends house when i was 13 or 14, the age doesnt seem too far off. i wouldnt recommend playing for real money, at least right away.
obviously, in teaching the rules i would focus more on the basic rules (which hands beat what, order of betting etc) than more advanced rules (playing with position, when to 3 bet)
just my opinion

prepare · May 16, 2012

monster bumps, this thread is ancient.

if I had a kid, I would let him play if he was bad. Let him know that losing money is not fun. Be careful, if you can't handle it you will blow it all. It will be hilarious watching him lose, but that's probably why I don't have a kid.

If he was good, maybe. No way if he doing it as a job, trying to make a living. Youth can be ruined by putting children into adult situations, he does not need to worry about the finance department. But if he did it for pocket money, having money to spend on stupid stuff, spoiling yourself every once in a while, than probably.

stg1969 · May 16, 2012

Poker and Gambling is frowned upon much more in the US than in Europe... and before Johnboy attacks me, this isnt an anti-americanism..it's an observation... the US are stricter on many things, legal drinking age is 21 (i believe), sexual consent is 18 (again, im just going from TV and Films so i could be wrong)...

I think you can have a gun at 16 though...and a car, which is quite funny...

I dont see poker as a vice like smoking... being a gambling addict and pissing away money is obviously a problem, but then everything in moderation.

Both my 16 year old daughter and 14 year old son know how to play, although to be fair, I taught them, so they are rubbish

kmixer · May 17, 2012

Marginal said:
Tell him no, poker has ruined my youth.

...and then proceed to teach them PLO

woohoo sue · May 17, 2012

the game is not the vice. The vice is in betting more money than you can afford to lose. I hope we are all teaching this to our kids by example.
Spending time playing (poker baseball swimming hiking) with your kids is where we can teach our values and ready them for adulthood with lessons learned through activity. No child of mine would play poker on line till he was 18 years of age. I would allow him to see what i'm doing when online and explain what the buttons are and what they do (not the chat box be sure and turn that off or block with post it note when kids are present) and i would play with him live when ever he wanted to,
I feel it's a great math game and children can learn money values, consequence and risk. It would be a good teaching tool to show what gambling is,the UPS and the DOWNS, from you instead of learning it from a stranger.
They are watching you and learning as they watch you doing everything as well as online poker. Talk with them about poker, show them what you are doing, make sure they understand what it is and then explain why it's only for 18 years and older to play with money.

whoknewbeefstew · May 17, 2012

Give him a copy of Super System, and then laugh as he annihilates his young poker playing friends.

xUnrated · May 17, 2012

I began playing at 13. Was up late watching wsop and got sucked in by a PS commercial. Went online when the show went off, played for 36 hours straight. Play money of course, taught myself how to play. Won some money from freerolls, then it took over my life. Wasnt til shortly before BF I backed off from playing. Its a fun game, teach discipline first. Kinda wish that I never stopped playing though. Im used to believe I was a very decent player, far from it now.

naruto_miu · Jun 3, 2012

jolubman said:
Help him and let him play. Make sure he doesn't become a fish. Nip that in the bud.

hahahah, I love it

Dumb question are we serious on the topic or is it a joke

? If a joke (You fooled me), same with you P.O, and Dakota

...If your serious, is that not against the TOC of the site

?

As for teaching them, I mean you could do as you please, because the kid will play one way or another if they truly wish to do so, yet someone else mentioned it, wouldn't live be alot easier to grasp live with cards first then doing it online?

Poker Orifice · Jun 3, 2012

luckyhearts said:
1. How many hours a week do you play poker?
2. Do you think that is a good thing?
3. How about for a teenager?

My point is, older people have no lives, nothing better to do-gambling is addictive as hell, I would be very careful here.

How do the first 2 questions even relate? Say I play poker 3 days out of the week, ~5hrs. on two weekdays & 8hrs. on Sunday. How would that have anything to do with how often my child would be playing? (we do have two completely different schedules during the week... pretty sure I don't attend grade school from 9am-3pm each day).
"gambling is addictive as hell"
Again, I don't think even much focus would even need to be on 'gambling'. I'm referring to 'teaching them how to play the pokerzzz'. Not sure how you automatically relate playing poker to the 'addictive nature of gambling'? Oh sorry... we have played on the same tables in the past so no need to answer that one, lol.
Seriously though, there is soooooo much to learn about the game & when I made the comparison to 'chess' it wasn't in regards to > 'okay so teach them how to play chess for monieezzz'. It was to make a comparison between the two as in developing a skill set for a game of skill (aka 'poker').

whoknewbeefstew said:
Give him a copy of Super System, and then laugh as he annihilates his young poker playing friends.

Are we hoping to teach him/her a lesson or something? (meaning > do we want them to lose or something? aka SuperSystem sucks imo).

naruto_miu said:
hahahah, I love it

Dumb question are we serious on the topic or is it a joke ? If a joke (You fooled me), same with you P.O, and Dakota ...< no joke! If your serious, is that not against the TOC of the site ? Poker doesn't necessarily need to be played on a 'site' on the internet (I played poker for over 20yrs. before I even knew how to turn on a computer).

As for teaching them, I mean you could do as you please, because the kid will play one way or another if they truly wish to do so, yet someone else mentioned it, wouldn't live be alot easier to grasp live with cards first then doing it online?

Not sure why you've said "the kid will play one way or another" like it's some sort of BAD thing or something????
We had a blast as a family playing poker when I was a kid. Also had alot of fun with the neighbours & their kids/relatives/etc.

As far as it being easier to learn the game live as opposed to online/computer for a child goes, I think it'd be easier on the computer where the number of chips in all players stacks are labelled for you along with the size of the pot. (this makes it wayyyyy easier). More hands/hr. too (lol.. couldn't resist).

Chessplayer · Jun 3, 2012

my son(15) plays poker and he's actually quite good I took him to a charity poker tournament and he got 15th place. He was in fact very interested and I bought him over 10 poker books. He also plays online(play money)...

naruto_miu · Jun 3, 2012

Poker Orifice said:
How do the first 2 questions even relate? Say I play poker 3 days out of the week, ~5hrs. on two weekdays & 8hrs. on Sunday. How would that have anything to do with how often my child would be playing? (we do have two completely different schedules during the week... pretty sure I don't attend grade school from 9am-3pm each day).
"gambling is addictive as hell"
Again, I don't think even much focus would even need to be on 'gambling'. I'm referring to 'teaching them how to play the pokerzzz'. Not sure how you automatically relate playing poker to the 'addictive nature of gambling'? Oh sorry... we have played on the same tables in the past so no need to answer that one, lol.
Seriously though, there is soooooo much to learn about the game & when I made the comparison to 'chess' it wasn't in regards to > 'okay so teach them how to play chess for monieezzz'. It was to make a comparison between the two as in developing a skill set for a game of skill (aka 'poker').

Are we hoping to teach him/her a lesson or something? (meaning > do we want them to lose or something? aka SuperSystem sucks imo).

Not sure why you've said "the kid will play one way or another" like it's some sort of BAD thing or something????My apologies, I didn't think I was making it sound bad (But going over it a 2nd time made it seem bad, and now that you brought it to light, why thank you P.O ), I just meant to make it like kids will do w/e they please type of thing, but your right my way did make it sound bad .
We had a blast as a family playing poker when I was a kid. Also had alot of fun with the neighbours & their kids/relatives/etc.

As far as it being easier to learn the game live as opposed to online/computer for a child goes, I think it'd be easier on the computer where the number of chips in all players stacks are labelled for you along with the size of the pot. (this makes it wayyyyy easier). More hands/hr. too (lol.. couldn't resist).

Your also correct in the more hands per hour, and it being easier online with everything already setup nicely and easily to help them learn.Well I can't refute the evidence online poker only way to go to teach them

Poker Orifice · Jun 3, 2012

naruto_miu said:
Well I can't refute the evidence online poker only way to go to teach them

HU Hyper-Turbo SNG's or 24-tabling 2nl?

Low Hand Luke · Jun 6, 2012

Kids these days are having trouble with math. This is a fun and related activity where he can learn to find success using various math and arithmetic skills.
My brother was big on blackjack until I showed him better success in poker. He's channeled his gambling addiction into something better.

kmixer · Jun 6, 2012

My 8 year old has been very interested since she was 6. We talk about starting hands and we deal out the flop. We work on her picking which hands are best when the flop falls. To me it's hard to get more into it without going into the "gambling aspect. We do occasionally use chips but not often.

Learning these concepts while their brains are like sponges is a very good idea.

teaching poker to a kid

tcummo

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prepare

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