My First Year as an Underage Poker Player (Long)

[Ogre]

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This has nothing to do with you or your post. I just think it is pretty pathetic that people are so impressed that a high schooler can string together a few sentences. That's all.

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NLSoldier helped correct it but I wrote the whole thing.

[nolanfan34]

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This has nothing to do with you or your post. I just think it is pretty pathetic that people are so impressed that a high schooler can string together a few sentences. That's all.

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I don't know if people are particularly impressed, but personally I think that his writing is at a higher level than that of the average high-schooler.

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Yeah, that's the problem.

[nolanfan34]

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Now I only play .5/1 to sit on ThaSaltCracka's left and 3-bet him everytime he comes in for a raise.

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Forgot to mention that this cracks me up, I thought I was the only one who did this. I had a nice one the other day when I 3-bet him with 98 and flopped two pair. Heh heh.

[JKratzer]

Start lifting weights. 6'2" 130lbs = twig. Better than being fat but chicks dig muscles.

[Forbin]

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The gambling age in Minnesota is 18. When I was staked for a short time by a 2+2er I was 18 and was playing on party poker legally.

I think you are overreacting. But I do appreciate your concern because you do bring up a good point about how we are, in a way, playing right into the hands of the anti-gambling activists. And online poker becoming explicitly illegal would really suck.

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Ok, so the second time you started playing you were 18. If the law in MN says 18, that is fine. Unfortunately you then let your 13 year old brother play on your account. He's your brother, so you would've let him play on your account without the prompting of any forum, online or off. Obviously 2+2 isn't directly to blame for letting this particular very young kid gamble online so easily (you are), but enough of the threads here deal with underage gambling (most portraying it positively) that it can *not* be good.

It may appear as an overreaction if you look only at this single thread, but if you add in all the others talking about similar topics I think the reaction is warranted. "How do I fund my online account while underage?" "Which casinos don't card?" "What do I do if I'm playing underage and they try to card me?" ... etc... etc... etc... The majority of posts in threads like that seem very pro-underage gambling (and I would expect that most of those same posts are from people 22/23/24 or under).

I may be 30 now (and, yes, it does feel old), but I do remember how much age limits sucked when I was underage. Can't drive a car, can't drink, can't buy porn, can't gamble. But those few years will go by much quicker than you imagine, and then when you finally do hit 18 or 21, you've got decades to do whatever you want. Unfortunately by doing it illegally beforehand (and boasting about it/getting praised for it) you greatly increase the chance that by the time you can play legally it will be much harder to do so (or impossible entirely), because, "won't someone please think of the children!" So you might be winning a couple years of playing while you are 13, but at the same time losing the ability to play for many, many years later on.

Sometimes the correct play is to give up a slight immediate +EV for a much larger +EV later on.

[Sponger15SB]

I have read at least 10x of posters on this and other forums letting their 7-12 year old children gamble online.

I don't think NLSoldier letting him play for a few bucks online is remotely close in badness to the above. Also, when NLSoldier turns 21 he'll probably be buying him beer too, are you gonna freak out about that as well?

[pshabi]

Dude,

Bravo! You're like 50% on, no [censored]! Anyway, I'm an Athletic Director/Coach. I'm in my 4th year out of college and I make 55k. You find me anyone else in education 4 years out of college hooping that and I'll eat my hat. 55k ain't filthy rich and I'm obviously not bragging. But, if you had your lifetime dreamjob that you were prepared to work at for far less you would be too (hell, for some of you, that may be poker).

Anyway, I had to take out a credit line to raise the first kid, you're right. I had him when I was 18. That debt's gone now (partially thanks to this wonderful game). I've got good credit and am getting a house this summer.

Kid #2 is a baby. He came under better circumstances. I don't make nearly as much as this kid, no, but I wasn't really sweatin him. I was just trying to get some laughs.

Your post was funny though man. Oh, and if you ever have a kid like my baby you'll understand why I don't get laid. Definitely, not by choice.

[Justin A]

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This has nothing to do with you or your post. I just think it is pretty pathetic that people are so impressed that a high schooler can string together a few sentences. That's all.

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I got the impression that they were more impressed with his maturity level rather than his writing talent.

[ChrisCo]

Although I would not approve of the majority of kids under 18 gambling online I bleieve that their is a certain group that can do it responsibly. I am just like Ogre. I am a year older than him getting ready to take off for college and I have a healthy 6 figure roll. I am actively staking a 2+2er, I go snowboarding every other weekend, I drive a nice car, I paid for a trip to hawaii over spring break, I go out to eat if I want to, don't have to worry about money, don't have to work a shitty min wage job at a coffee shop ,etc. The lists goes on and on.

What I am trying to get across is that I do not support underage gambling. I would hate to see any of my friends start to play because I know that the majority of people at that age do not have the control, discipline, and intellect to handle poker. People like Ogre and I happen to be the exception.

You just got to keep your life in balance at this young of an age. Don't get to encompassed with the game that your a socail retard that doesn't get any chicks. I took a break for a couple months and am having the time of my life with the money I have. I am a senior in high school going to a good college next year with a fistfull of cash and not a care in the world. What could be better than that?

[Forbin]

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I have read at least 10x of posters on this and other forums letting their 7-12 year old children gamble online.

I don't think NLSoldier letting him play for a few bucks online is remotely close in badness to the above. Also, when NLSoldier turns 21 he'll probably be buying him beer too, are you gonna freak out about that as well?

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Yeah, I figured I'd get this kind of response (at least once, probably more). It seems anyone who is against underage gambling on here does. It isn't just NLSoldier and his brother. They just happened to be the topic of this thread. For sure there are hundreds of other posts on this and other forums where people say they do the same thing, along with plenty of people who do it and have said nothing about it at all. They are all part of the potential problem. Just because his mother is cool with letting him gamble underage doesn't mean every other adult will be, and you'll find that Suzy Homemaker who is horrified by kids gambling will be far more vocal in her outrage than your parents will be in fighting for your right to continue gambling underage (or possibly gamble at all).

And I don't think a five figure bankroll really qualifies as "a few bucks."

I don't care too much if he buys his brother a few beers, much like this one particular instance of a guy letting his little brother gamble on his account isn't too big a deal. Repeatedly encouraging it so openly and praising those who take part is the problem. Continuing with the alcohol analogy, people over 21 buying beer for people under 21 has already made life annoying for legal purchasers. In a number of communities you can't buy a keg to put in your home keg-fridge and keep it for more than 7/14/30 days. If you do you'll be ticketed and have to pay a fine. That's a pain in the ass for people who might have a tap at home just so they can have a beer or three a day, and might have no real chance of finishing it in 14 days. But someone was "thinking of the children" and decided it was a good law.

I'm a libertarian, so in general I think adults should be able to do whatever they want to themselves and their property as long as it does not affect the same rights for other people. If you want to drink or do drugs or commit suicide or not wear a seatbelt/helmet, then by all means go for it. However with that comes personal responsibility. Your actions have consequences and you need to accept that. If let your little brother gamble in your online account and that gets publicized, along with dozens of other incidents, resulting in a crackdown in online poker (or gambling in general), you own some of the responsibility for that happening. So does he, but as a minor his decision making skills are not as developed and as the adult it was your responsibility to say no. How do you think NLSoldier would react if his entire online bankroll were confiscated or turned over to authorities (or something) for allowing an underage person to play on his account? Certainly both he and his brother have posted enough identifiable information in this public forum that someone from a poker site could easily find their exact account(s). It is just foolish and irresponsible to so openly boast about or praise this.

Our society considers you an adult at 18 (for most things), and before that you have far more limits on your personal freedoms. That sucks for you, but life is not always fair. Learning that now brings you that much closer to being an adult. Oftentimes you have to suck up and deal with things you do not like. In this case wait a few years and gamble when you are allowed to gamble. Stop being so short sighted and look at the larger picture.