Age of players and age bias

yes there is age bias and yes it works in our favor big time at the tables if you know how to use it. im 28 but look a bit younger to most. older people really resent our youth and our ability to play well. they hate the idea that there may be someone much younger than them who has played for a much smaller period of time who may already be better than they will ever be at poker. rather than just respect that and play their best, they become even more fish like and chase and call you down. so if you just play solid and smart against them, while occasionally feeding them a false image that your a fast-playing gambling kid who needs to be kept in check they will give you unlimited action on your good hands.


sometimes i say out loud "that f*cking kid" in a mocking old man tone as i scoop a big pot and stare down a haggard wrinkled old face as i do so. this makes them so angry, you can see it in their tired grey eyes. little touches like this ensure that the games will be especially good for me for at least as long as im not that tired old face.


(of course dont do this to fish youll scare off--only semi-strong players prone to tilt, use this in moderation, dont do it in a small club where it would be considered over the top, dont do it to men who carry guns and know where you live, yada yada yada).

i will note here that since ive moved up to 20 and 30 tables ive noticed that while there are many players very prone to an almost constant state of tilt and they can be set off by anything at all, there are also some decent playing older players (middle age and up im thinking) who just will not be jostled. they dont care if you are 13 and play well, they will just sit there and play a decent game and not be bothered by anything you say or do, at least it wont bother their game. it's very easy to see who these people are by the way they act at the table and it's also very easy to give them loads of respect. since they are wise enough to realise that age doesnt really make any difference they welcome respect. it's a joy to behold that i rarely saw at lower limits where the age bias is even more defined. of course, id prefer to have more irrationally minded folks around me, but sometimes that just isnt the case.


one another more gossipy note i played against the famous rake-dodging old man 80-160 playing archie at 30=60 commerce last night. he had an indiana hat on and everything. he sat right on my left. what is it you guys hate about this fellow?

he doesnt seem to play particularly well (although he was up $3k when i moved tables) so i would think you would welcome him with open arms. was he just being nice because he was winning? sometimes he would peek at his hole cards in such a way that i could see them (always a welcome thing if youre sitting right next to me btw). no i wasnt going out of my way to look but one time i saw him raise utg with what i swear was 53o. anyway i tried to talk to him and maybe get him to explode or act crazy or something, but to no avail. he just smiled and cussed a little bit and was a nice guy. maybe he sensed i was a big fish so he was being nice to just me and kudos to him if that's the case cause i was playing like crap. i mean, i only won $2500.


then huck seed came and sat in seat 9. he then proceeded to play absolutely NO hands. no steal raises late, no calling in the blinds. nothing. he showed down exactly one hand: AQo. oh and i had one hand against him. those were the only two hands he played. i had KJo and open raised near the button. he was in the bb. he stared at me for like 12 seconds and then called. the flop was JJ4. he checked instantly, i bet, and he mucked instantly. then he moved over to a 20 table i changed to (are you sensing a subtheme here: commerce pros following me around and being nice..hmmm) and proceeded to play absolutely no hands although the game was VERY juicy with all unsophistaicated players playing passively 5 and 6 handed at 3am, about as good as one could hope for. he'd fold on the button rather than steal raise, fold his blinds to obvious steals, play no hands, play even less than no hands. when i told my friend today he joked that perhaps he thinks he's still playing the poker classic and he's trying to make the money. i said i thought it was strange that his chips were a different color than everyone elses.

When you mention archie, do you mean archie karas?

Regards, Lee "Jughead" Jones

My Archie does not weat a hat, so perhaps we're not talking the same guy. My Archie has a sort of Russian accent and wears floral and other wildish print short sleeve shirts. He does indeed not play particularly well and I once heard him claim he was losing. . .well, I can't remember, he might have said $3,000 a week or something like that.


What is it I dislike about my Archie? He's a mean-spirited, rude, self-centered, obnoxious piece of shit.

is he a white haired old man, pretty big guy with glasses? cause i think my guy wears glasses. and he was complaining every time he had to pay the rake which i thought was funny. and he told me he had lost $7k earlier playing 80-160. i think he had an accent


tell me more about what your archie does that's so evil.

I've never actually experienced age bias. I am 25-27 in looks but younger in reality. I have never really noticed any resentment or different treatment from players of any age. In fact, it is only fellow 20-somethings who treat me differently because they see me as another one of them; a studious, poker-loving young person. But this is natural.


I think some people go around expecting to be discriminated against, so they perceive the actions of others to be this way. This in turn perpetuates the matter (crusty, unfriendly behaviour begets crusty, unfriendly behaviour). It's either that or I'm really not paying enough attention at the tables.