Should Children Play Poker?

[ChrisRichey 1]

I don't see a problem with kids playing cards at all. I've played for quarters with my family and friends since I was like 8.

[TheCinciKid 0]

I grew up playing heads up 5 card draw with my brother. We used pennies usually and I think we just played as if they were chips with no value. I don't think I learned anything about poker, but I learned what beats what and stuff like that. I think there's nothing wrong with kids learning to play poker.

[109suited 0]

My kids will definitely play poker. It's a great game, and I hope they can find the same enjoyment from it that I have.

[Turbo Dog 1]

I learned to play poker from my dad when I was a kid, and I play poker with my kids at home sometimes.I have let my kids finish on-line tournaments for me when I have had to leave the house when a tournament ran longer than expected. I even split the prize with them. I always tell my kids that there is nothing wrong with gambling, as long as you never bet money that you can't afford to lose. It's entertainment- same as going out to dinner or seeing a show.

[stealfromblind 0]

they should definitely play

[AceofSpader 0]

LMK if Isabella wants to make kids so our kids can play poker! ^^I would love that.AoS

[JeremyG 0]

Our 3yo LOVES to play poker but of course he has no idea what's going on. We just deal him his cards, then put out the board and then discuss who wins (he has to look for pairs and "same color" and if they are same color, are they the same picture (suit). It HAS taught him his numbers (by sight, not only by count). He also can identify the face cards and laughs hysterically when he sees a King in his hand because he thinks it's the best card in the deck. One time I dealt him 2 Kings and his eyes got SO big and I thought he was going to fall out of his chair.Our 12yo isn't quite as excited about poker for some reason. He plays, he knows the rules, and is also hyper-agressive. We played a tourney with a bunch of friends (12 total) and he took 3rd. He made a HUGE bluff with 3 left, and was called down by a guy with 2nd pair. The bluff would have worked on anyone EXCEPT that guy, our son raised preflop, it was an ace-high flop, etc. But he didn't know the guy was a calling station. I was glad he called because I really thought our son had the Ace. But, he had like 7-high. LOLEvery year our group has a mother/daughter and father/son tourney, no money but we all pitch in for a very nice plaque/trophy. There are so many positives to poker, and I truly feel that I'd rather teach them the value of money, etc. instead of them doing something "forbidden" and losing money/hiding it from us.

[Mercury69 3]

Eric Molina plays and he acts like a big fckn baby, so why not everyone else, too?

[aknapp1112 0]

my 16 yr old son plays with us, he plays at the .50/1 dollar table while i play the 1/2 table at the house. his last four times playing 9he buys in for $40.00 each time)Cash outs of 230, 190, 210 and 140 so he has made an overall profit of 610 bucks. when i am not in a hand i will walk over and watch him play. I got him to FINALLY stop staring at the flop when he misses, and to FINALLY stop the chip stare when he hits. it is at the point that people get nervous when he sits down. I am not letting him play 1/2 yet though, i dont think he is ready to play with us. he has mentioned trying it, but had to put the foot down and i told him he will play that when i say he can. my 7 yr old daughter wants to play sooo bad, but i am having a hard time figuring out a way to teach her (any suggestion from folks with younger kids?)

[budfather 0]

At least once a week our family has a poker night. My daughter is 9 and my son is 12. Just to make things fun I put $5 into the pot for the winner. They learn very fast that is doesn't pay to chase or play rags. We have been doing this for over a year now and I can't get a read on her,lol Not to long ago I went allin on her during a hand after a flop. She thought about it and folded. I asked her why she folded since it looked like she wanted to call. She said there wasn't enough money in the pot to call. OMG she knows pot odds. Last Thanksgiving she took over her uncles seat as he had to leave and played the rest of the tourney for him. 12 man tourney she came in second and Uncle let her keep the winnings. I can't see why we shouldn't allow them to play or watch poker on TV. It does teach them the value of money and teaches them how to make big decesions. Putting all the pieces together to make the correct call. Most of the players on TV are protrayed as clean living people.

[trystero 0]

law

[fleung22 1]

I'm pretty sure I have a gambling problem so I don't know if this is worth anything.My parents have always enjoyed gambling as a hobby so it was always very normal for me to play games.Not like board games but things like chess, gin, poker, etc.They were all games that you COULD gamble in but as a child it's just fun to play. I don't see how poker is worse than crazy eights...it's a game and if there's no money involved it's no biggie.

[Mercury69 3]

I'm pretty sure I have a gambling problem so I don't know if this is worth anything.My parents have always enjoyed gambling as a hobby so it was always very normal for me to play games.Not like board games but things like chess, gin, poker, etc.They were all games that you COULD gamble in but as a child it's just fun to play. I don't see how poker is worse than crazy eights...it's a game and if there's no money involved it's no biggie.

Spoken like a true degenerate.

[quadaces 0]

Thanks for the correction...French Canadian.

French and Canadian.......She just has it all working against her!

[Jam-Fly 8]

Kids playing poker is completely fine. It teaches them maths, physchology etc. but at the end of the day, poker is fun in the right atmosphere. Phil Hellmuth might start a rant after the dice bad beat him in monoply but other people just see it as a fun form of entertainment.One night a few months back before my first ever tourney win, I was playing a $4.40 180 for some fun. I realised that I had a chess game to get to in like 2.5hrs. I realised these tourneys usually take 4hrs. So I started playing crazy. It was fun, guys calling my all in with A4 when I have JJ etc so i was like in the top 5 by the time i had to leave. I asked my brother to keep playing. when i arrived, i rang him to see how he was doing, 'ah good, down to 3 tables'. If he cashed I wudda been rly happy with him, but as I continued to ring, he kept telling me he was still in. 4 left, he was short stacked. at this stage i was ringing every second move. Then I get a text, its heads up, three guys went all in and one guy won. Nice! So he's 7-1 down but still, second isnt bad at all. but he decided to win it anyway! good story...co-incidentally, theres a charity event after xmas, and i think im gona let him play it. €20 buy in +€10R. whatta think ?

[simon 2720 0]

Poker is simply a card game.Gambling is what you do with the card game. So, playing poker is fine but gambling while playing is crossing the line.

[*Lone*Trout* 0]

I hosted a tournament for all my chefs this past tuesday, and we had an empty seat so I let my 9 year old son play. He and his mom chopped the pot at the end. It was so entertainig to watch the "serious" players try to get a read on him. He took down some big pots early and was a calling station for most of the middle part of the tournament, catching 2nd pairs on the river and such adding to his formidable stack. Towards the end (with a little prodding from me........"You know the right way to play, good stuff only.) he tightened up and coasted to the finish line. Actually my wife was the chip leader at the end but for the sake of time (it was almost 11:00 pm) she agreed to split the pool with my boy. It was almost as good as winning myself. It would be OK with me if he got good at this and paid his way through college (J/K ...........kind of ). Never to early to learn how to read people, calculate odds, and gain a killer instinct that may well serve him in the years to come.*L*T*

[keliwah 0]

Seriously, am I the only one that thinks kids shouldn't play poker? Am I the only one whose opinion of Daniel Negreanu has plumetted since he now makes money selling poker to children through his video game? If you encourage your kids to play poker are you not encouraging them to gamble? Is that not a bad thing? Saying that it's ok to play if it doesn't include gambling just doesn't make any sense - we all know that poker doesn't work if gambling isn't involved. Poker IS gambling. I'm amazed at how poker players claim poker isn't gambling because it is a skill game. That's all well and good for smart winning players, but what about the majority of poker players who lose real money in the long run? Once these kids who get good at poker (or who think they are) by playing Daniel's video game are they not going to want to play for real? Of course they are, and for many of them it WILL develop into an unhealthy addiction. Parent's who allow their kids to play for real money using their accounts should be ashamed of themselves. Doyle Brunson refused to teach his son Todd who only learned the game when he was in college. What's wrong with waiting until you are old enough and mature enough to understand both the value of money and dangers of gambling?

[finztotheleft 0]

I hear what you are saying Keliwah, but I respectfully disagree. I think many issues in parenting are personal to the family. If you don't want your kids to play poker, I would not let them play if they came to my house.Ultimately, it is just a game....the money can be seperate. The money is just an incentive to win. My family (when I was a kid) was pretty competitive about Scrabble. The loser would have to do the dishes. Clean the kitchen....or a $5 prize for a family poker game (we didn't play poker...just using an example).....both are incentives to play to win. Couldn't one say teaching them to play responsibly would make them less likely to have gambling be a problem later in life ?My 10 year old receives both forms of holy eucharist (bread and wine) and my 12 year old chooses to take only the bread. Am I encouraging my 10 year old to be an alcoholic ?My kids (10 and 12) love Playstation 2's Lego Star Wars. They kill the stormtroopers with lightsabers. Am I encouraging them to murder when they are older ? Ruining my own arguement here.....I don't let them play video war games (things that are M for mature) because I feel they are too violent. My 12 year old complains because some of his friends can play those games. There is certainly a lot of gray area here.

[keliwah 0]

I hear what you are saying Keliwah, but I respectfully disagree. I think many issues in parenting are personal to the family. If you don't want your kids to play poker, I would not let them play if they came to my house.Ultimately, it is just a game....the money can be seperate. The money is just an incentive to win. My family (when I was a kid) was pretty competitive about Scrabble. The loser would have to do the dishes. Clean the kitchen....or a $5 prize for a family poker game (we didn't play poker...just using an example).....both are incentives to play to win. Couldn't one say teaching them to play responsibly would make them less likely to have gambling be a problem later in life ?My 10 year old receives both forms of holy eucharist (bread and wine) and my 12 year old chooses to take only the bread. Am I encouraging my 10 year old to be an alcoholic ?My kids (10 and 12) love Playstation 2's Lego Star Wars. They kill the stormtroopers with lightsabers. Am I encouraging them to murder when they are older ? Ruining my own arguement here.....I don't let them play video war games (things that are M for mature) because I feel they are too violent. My 12 year old complains because some of his friends can play those games. There is certainly a lot of gray area here.

Yep, a lot of gray area. It's obviously important how you represent the game of poker to your kids. The thing is, I play for a living, so I'm thinking about it from that angle. I know how consuming the game can be and I know of a lot of casualties. I don't have kids yet, but I know I won't want to encourage them to play until they are mature enough as I wouldn't want them to neglect their studies which they would if they adopted poker as a serious money making and time consuming activity into their lives at an an early stage. I only learnt the game when I was 19 and I'm doing fine in it. The point I'm making is I wouldn't want their potential careers ruined by the lure of a game. I'm obviously in the minority in this forum, but I honestly believe the promotion Negreanu is involved in of a poker video game that is squarely marketed for children (come on, anyone of legal age will play their poker in real games online, not on a games console) is immoral. It aims to portray poker as harmless fun and removes it from reality. I don't think poker is merely a harmless game. I think it's real life. It produces real winners, but many more real losers. I know that may come across as ironically preachy and hypocritacal as I play myself for an income, but I do that against adults. In a time when many high schools are facing massive problems with poker going on in school premises and seriously having a negative impact on the lives of thousands of young students, Daniel is being socially irresponsible. Maybe he can give a percentage of the profits to the gambling charities that will try to deal with the fall out of the 20somethings that will try to go pro and fail after first getting hooked on the playstation when they were younger.