When I saw he was listed as being 25 years old on the coverage of the 50k i was really confused, because based on a hand I remember from a long time ago I`m sure he must have been at least a few years older.

Based on his results in The Hendon Mob Poker Database his first cash came in California in 2003.

He played the WSOP ME in 2004, according to the Hendon Mob Database he finished 59th for $35,000 on the 22nd of May that year.

If he was 25 years old during this years $50k, which was played between Friday the 28th of May and Tuesday the 1st of June, then how was he old enough to enter the WSOP Event that started earlier in May 6 years back?

The answer could of course be very simple, ESPN got it wrong.. he must have been at least 27 years when this event took place, if he played the WSOP ME legally in 2004.

Daniel Christopher Alaei (born 1983) poker player from Santa Fe Springs, California.

wiki wiki

you could have saved yourself the time it took to write that post by googling his name and going to his wiki page

He played underage at WSOP iirc.

Why don't you just let him be whatever age he wants to be.

LOL i'm so glad you posted this, my head was going to explode other night when i saw this.

i saw that broadcast in '04 but i couldn't quite remember why i knew i thought it was weird that he was 25. i remember looking at him and saying to my roommate that i thought he was like, 35, just because he looked older. like he looks like one of those persian guys (no idea his nationality) who is in his 40's but looks like he's maybe 30.

anyway, my roommate and i were both dumbfounded when you brought this up cuz neither of us had any idea he was underage then. i thought it was hella weird that the dude was 2 years younger than me, but had been around for ages. i couldn't figure it out.

FYI Daniel Alaei ages in reverse and was actually 32 years old in 2004.

They said he's 25 on the telecast and I immediately thought to myself "Yeah and he plays with about 30 years of experience under his belt." I found it odd too that they said he was that young.

The wiki info puts him at 27 years old, so either ESPN is misinformed or Wiki somehow got a piece of info wrong. Mystery, and that's that imo.

aka this

Nolan Dalla's tournament report states Alaei is 25, and has been playing professionally for 5 years. Seems he'd be turning 26 shortly, right?

EDIT: Reading Dalla's tournament report from his win last year in the 10k Omaha 8 there's this:

I wonder if he is lying about his age to enhance his value, a la Miguel Tejada.

Damn, he only has a few years left to play poker legally.

marketing strat - he sounds heaps more badass if he's only 25....

kinda like durrrr is really 28... like as if any 22/23 year old can have that much fing money.

lol

I don't think so. But I DO think Alaei is on roids... so there's the Tejada connection. The guy just can't control his emotions at the table and its embarassing to watch.

(For all u knuckledraggers, I'm KIDDING, Alaei is one cool cucumber in the heat of battle)