Obv this isn't a home game Q, so I understand if a mod moves it, but I couldn't find the right forum for it. Home games is my home forum, so to speak, and it seems like as a group, we are a bit more mature than other parts of 2+2. (I shudder at the thought of this thread if NVG ever gets a hold of it.) Anyway.....

My 8-year old nephew (I don't have kids of my own) wanted to learn poker--his dad brought it up actually. So I was like OK sure. I introduced him to a very modified 5 card draw. A pair is worth 1 point, and anything else is worth 2, and we play to 5. Introduced straights and flushes, 3 of a kind and full house. We've only played once, so I will slowly work on hand rankings first. I imagine that's a decent place to start. I have no idea when drawing odds come into the "curriculum", though at the casino I play at, for some players the answer is never.

I just got a text from Dad that the li'l rugrat won't stop asking when I am coming over to play again. Dad bought some dollar store chips, so he obv doesn't care. Mom prob would rather her beautiful precious treasure play guitar or something, but that's really not the issue. Actually I am a bit more squeamish about it than Dad is, prob a side effect of spending time on poker forums.

Anyway, if you've taught a li'l one poker and have some tips to pass on, TYIA.

All three of my sons starting playing poker young, roughly age ten. I also played poker with the kids in my boy scout troop.

Money doesn't mean much to a youngster plus it just seems a bit wrong to take money from kids so . . .

1) we played tournaments. Some times a $1 buy in, sometimes winner gets ice cream at the trading post.

2) The boy scout "field" game was played with rocks, acorns or sticks. Six players in a tent, everyone with ten "chips". When you got busted, you left to find more "chips" and the next kid in line got your seat. We did take a set of cheap plastic chips on a Philmont trip. That was a GOOD idea.

3) sometimes there was a bounty on adults in the game. Bust the adult and you got a soda (or something)

As the kids got a little older, I would buy them into the once a month $20 tournament. Everyone was invited to bring their kids or grandkids. Once of the girls was the most awesome LAG player - she was scary good until puberty hit and she morphed into a passive calling station.

Ninth grade(ish) let the kids buy into the $20 cash game. Occasionally with dad's money, but mostly their own allowance.

My oldest played in the $50 buy-in Christmas tournament and binked first place for something like $500. A wonderous fortune to a sixteen year old. It took a lot to persuade him that he wasn't headed fame and fortune as a poker player. But I know he still remembers that one glorious night . . .

Make time to play with your kids. No one ever regrets spending "too much" on their family.

DrStrange

No children, but I have occasionally spent some time teaching poker basics to other players youngsters. Simply put, the four concepts of Position, Hand Strengths, Bet sizing , and lastly reads on other players actions and styles. Elementary School style poker lessons.

Thanks for the feedback, I feel a bit better about the corruption of my family.

My daughters are 11 and 8 and they have watched some WSOP episodes with me and know some of the basics. We play a modified 5 card draw. Everybody antes one chip, then we draw. After the draw, everyone holds out a chip in one hand and cards in the other. "1,2,3, drop" and you drop your chip if you want to stay in and your cards if you don't. Best hand scoops the pot.

That is pretty cool!

No kids. One of my cousins has 3 boys 10 and under. When we get together as a family at my sisters, we almost always break out a deck and play hold-em, draw or 21.

In Hold-em, there isn't any strategy talk, but I think the 10 year old might be ready to learn and play better. It's thought when the 6 and 8 year olds just want to bet bet bet (limit).

When we play draw, it almost always devolves into me sending the youngest to check with my BIL to see if we're allowed to have a 3rd, 4th, etc draw.

The best game with them seems to be 21. They can at least grasp imagining all unseen cards to be a 10, and play a decent beginner strategy. They are not happy about the dealer's/house advantage

I have 2 boys, 10 &14. Both know how to play nl. The 10y/o enjoys card games and strategy games anyways and readily picked up poker. We regularly play nl, omaha, 5 card draw, and 7 stud for fun and for pennies (.01/.02 games).

I really like using poker lessons to impart life lessons:

• you can't control the cards you are dealt but you can control how you play them
• be patient but when it is time to act, don't hesitate
• confidence and agression succeed often, even when you're wrong
• don't be afraid to fold when you have a losing hand
• know when to walk away
• ect...

besides, everyone needs to know a couple of side-hustles for when times are tight teach the kid a trade!