Great thread, read just now. Definitely found myself in it (33yo, wife, a kid). Played professionally for many years, but haven't played a hand of poker for almost 3 years now and just getting back into the game, starting from basically zero as I have never played NL Hold'em before.

Saying all that. Living in Central Europe where average monthly wage is 1200€ after taxes (~$1360) makes this sooooo much easier as this number is so easily attainable in online poker. + of course there's also social welfare, free education, universal healthcare and poker is not taxed atm.

If I had listen to all the advice from 10 years ago, about having saved up (only) 6-12 months of expenses, having 1000BB bankroll and such, I'd probably be in trouble right now. Thankfully I was way more disciplined, started saving and investing early enough for retirement (but not quite as early as I would hope to). The latter is something that was never talked about really during the poker boom and I think it's super important for poker professionals. Starting early makes such a difference in the long run.

If anyone is wondering why I would go back to poker after 3 years hiatus and starting from zero... FREEDOM. It is so good.

Why have you never played NL before and why do you feel compelled to to play it now?

Are we just not gonna comment on how terrifying this post was? Christ

I was playing Limit Hold'em all these years until PokerStars pulled out of Slovenia.

Esports is very hard and it often needs a speedy mind of a young person, so the age is set like at 30. It is a new area and the average age has probably grown but.

In chess, it is set like at 40, though for the reason of "growing up" also. We have Fischer dropping out early, as did Kamsky. Karpov retired at 49 basically. Kasparov at about 42. Kramnik just retired at 43. Magnus (28), the current world champion, doesn't see himself playing any further either.

At 40+ the chess players can still play as well as before and it is possible to play one's whole life at grandmaster level if one was one of the best (Korchnoi did). 40-50 is no problem at chess. Anand (49) is No. 8 in the chess world.

Do most ppl feel like once you get to your 30s, you tend to burn out much faster than in your 20s with poker?


Also i can't imagine there being that many online pros that are 40+ right?


Also do most ppl in their 30s who been playing poker for a while eventually felt like the game has passed them by etc? Im curious what players are like that. Now guys like koon, bonomo etc are all in their early to mid 30s and they seem to still the best of the best.

in the world of chess, poker is a 1 or maybe a 2 out of 10

Doyle beats the biggest mixed games at 85. Obviously, Todd Brunson, Negreanu, Ivey, Seidel, Oppenheimer, Hennigan, Hellmuth, and Matusow. Many of the pre-boom regs and early TV pros are no longer playing.

Doyle is a very different case and a complete outlier.


I mean like imagine a guy like Dan Oppenheimer but instead of playing ultra high stakes, he plays say 2/5 or 5/10nl.

this is a poker forum not a chess forum but thanks anyways.

No doubt that Doyle is a very special case. Much like Babe Ruth in that it would be senseless to compare him to compare him to a modern day player.

this must be your first mr wong post

No doubt that Doyle is a very special case. Much like Babe Ruth in that it would be senseless to compare him to a modern day player.

Most of the older players grinding mid stakes are probably playing mixed, games, limit games, PLO, anything but NLHE. NLHE took off with TV poker.

You can’t threaten me with something I want, bighitter.

But srsly. I love live poker and I hope it will be a steady supplement to my current and future meager income, but I hope to god I’ll never have to rely on poker for food.