Is there a working link to the blogpost from OP? Id love to read it if so

RIP dusty

https://web.archive.org/web/20130222...brain-on-poker

wow ty

I haven't read the whole thread, but does poker cause things like strokes only for those who were high risk for strokes anyway? (I believe the correct term is "genetically pre-disposed" to strokes)

I’ve been saying this for a while but I’m pretty sure that poker is not the trigger for people predisposed to diseases we see in the community, but actually the cause of some of these diseases and premature deaths. This forum is heavily in denial of that. But poker is probably on par if not worse than smoking or doing hard drugs for your health. I theorize long term studies on online poker, whenever those can be done, will come out at some point and will show regularly participating in that activity will shorten your lifespan by 10-30 years I estimate…Even if you were profiting from it financially.People from the community have been dying way too young, for a while now

Stahp...

You know how many people "regularly participate" in online poker around the world?
So shortening the global lifespan from 72 to 52, to 42?

It seems super en vogue to blame poker for all mental health, and steer anyone away from playing poker professionally

On par or worse than smoking or doing hard drugs is laughable.

10-30 years decreased lifespan is laughable.

You thinking that you writing baseless nonsense on an anonymous forum is "theorizing" is laughable.

People from the poker community die early because of general unhealthy lifestyles:

- Bad diet

- No exercise

- More frequently overweight (especially when older)

- Drug/alcohol abuse (this is actually a big one, especially for younger players)

- General neglect of health (many poker players don't focus upon the basics of life, such as watching their health, getting checkups, etc)


I remember when I left a good Bellagio game to go to a dental appointment, a few people at the table praised me for being so responisble (lol). That spoke volumes.

We also have a surprising number of people in the community who have dangerous hereditary problems. That's what is very likely to blame for Dusty's early passing, and supposedly that is also what killed Gavin Smith (though Gavin also led an unhealthy lifestyle, but friends claim that his death was unrelated to that, which is possible).

The poker play itself is not dangerous, though.

i don't really understand how people can simply refuse to be open to the idea that dusty's poker life actually did have a negative impact on his health. maybe they just don't want to accept its possible reality?

he was playing long hours almost every day for years at incredibly high concentration and information processing intensity levels. mass multi tabling has your brain working in overdrive while almost never getting a break. given how malleable our brains our, why would this not have an impact? not to mention the constant large monetary swings and rollercoaster ride of a game like poker inducing a stress response. all seems very reasonable that it might not be so healthy.

granted, if i were to guess, i'd say claims like the 10-30 years thing are probably very exaggerated and it's not like there aren't many other careers that probably have a similar effect but no one really knows, do they? it's a brand new thing.

agree with all of this.

don't see how you can simply say this, though.

IMO, it's not the stress that kills you, it's how you handle the stress. If you are taking steps daily to "work off" the stress by getting some exercise, eating healthy, sleeping enough, spending time with someone who cares about you etc.

It doesn't make sense that mass multi-tabling is "bad" for your brain. I would think the opposite. You're preventing dementia and other cognitive disorders by using your brain, not by not using it. I would imagine it is far better to be mass multi-tabling daily than to be sitting in front of a TV, watching "The View" every day.

yeh, valid point. seems like it could easily be both dementia prevention and increased stress problems, though.

i should've also mentioned the unnatural working hours that poker pros also often have. that circadian rhythm disruption is probably pretty significant.

I've played a couple million hands of online poker and a majority of my mental problems have disappeared.

Thanks for posting the blog, it was a very interesting read, and obviously a tragic ending to Dusty's saga.

RIP Leatherass

People who think grinding poker is stressfull if ur in normal bankroll management rules are completely delusionals, u guys have to check out the real world where losing ur job and not having money to pay bills or having a bussines and having ur house taken by bank when u cant pay t he loans.

Poker is more healthy than most other activities it keeps ur brain active constantly, this of course can become bad for u if u do it 12h per day with trash eating disorder and no physical activity, but this is same for most jobs 9 to 5.

no offence mate but if you read the blogpost it wasnt really aimed towards low volume players like yourself but more towards those of us who play a couple million hands per year

If I were to write my own blogpost right now it would sound extremely similar to everything that he was experiencing back then, so many overlaps, pretty worrying to be honest

good point and none taken. i'll find a more appropriate place for my data and story.

sorry to see LA passed.

Using your brain will help keep a healthy brain sharp. It will not help stall dementia, particularly not Alzheimer’s.

How do you play a couple of million hands per year? Do you play 400k hands every month?

my calculator makes it 600k/month

because he is the ****ing don

This sounds terrible.

There are plenty examples of people who spend every day in hours of intense, uninterrupted deep thought. At my university math department there are, for example, professors who will be working with a pen and paper on a single problem for 9+ hours uninterrupted. According to this doctor, those guys probably should have died from a brain hemorrhage at age 30.

Working deeply for hours on end every day will rewire your brain a bit, which is what LA himself confirms in the blog post, but damage it? No shot.

The stress and anxiety people can experience from poker are for sure mentally damaging, but that is not what the doctor is saying. He says that the cognitive strain itself of playing poker is what is damaging and will literally cause a stroke, which I do not see how it can possibly be true. Not the long periods of inactivity, the stress, or a shitty diet - the cognitive load of poker. The brain is not a muscle, you can't work it to death. Seems he is a doctor specializing in concussions; probably a case of everything's a nail?

Also, mass tabling poker does not put your brain in "overdrive". You are still making individual decisions at any given time. Multitasking is a myth. And LA's assertion that 15 tabling poker is akin to playing 15 video games at once is extremely misguided. It's similar to playing 15 chess games at once, which won't make your brain work any harder than if you playing a single chess game at the same level of focus.

i was with you until the last paragraph. i'm not gonna pretend to be qualified to speak to the science of it and i can accept the definition of multi-tasking (which i didn't use) is inaccurate but the many, many more individual decisions that need to be made in rapid succession and often not perfectly in order sure as hell feels infinitely more mentally exhausting/stressful than 1 tabling.

but sure, if you're right that this mental exhaustion isn't causing any damage, i'll definitely take that as a win. the stress thing not so much, though.

That's true, I forgot the fact that less tables means more time just waiting doing nothing. It's fundamentally different from chess in that aspect.