What gives? Is it mainly due to stress? Depression? Are there psychological issues, like it's a known fact that mental issues lead to premature aging? Does the constant cycle of dopamine create aging?

I've seen lots of people who sit at offices and eat poorly that look a lot better than a lot of grinders. Even the grinders who exercise a bit.

I've seen whales in their sixties play more hours than the grinders earning their livings off them, but still quite healthy. It can't be the poker itself.

its the stress

if youre a truly successful grinder like dnegs you can get plugs and a facelift and look younger today than you did 15 years ago

I donno if you do it right it should probably save you years of your life. way less work hours physicality etc

The only clear examples I can come up with is Dwan who is an utter degen playing 50 hour sessions regularly for decades since his late teens which isnt representative at all for poker players as a group, and Jungleman who has always looked 15+ years older than he is (was shocked when I found out hes closer to 30 than 50).

Other than that a lot of grinders seem to look their age, and some like Patrik Antonius look far better than the average 45 year old despite almost 30 years of grinding.

Any other specific people you are thinking about?

It's stress.

You realize that whenever you travel and can't play for 3+ weeks.

It's the stress. Robl looks like **** and he's one of biggest winners supposedly.

but dwan looks so healthy

Assuming it's even true, I think it would have more to do with not getting enough sleep, exercise, abusing drugs etc rather than stress, which is kind of subjective and hard to define imo ("positive" as in self-imposed, "negative" as in involuntary, mental vs physical etc). A lot of poker pros are the type of people that would be more "stressed" if they were stuck in an office job

I'm 100% sure that you get older every time you face the inevitable huge downswing.

And I don't give a **** if you say to me that "i don't care about downswings bro, my mental game is world class". Liar! I know that every time you lose 20 BI you feel like ****. Admit it to yourself, it will be better for you.

this. people sitting around for hours on end, eating garbage, getting 0 exercise, not getting sleep, popping Adderall every day for years on end are way worse for you than handling the swings of poker. now if people are playing with rent money , stressed over paying their bills etc that's terrible for you too. Poker can actually help keep your mind sharp if done properly.

and way less time in the sun.

How many people who work from home in a "real" job do more than 4 hours a day? Back in the day poker had the huge benefit of making your own schedule instead of having to sit in an office for 8 hours. That's not the case anymore for a lot of people.

lack of sleep/messing up of your sleep schedule

.

Rampage

Eat well, get enough sleep, exercise, do not do drugs or abuse coffee, do not stay up late at night even if it means sacrificing some EV, prioritise getting better and game selection (= more $ and less big downswings) over volume, avoid looking at results frequently, use a safe BRM, do not be irresponsible with your money and overspend or do stupid -EV gambling, save for the future and the bad inevitable days, invest your profits in a smart way, take time off regularly (enjoy the actual freedom of playing poker for a living).

Unless your genetics are terrible, chances are you'll age just like any normal person.

Does the constant cycling of serotonin and elation vs. disappointment age people prematurely? Be a shame if gambling were like alcohol and cigarettes.

A predisposition towards gambling is a double-edged sword. Successful entrepreneurs have this type of bug but taken to an extreme it's a mental health disorder. And mental health disorders cause premature aging.

Another fact is that poorer people age faster and most poker players who log tons of hours are poor.

I have this not scientific at all idea that constantly facing swings, like we do if we play online, is terrible, hence why I'm huge on avoiding constantly checking results or playing underrolled like the plague. Another unscientific idea of mine is that the not giving a f*** for the value of money, just numbers in the screen, and then going out to spend it carelessly just to not having anything to show when the bad run happens, is bad.

Value investors as a group face swings obviously, but in a very slow speed. They also are probably the most frugal, even cheap, persons on earth. And yet so many of them live very long lives and age really nicely.

If this is even a real phenomenon, my money is on the bad sleep schedule, diet, and lack of exercise. A lot of poker players sit at a table all day (and night) and eat garbage. They breathe in garbage casino air too. You can play a lot of poker and still have a healthy lifestyle, but poker does not necessarily facilitate it.

As far as the stress goes, I'm not a pro and can't speak for pros, but I know that the amount of stress I experience at the poker table drops as a function of how much I've been playing. In other words, you can become somewhat jaded and numb to the emotional swings if you play a lot. I imagine that for the guys who play every day, they aren't affected by most of the mundane spots they encounter. Maybe you'd have a stress spike at a huge final table or something like that, but in general you are going to be more accustomed to the regular emotional/financial swings of the game than someone who doesn't play as often, so you may not actually experience much stress at the table.

my guess is mostly years of bad sleep schedule and probably subpar diet and not enough exercise, a direct consequences of playing live poker all over the world

I think online grinders on a schedule can do just fine with the occasional live event

Never ending stress from
-having to keep winning
-dealing with downswings
-dealing with other players trying to scam you
-dealing with the house trying to scam you
-dealing with cheaters trying to scam the house and players
-dealing with others who want to see you fail
-lack of support from family and friends

Lack of sleep
chaotic hours awake
excessive drinking and drug use
lack of fitness regimen
lack of healthy diet
lack of movement
lack of mental clarity

building bad habits and never fixing them

source: myself since 2007 starting in poker on 2p2 playing $1/2 at the Majestic Star but I am lucky I started a workout habit when I was 19 that I've continued until I am in my late 30s and I stopped grinding poker as my one and only full time once I realized how unhealthy it was for me years ago due to the above.

Gambling is often an addiction. Addicts age very poorly. Many poker players have major issues with substance abuse in addition to the gambling. Lack of exercise + terrible diet + addiction = rapid aging.

Sober pros who exercise regularly usually look good for their age. And for senior players who play in moderation, poker is similar to chess in that it keeps the mind sharp and slows the onset of dementia.

Adderall/vyvanse/ADHD drugs are so addicting - once you start taking them and doing well, you never want to play without it and it becomes something you feel like you need to take for your job! It's a mind**** getting off and maintaining that same level of confidence and focus without taking it but it's a different planet of playing poker.

It's very easy to get from your doctor because it's a pretty common issue of focusing at work.