Poker players are not necessarily a random subsection of humanity. A lot of us were already headed towards solo, sedentary lives and just happened to discover poker. Maybe if you compared players to software engineers, for example, the difference won't be as striking. Tom Dwan already looked rough when he was 21.

Also, players will hit it big and appear on all the shows for a little while then disappear from the public eye. We see them 10 years later and are surprised to see them looking 10 years older. We're accustomed to seeing actors look the same for decades because they won the genetic lottery and are paid a LOT of money to continue looking good.

Diet is important, but extremes like eating full carnivore is a bit too much for my tastes. Go paleo, that's what I do and I feel great pretty much 100% of the time. Or go whatever diet that makes sense and is not the BS SAD or equivalent bad diets.

Especially if you're an online player and can live anywhere, I'd definitely live in places with access to nature, preferably mountainous terrain and mid altitude (5000-10000ft), and do outside activities as much as I can.

It's been scientifically proven that the chemicals in plants that protect it from it's environment aren't so friendly to the human body. We're not plant eaters we need to mainly eat meat fish or eggs with plenty of butter or natural animal fats, and what you've heard about carbs (and the "food pyramid") is a myth/joke. You don't need carbs, we get our energy from natural sources like fat, not from plants or grains. This is literally the most optimal diet for the human body.

Brian Johnson, guy who's known to work on reverse aging, goal is to "not die" is eating almost entirely plant based, shitload of vegetables

also scientifically proven that you can remove these anti nutrients through cooking and several of them are in such small quantities that it does nothing at all to the human body, on the other hand there are compounds in broccoli for example that is scientifically proven to reduce significantly your odds of getting cancer, just one of example of many

vegetables are good for you, you just need to learn what and how to cook

Eating pure carnivore has cured people from cancer, and the study you're referring to showed only a small number of people in a study over many years had less cancer when eating more vegetables. Resveratrol in red wine also prevents cancer but it's not good to drink a bottle a day, almost the same thing. If you're on this WOE, you won't have to worry too much about getting cancer.

There's nothing wrong with eating some vegetables or a salad if that's what you like, but they're definitely not needed nor do they offer as much nutrition and fuel to keep our body (and brains) healthy and in tip top shape as pure animal foods do.

Depression causes premature aging and many of the grinders I've seen look depressed.

Depression and gambling addiction go hand in hand. Studies suggest that 40% of gamblers are depressed (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25735959/).

It's why I stopped playing for the most part. Being surrounded by sad losers seemed like a waste of time.

So I get my fix by popping in here and popping off. It's a nicotine patch.

Mod note: Please don't turn this thread into a diet discussion. Let's agree that some poker players have poor diet and keep it at that.

fair enough

Its only the most evil thing in all of human existence. No big deal right?

<facepalm>

I can think of a way to get the best of both worlds. Available on Amazon.

It seems you'd need some kind of study to establish the premise. I've known and played with lots of very old poker players. If the premise is true, one could expect stress and accompanying lifestyle choices to be a big factor, as it would be for any population. For the hardcore addicted, grinder or degenerate it seems reasonable to think the premise probably holds up. There is probably a correlation and maybe a causation between long hours of play and aging/lifespan.

I spent a good chunk of my life in the newspaper game. Many years ago, about the time the poker boom began, I worked with a fellow, nice guy, who didn't have much use for poker or the casino world in general. For a story he went to one of the area casinos. He wrote that all he saw was sad, burned out faces and no one seemed to be having a good time. His story made a number of valid points. The only problem I saw was that everyday when I walked into the newsroom I saw the same sort of sad, burned out faces and no one at the newspaper seemed to be having a good time. I think premature aging, burn out, poor mental and/or physical health is the lot of many a human being no matter the situation. As a species we just aren't very good. The only peace comes with accepting that reality.

I think this is key. This will be controversial, but I honestly think that poker players are more likely to be part of the "troubled" subsection of humanity. Like having trouble finding friends, a partner, or being able to handle/tolerate a 9-5 job. If you think about it, poker is perfect for being single and/or a loner and problematic when it comes to dating and/or having to choose between grinding the best games on weekends vs hanging out with friends. Meaningful relationships, romantic or platonic (having real friends that actually care about you and aren't just drinking buddies) are important for mental and physical health and a lack of meaningful relationships will age you faster. Loneliness, which I suspect affects poker players more than the general population, is the health equivalent of smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.

I was sorta thinking of it more in terms of mental health, but that's a continuum. One need not have debilitating mental health issues but merely poor social skills.

There are loads of crushers who went to Stanford, Harvard, Yale, etc who seemed to have fallen out of the limelight of poker as of late. Perhaps they are using their intellect more productively.

Matt Berkey still looks and thinks as sharp as an 18 year old

correlation not causation

Matt Berkey dresses like an 18 year old but looks like hes 45, a ridiculous combo. He should know when to put down the backwards ball cap.

This doesn’t look like a 45 year old ready to throw down

You mean Robl, Dwan and DNegs look older than they did 15 years ago.

That's Crazy.

Who would have thought.

we can't all be Antonius

Antonius is the benjamin buttons of poker. Still a stud.

I'm sure he works out regularly, eats well, gets sleep, doesn't abuse alcohol. Not really that hard to figure out.

Scottish friend of mine says 'takeaway' in place of 'takeout'. That has to be right near the top of the UK slang rankings