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Joined: Apr '09
Location: Portugal
Age: 44 (M)
Posts: 4827
I have a cousin who loves to see me playing poker and he is always asking when will I teach him to play. He is still very young (14) but he really wants to start playing. I am thinking about giving him some lessons, and first I will let him play free money for a month, to see if he can double or triple chips. I know the best way is to give him some books to read, but I don’t know if I can catch is attention to the books. He doesn’t like to study (anyone does?), perhaps he will like to read poker books. What do you say? Whats the best way for me to iniciate him to poker?
Joined: Jan '10
Location: Germany
Age: 32 (M)
Posts: 1379
Wouldn´t teach him at all for now cuase i am pretty sure he has the intention to make some money with it. And this not only illegal, it´s dangerous in his age. You are somehow loosing the relation to money very soon. I dont think he is fit enough for all that stuff.
Joined: Dec '10
Location: Philippines
Age: 35 (F)
Posts: 739
to young,,if u teach him , what would gonna be happend to his studies?gamble is can easy make people addict ,,,,,even me,i dont like my young sisters or young brothers see me playing poker coz i dont want them to learn and go addicted of it,,
time will come for about gambling,,so on his age,, he really to young,better teach him about his studies not about gambling lol
will dont knw from others if what them opinion,,i am jsut being me,i am free to let my opinion say,,if u dont like my opinion,its okay,,*******every human have always diff way ****some can be thesame but some cant be ,,,
Joined: Apr '11
Location: Romania
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 6669
Thanks for sharing this situation with us. It's a delicate issue indeed. First of all i think is important not to let him play on real money because at his age he could get a ireal idea about money. I also think is very important to don't let him make an account on a poker platform, first of all because his account will be suspended. You can tell him about that 17 years old kid that won 600k on Pokerstars and got his account blocked. On the other hand he is a kid so prohibiting something will get the opposite effect, so my advice would be to give him some books to read the basics of poker first and then you can play with him couple of sessions to see if he likes the game. One thing is clear though, he definately must stay away from online poker platforms. Good luck and let us know what you'll decide.
Joined: Mar '11
Location: Germany
Age: 55 (M)
Posts: 1242
Think this is not a good idea as others said above. Too dangerous for such a young child. I by myself have to be careful and to keep in mind not to spend to much time with poker, because there are more important things out there.
Joined: Apr '09
Location: Portugal
Age: 44 (M)
Posts: 4827
Thanks for all your opinions. I also think its a delicate subject, thats why i decided to put it in discussion. I started playing with 16 years old, and i guess many of us started early in poker. He's just 14 but, if he really shows interest, i can seat with him and play some hands just to see how he handles with the rules and the bets. Than, i can pass him some books and (this must be a rule, i agree with all of you) he will only have an online poker acount after 18, the legal age in Portugal. There's nothing wrong in learning the game, but the moment he starts playing it more seriously can make him loose the value of real money, either he wins or looses.
Joined: May '08
Location: Germany
Age: 51 (M)
Posts: 696
play with him. I think this is the best way to teach. but tell him about the risks for poker or any other game who he can lost money. And it gives poker sites for kids. The son from a friend from me is 11 and play on a site for kids. It´s not dangerous as any other game but the important think is to tell him about the risk. When he want play he do it equal if u teach him or not but when u teach him u got a little controll what he doing and when u see he had a problem or play with money u can speak with him.For play with money he is to young But to play poker he is old enough and he can learn a lot of it for this life how to read people mathematic and many more.
Joined: Apr '09
Location: Portugal
Age: 44 (M)
Posts: 4827
"poker sites for kids"? Never heard about them... Do you know some? I am not asking to advertise them here, admin may not like, but at least give some clues about how to look for them. He still doesnt read english very well, but i can go look for some material there so i can better explain first thing to my cousin.
Joined: Feb '11
Location: Canada
Age: 57 (M)
Posts: 753
Posted by Hajinnho: Wouldn't teach him at all for now cuase i am pretty sure he has the intention to make some money with it. And this not only illegal, it's dangerous in his age. You are somehow loosing the relation to money very soon. I dont think he is fit enough for all that stuff.
I agree but also disagree. Dangerous topic, better to learn young. Illegal, yes but who's really gonning to say something. I feel the best way for him to learn, is to watch others. Read the hand rankings, and pot odds. Wouldn't hurt to read some of the great books out there. But get him to watch more, and tell him to pay close attention to the various situations. And it sure wouldn't hurt for you to play some with him, like watoba said. Good luck...
Joined: May '08
Location: Germany
Age: 51 (M)
Posts: 696
sry i don´t know but i see my friend tomorrow maybe he can call this son and ask but i think the site is in german and when i understand right the son there give many ohter games on the site is not only a poker site but a site for kids.
theres a difference between gambling and poker. i learnd 5 card stud at 8 years old and never gambled till high school, yes gambling is nothing a child should learn but remember eventually they will and wouldnt you rather they know wat there doing when they do. i remember many family gatherings of a poker game busting out never for money but for fun or braging rights teach the child poker but make them understand that gambling is wrong till there making more money then you then teach them
Joined: Mar '11
Location: United States
Age: 44 (M)
Posts: 269
I gotta go with dont teach them... I see it almost like smoking. Its a bad habit to learn and hard to stop once you do. I wouldnt want to be the one to teach a kid a bad habit. And lets be honest, gambling is a bad habit
Joined: Jan '09
Location: Italy
Age: 53 (M)
Posts: 3871
Posted by d44ve:
I gotta go with dont teach them... I see it almost like smoking. Its a bad habit to learn and hard to stop once you do. I wouldnt want to be the one to teach a kid a bad habit. And lets be honest, gambling is a bad habit
I have to agree to you d44ve, this is me when started to play poker
Joined: May '08
Location: Germany
Age: 51 (M)
Posts: 696
hmmm i think the most of us have played any other card games when we was young and in many times i think at home with parents and the most card games you can play with money or many other games. I know many people they have played card games in younger age and i think 99% have no problem with playin today. We have played on school in the age 12/13 for 10-50 cent u must throw the coin near to the wall and the coin that is near to the wall win all. I don´t say he shall play with money but when he play without money i see not a problem poker is a card game as any other card game too.The only different to other card games is u need more skill for it.
Joined: Mar '09
Location: Greece
Age: 47 (F)
Posts: 14136
you wouldnt even have to think of teaching him. some people need to realise that many things in this life is age related. why would a 14 year old kid start gambling?doenst have any things related to his age? and you are not thinking if you are going to teach him or not, but you are thinking whats the best way for it? and not only that but you are thinking to give him poker books to read? he dropped school and doesnt have any books to read? or he has too much free time and thats what he should be reading at his free time? lol some people driving me crazy for real are you 31 years old for real or its a typo?
