Generational Changes in Poker

Posted by loser64

March 14, 2008

Today was an interesting day in my professional life. I work for a company that is a large employer, with Associates of every race, creed and age. One form of training that managers go through is diversity, we choose from a list of several speakers and go listen to them. Today’s topic Managing Generational Needs.

I took the class primarily because I had too. I learned more then I thought would.

There are four generations from the Seniors (born before 1946); Boomers; Gen X and Gen Y. Gen Y are folks born from 1978 through 1992. Why does this have anything to do with a poker blog?

Glad you asked… Gen Y is the generation that had their self-esteem worried about, they were taught to worry about them selves, and they want/demand it fast, quicker and better then anyone other generation. They are more interested in how they are and what the company they work for can do for them, where the traditional way of doing this is to keep your head down, work hard and the company will eventually recognize you and take care of them. Gen Y thinks it is ridicules to put that kind of blind faith into their company, and too a certain extent they are correct.

The “Old Guard” of poker players veterans playing years at the tables learning how to play the game at 30 to 40 hands per hour. They have played for years and have developed how to play based on reads, and feel. The Gen Y players are the young internet kids playing 4, 8, 10, maybe more tables at a time. They have are playing 500 to 3000 hands an hour, they have Poker Tracker and a HUD that tells them what somebody’s VPIP or the pre-flop flop aggression, or some other statistic that that they want. They look they see they concur and they move on.

Many of the Old Guard and recreational players cannot even spell VPIP let alone know what it means. Why spend $40 to be told how someone plays or to look at how they play their hands. One trick that a poker player has is the ability to adapt to his surroundings. So right now the young guns are starting to run over poker, I would not count out the wily old veteran that is willing to learn a few tricks.

So Gen Y is a group of very hard working people, that are enthusiastic and want to learn, they are the ones that have started to driver the knowledge wagon and are taking it to levels that other have not thought of going. The are worried about what the world owes them not what they owe the world. They generate there information quickly and are willing to take risks. This maybe why so many of them prefer tournaments to cash games, they take risk early, they get chips or they get out and go to the next tournament. They are willing to risk money on small advantages time after time in order to gett the big score.

The Old School players seem to take a more conservative approach to playing tournaments but also play cash games, they do work for the big score, but in addition to that they want the steady, smaller, income that comes from grinding out cash games. In order for these players to compete, especially online, they are going to need to make the adjustments that are needed and learn a new way of playing the game.

Life Lesson: Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there. -Will Rogers

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