Children and Poker: Preface

I can tell you that this is a series I have avoided writing nor wanted to write, the topic of poker and our children. I've avoided it because I'd prefer not to explore the topic, would rather stay focused on myself rather than my boys, would rather stay in the dark to any facts that may change my pursuits. Having said that, I'm going to tackle this as straightforwardly as I can and with as much research and thought as I have time to put forward.

I think it's important to give you a bit more background about me and my own childhood as it will undoubtedly shape some of the series. I was born at a very young age...OK, scratch that. I was born to a very young mother and a recently graduated college father. My parents were fairly normal and typical for the time, I would assume. They were casual drinkers (most of my childhood was in a dry county in Mississippi, meaning hard liquor had to be obtained from outside county lines). My mother was a smoker until I graduated college. There were few other vices available, at least in my own cocoon. I was very religious and had a strong faith, and this led me to make certain life choices. I have had maybe three sips of wine and a couple sips of champagne in my life at toasting occasions but didn't inhale. That made me unusual but not abnormal in our town and a certified freak at Tulane. Growing up it was a religious thing (Southern Baptists don't drink), but during college and afterwards I just decided that I didn't drink. I've never really come up with an explanation that I'm comfortable with, I just didn't. I may have inhaled pot in the second-hand air of a Rick James concert, but that was about as close to drugs as I've come as well. And my parents did host a casino night with my mother's sorority chapter (this really weird sorority for grown women who either weren't in sororities or didn't go to college, I'm not sure which), but that was play money literally.

Why all this rhetoric about me? It somewhat shapes my belief system when it comes to my own theories on raising children. I'll state this through the series, but let me be blunt that I believe I am not an authority on this subject. I've never raised a child. I've never seen a child happily married, graduate college, become homeless, tell me he's gay, die, have a child, lose a job, be convicted of a crime--none of this stuff, so I won't tell you any great truths. I'll just try and lay out facts that I can find, put forward my own questions, and hopefully help me figure this out. As always, the better minds and experiences belong to others who happen to stop by here, those with children or yet to have them.

Why tackle this? A few recent events have spurred this. First, we have JJProdigy (Josh Field), the multi-accounter who lost his $140k Party accounts (and happened to be too young to vote at age 17). Next, we have the short list of players in their late teens who have either scored huge wins or play online at the highest levels, winning hundreds of thousands of dollars, pounds, and euros from the best the web has to offer. All of this is hint enough (if I didn't need it) that I'm sitting with high school kids regularly when I'm at these virtual tables.

Fine. Now let's switch things to me. As I discussed my Relationship and Poker series with my wife, her first comment surprised me: her greatest concern about me and poker was that my poker play could be having or might have a negative influence on the boys. We've played poker with my ten and eight year olds for over a year (or should I say I have). We play just with chips or tourneys where you get prizes depending on where you finish. They've railbirded me at times watching me with my laptop, cheering on my big pots and commiserating with me over my aces getting cracked. The middle son has the same name as a leading pro with the exact spelling even, and his All-In nickname (rarely used) surfaces only occasionally, although it is appropriate. In our games, the blinds are never anything easy, always complex like 12/24 or 17/34, something that makes them have to figure out how to call a 138 re-raise when they have 42 in the pot. Responsible parenting or potential endangerment? No different than golf or leading one of my boys astray? Creating the next Phil Ivey, Stuey Ungar, or Case Williams (or some other guy who's name has been long forgotten)?

The new series, children and poker. We'll explore emerging facts and trends, look to experts to help us understand our options and risks, and hopefully this will be helpful to all of us. Thanks for being here, and here's to our journey with this topic.

ADDENDUM: lol is overused, but after you read the line from Poker Chronicles, I can't imagine not laughing audibly (go to Bellagio Day 1). "I thought I had a four flush. I had that refractive eye surgery two months ago and can't see suits." So that's why you inst-call and catch your gutshot to cripple me in this Bellagio tourney. Got it, thanks.