Teaching Poker to Kids

So, the moment every poker-playing parent has been waiting for finally came for me last night, as one of my kids crawled up over my shoulder and asked me to teach him to play poker.

Of course, I feel excited at the chance to connect with him through something I love so much. However, this got me thinking about what the best approach to this may be.

Should I just teach him the basics of the game, start with 5 card draw as my father did with me and then let him slowly move to more complex varieties? Or should I start directly with NL Hold'em, teach him about outs and odds and focus on him developing a nice mathematical foundation from the start? Any insight is welcome

You didn’t mention how old your kid is.

If they’re fairly young I would focus more on having fun and learning what hands beat what before getting into complex math and odds ratios. That said, you don’t want to turn your kids into gamblers at a young age and start them on a life of addictions.

Hey.
I have not yet reached the point of educating my children to play poker. But for everyone who wanted to play poker, I taught the basics and recommended downloading the game of poker to the phone so that understanding of the game was at the first level. The next step, in my opinion, is to read Sklansky and one of the books on the psychology of poker. I think it is advisable to read books under your control in order to explain obscure points.
In general, I believe that learning is a complex and consistent process. Only after training can you progress quickly in poker.
I also believe that the study of poker is necessary after gaining life experience, a person must be versatile in order to succeed in poker.

I don't have children, but I would teach the basics on youtube ... basic theory,
there is a lot of good material for beginners and then I would teach you how to practice.

and gradually I would introduce other poker variables.

I think kids maybe don't understand how poker works with bets and real money , maybe i don't teach him

Psyanide14 said:

You didn’t mention how old your kid is.

If they’re fairly young I would focus more on having fun and learning what hands beat what before getting into complex math and odds ratios. That said, you don’t want to turn your kids into gamblers at a young age and start them on a life of addictions.

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I'm sorry, I should definitely have mentioned that. He is 7, but remarkably quick at mental calculations. I don't believe he'll turn into a gambler just because he's learnt from a young age. If he does turn into one, I'd rather he be an educated one, right?

I taught my daughter how to play blackjack before she started Infant School (Kinder Garden).
My wife admitted that she was having nightmares to her starting School and when I asked why? she said-
I imagine the teacher asking the whole class if any can count to ten and she would put her hand up saying "please Miss I can count higher, 8. 9. 10, Jack, Queen, King."

My reasoning was simple it taught my daughter how to Add numbers together before she went to School but she never took up gambling she is now forty and has never walked into a betting shop or Casino in her life.

I taught my kids at a young age (5-7 yrs old) and they turned out great,they made $$$ all thru high school,,, (both in their 20's now)

I don’t have kids, but if I had to teach one I would probable only teach the basics of nl holdem and focus on the fun part of the game. I would not teach poker math for now, maybe when he gets older.

It's not too early for your children to know about poker. This still applies to gambling.

Yeah, start with pot odds. No. Math sucks. In poker.

Just teach the rules. All others will destroy his game. He should come to it himself.

At 7 I’d be playing a variety of cards games that use addition skills, logic and strategy along with probability- - I’d name a few but probably called other things eg Stop the Bus, Rummie, Hearts etc and a bit of 5 card draw too with focus on limit of 1 bet

Then increase the pocket money and fleece them, my kids seem to have more money than me so will be dealing them in!

Hello! My father taught me to play chess when I was 4 years old, if your child really has an interest in playing poker, then it will be better for him if you study him and not tutorials, at least the basics of the game are better to learn on a natural deck of cards, children better learn visual lessons. Sincerely, Sergey.

I think I have totally ruined my son for cash games, for the time being.

We play a lot at home. But, it's mostly heads up and very aggressive. He is used to playing against me, in that situation.

Well, I got a private (play money) game set up with some friends. And my son also jumped in. The friends are total fish, but my son got destroyed. It didn't help that he ran into KK three times in under 100 hands, but he just assumed that their aggression was the same as my aggression heads up. I had to explain to him that most bad players are usually honest about their hand values. When they raise you, they usually aren't bluffing. They have a hand. When they reraise you, they are just about never bluffing. Bad players don't four-bet preflop without KK or AA.

He is so used to playing super-wide and just attacking all the time. I need to teach him to slow down, play tighter, and value bet.

In my opinion, you should "teach" kids to play poker "fun way". Don't ruin their motivation by teaching pot odds, math etc. winning strategies. Kids want to keep fun with games, they don't need to make money, that will come later. When kids get into something and starting to get good at it, rest will take care by itself, they will learn faster by just doing than you can even imagine. The only thing you should teach them is rules, and then just play with them, keep fun, fun, and just fun. Winning strategies will come later.
I ruined my early results by studying too much "boring" stuff and forget that most important part - I should enjoy what I am doing.

I want to teach my daughters how to play poker, at least the basics, I don't know when I will do this, my intention and try to pass a little of the strategy of the game in general.

My main intention is to try to pass on the knowledge that could be used in life, such as controlling emotions, financial management, seizing opportunities, setting goals before starting projects, studying and working hard, learning to accept that there are good and bad moments, and know how to get around it.

I believe that there are several other ways to do this too, and I will try to use all the devices that are valid for me to help them.

elizeuof said:

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My main intention is to try to pass on the knowledge that could be used in life, such as controlling emotions, financial management, seizing opportunities, setting goals before starting projects, studying and working hard, learning to accept that there are good and bad moments, and know how to get around it.

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This 👆


Poker and chess should be taught in every school, I have learned from them more than ever in class.

You should start by explaining that for now it is just a game to have fun, teach him the value of the hands that is, which beats the others and things like that, you do not explain such complex things as calculating the odds or the outs. Congratulations

elizeuof said:

I want to teach my daughters how to play poker, at least the basics, I don't know when I will do this, my intention and try to pass a little of the strategy of the game in general.

My main intention is to try to pass on the knowledge that could be used in life, such as controlling emotions, financial management, seizing opportunities, setting goals before starting projects, studying and working hard, learning to accept that there are good and bad moments, and know how to get around it.

I believe that there are several other ways to do this too, and I will try to use all the devices that are valid for me to help them.

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Agree 100%. I never looked at it this way. Thanks for the insight!