Sr. Citizens Enjoy Playing Poker Seniors Scene By George "The Engineer" Epstein
I enjoy playing poker and I’m 76 years old. As a senior citizen, I’m really not unique in this regard. There are literally millions of us senior citizens enjoying the game of poker. And that’s good...
Next time you visit your local casino or go to the poker room, look around. Rough estimates hold that about half of the recreational poker players seated at the ring games are into their sixties and above—including both men and women. The other evening, while playing $3-$6 Texas hold’em at the Hustler Casino, I estimated that four of the nine players at the table were definitely seniors, and two others might have fit that category. (Sometimes it’s hard to guess!).
More Seniors Will be Playing Poker in the Future. We can expect even more seniors to frequent the casinos as medical technology helps us to live longer, more active lives. In 1970, there were just 36,000 people who reached the age of 100, and projections indicate that in twenty years or less, that number will exceed 300,000. The more seniors, the more of us will be playing poker in the cardrooms. What’s more, while our bodies may weaken and we aren’t as spry as we were twenty years ago, our minds are still active and seeking challenge. Poker is an ideal way to get that challenge.
There are good reasons why so many seniors like to play poker. For one thing, the poker environment provides a great vehicle to keep active and to be socially involved. With more spare time than younger people, we can spend some of it at the casino.
More and more senior citizen groups are taking bus trips to places like Atlantic City, Las Vegas, Laughlin and the Indian casinos. On a recent bus trip to Laughlin, NV with a group of World War II war veterans (my ladyfriend, Anita, and I were probably the youngest in the group), two of us couldn’t wait to visit the poker room. (He was a fair player but, as I told him later, he should have read my poker book first. I won all five sessions; he “didn’t do too well,” he told me.) Two other people on that trip also visited the poker room.
Poker is GOOD for Senior Citizens. And what’s more, poker is GOOD – that is, healthy – for us. You don’t have to take me at my word for that. Eminent scientists and doctors have proven that challenging the mind – as playing poker always does – helps our minds to stay healthy. According to Professor W. Warner Schale of Penn. State University, “Mental exercises. . . can help older people to sustain and, in some instances, even improve their mental abilities.” Scientists have shown that mental stimulation – such as we experience during the game of poker -- spurs the brain to “sprout” new connections called synapses around the brain cells, making them better able to transmit and process information through electrical stimuli. In fact, in my book (The Greatest Book of Poker for Winners!), I describe how you can also exercise some of your body muscles while playing poker – basically using isometrics and taking a brisk walk every so often as a break from the table.
Next time, you sit down at the table, look around. How many of your fellow poker players are senior citizens? You may be surprised. . .
George “The Engineer” Epstein is the author of The Greatest Book of Poker for Winners! (T/C Press, PO Box 36006, Los Angeles, CA 90036) A retired engineer who received many industry and government awards and commendations, he continues to be active by consulting, editing an international technical newsletter, teaching an engineering course at UCLA, and serving as an officer in a professional engineering society. One engineering society has a scholarship in George’s honor. In writing his poker book, he applied the lessons learned and experience while working as an engineer to solve problems. He is currently writing his next book on The Four Rules for Success in Life and Living. Reach George by e-mail: geps222@msn.com.
This article was published in the Jun 16th 2003 edition of Poker Player
George “The Engineer” Epstein is the author of The Greatest Book of Poker for Winners! (T/C Press, PO Box 36006, Los Angeles, CA 90036) A retired engineer who received many industry and government awards and commendations, he continues to be active by consulting, editing an international technical newsletter, teaching an engineering course at UCLA, and serving as an officer in a professional engineering society. One engineering society has a scholarship in George’s honor. In writing his poker book, he applied the lessons learned and experience while working as an engineer to solve problems. He is currently writing his next book on The Four Rules for Success in Life and Living. Reach George by e-mail: 
