the column was to examine our fascination with youth. It seems we are
all mesmerized by it; whether it be in sports, entertainment or even in the
Poker World. After the column was published, I had countless older
players complain to me that the "Old Guns" should get equal time. In
other words, I should do a column on players who were older. I thought
about it, but frankly, I guess I too had fallen into the trap of over
emphasizing the accomplishments of the young guys, and maybe taking
for granted the accomplishments of the old guys.
Soon after my column on the young guns came out, Miami John started
his rush winning several tournaments and a couple of all-around races.
Then at the end of the year, John "The Man" Bonetti put on a poker clinic
at The Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. Naturally, I was impressed with their
showing but I guess what really woke me up and made me take notice,
was recently when "The Player Of The Year" rankings of Nolan Dalla came
out.
It seems the young guns were adequately represented in the rankings.
But guess what? The old coots were even more adequately represented.
As I looked at the rankings for the player of the year, I realized that
there were five out of the top dozen guys that fit into the category of
"Old Guys." My criteria was 55 years or older. I would have used 60
years, but I lowered the age requirement to 55, so I could include Miami
John.
John Bonetti topped our list, with T. J. Cloutier, Miami John, Super Mario
Esquerra and yours truly, finished out the list. Any notion that youth
reigns supreme goes out the window when you realize what we old guys
did. So in the spirit of equal time, I decided it was time to acknowledge
the aged.
Just as I did with the young guns, I now had to start paying more
attention to what made us old guys tick. This was going to be a lot
easier than watching the young guys. Scary as it was, I decided to start
carrying a mirror since I would be trying to observe myself, along with the
Johns, T.J. and Mario.
The first thing I noticed was, contrary to the incredible energy the young
lions have, us old guys are a lot more laid back. Not a lot of things make
us move around. If we get high carded to a different table, a tournament
attendant is usually helping us. Not that we ask for help, it just seems
the tournament personnel just assume we need help. I asked my wife
the other day, "When did they start helping me to change tables?" She
said "a long time ago, honey."
One difference is us old guys are into health, contrary to the young studs.
If you ask any one of us what our cholesterol count is, we know. Don't
bother to ask the youngsters that question because they don't know and
moreover, they don't care.
Another thing about us aged ones that is different from the young guys is
that the young lions come bouncing in after the tournaments have
started. The old guys don't bounce in. More accurately, they casually walk
in, with plenty of time before the tournaments start. We're not going to
be late for too many things.
If one had to guess where the young guys were coming from, I doubt if
anyone would have a clue. God only knows! On the other hand, there is
no doubt where us old fogies have been. The tip-off is that most of time
we have a toothpick in our mouth. If you guessed we have just finished
eating, you guessed right. And speaking of eating, I noticed most of us,
(forgive me guys) need a little more time in the gym and a little less time
at the buffet.
The old guys also don't jump around all over the room after the
tournament has started. The young guys are always someplace other
than their seat, usually across the room talking to another youngster. Us
older guys, on the other hand, are always in our seat, unless we're
making one of our frequent trips to you know where. We seem to just
kind of let things and people come to us. Rarely will one of us get a
phone call. There are probably a lot of reasons for that. I just haven't
been able to figure them out yet.
My column on the young guns brought out the point that they were all
very polite, even respectful--all very nice young men. Well, us old guys
aren't exactly mean--but polite, respectful? I think a more exact
description of us is would be tolerable, maybe even okay.
In wrapping up, I do want to say to the Johns, T.J. and Mario, "Good
going guys." You guys are proving that age has nothing to do with poker
playing ability. One might say, "You geezers still got it."
For what it's worth ...
