[TX_kiwi]

Originally Posted by wafflestomper

What lesson would you be teaching him if you took it easy on him because he was a kid?

I agree that it would be uncool to obviously throw him the game. A key point here is that he would (hopefully) never know that you took it easy on him - hence, the way in which I worded the poll options.

For those that are interested, I went with the majority view in the poll and played to win. It lasted about another 15 hands. He doubled up a couple of times (I deliberately went all-in on one of those, even thought my read was he had me beat, just to ascertain whether he was capable of a bluff- it wasn't a bluff).

The inevitable result panned out and he took it like a trooper - he immediately offered a handshake. I was very impressed with his demeanor.

In deciding to 'go for the kill', part of my thinking was:

• We had guys waiting for the follow on cash game - it was not fair on them to fool around and prolong the tourney.
• He's playing with the big boys, so he plays by their rule set.

However, as I noted earlier, I have reflected a bit over the weekend about whether I should have played it different.

FWIW- He went on to do quite well in the follow on cash game, ending up about 25% up. His Dad was making him play with his own money. I think that he has a bright future as a poker player ...

[whataboutj]

I agree with what others said - at the age of 13 play him like you would any other and educate him afterwards on his "Leaks". If he were younger (like under 10) I may lean towards letting him win for confidence sake.

I play in a game where the neighbors 15 year old son plays ($100 buy in tourney- he plays with his own money). Nobody takes it eay on the "kid" becaue he's ony 15 - he like other younger players plays a LAG game and either is in the tourney at the end or busts out early. The kid has a good sense for the game and a great disposition - doesn't get upset and bratty when he loses or "In your face" when he wins.

[broncoboss]

You say that you play mostly for bragging rights. This is the main reason for crushing the young pup. Your buddies would never let it go if you lost to him after having such a lead on him.