It's safe to assume that the average age of players who pony up the $10,000 buy-in for a Main Event seat falls somewhere in the range of 40-45 years old. Al Davis isn't most players.
Davis, an 80-year-old manufacturing businessman from Scottsdale, GA, had never been to the World Series of Poker before this summer. "First Main Event, first World Series of Poker," he told us on the dinner break.
If you're wondering how an 80-year-old veteran from Georgia finds his way to the WSOP for the first time this late in life, you're not alone. The answer is as wholesome as you can imagine: for his 80th birthday, Davis' four sons pooled funds to buy their father a seat into the Main Event.
In Davis' own words: "Well, I turned 80. My four sons bought me in, got me a ticket. I'm thrilled, thrilled to be here."
If that doesn't make you feel hopeful about this game, what will?
Stamina? It's a non-issue
The long, slow burn of the Main Event will sap the stamina of even the most experienced grinders. Davis, however, is feeling good on Day 3. "The first day I played, some young fella came up to me. I think his name was J.R. We finished that day, he came up to me and said, 'I'm amazed at the stamina you've got.' I was delighted."
Davis found poker around 25 years ago, on the way back home from a road trip. "We stopped in to a restaurant to eat and there were some people in the back room playing poker. I said, 'What's going on here?' And I sat down with them. I was hooked from then, started playing once a week, then twice a week, then three times a week."
While Davis tends to play purely for fun in a local bar poker scene, his hours and hours of experience at the table should serve him well in the coming days if he can continue to catch good cards.
Riding the momentum and meeting new friends
Thus far, Davis has held his own and even managed to catch a fortunate cooler in his favor.
"As all poker players know, when you've got pocket aces, it's your position [that matters] when you play them. I don't know how they play them, but if you have them early you're just hoping and praying somebody's got pocket kings or queens and they bet real big. I had the fortune to have that happen. Maybe I shouldn't be proud of it, but it's poker, it's what we do. We're here to win."
To Davis, however, poker isn't all about the glory of winning — it's also about the community. "You have this great camaraderie in poker, it's a wonderful sport. And you never know who you're going to meet. One of the most fascinating things about poker is you might be playing with a real high-level player, a doctor, or an attorney. You play with all types of people and I've learned to appreciate everyone."
