What do poker players like Daniel Negreanu, Bryn Kenney, and Adrian Mateos have in common? The answer is they all started their poker careers at a very young age. All three poker pros spent their late teens and early twenties perfecting their poker strategies, winning cash prizes and highly coveted titles while their peers were stuck studying for tests.
And just like Negreanu and Mateos, the next generation of poker players is already here, grinding at the tables from the first possible moment. According to statistics, about 36% of poker players nowadays are under the age of 30, which makes them a dominant part of the industry. Are you ready to learn more about the up-and-coming generation of Everygame Poker players?
3 Poker Players to Watch Out For
First of all, meet Frank Cucchiara, known to his fans as Frankie C or NextGen Frankie. The young poker player is the perfect embodiment of what Gen Z is all about: fast-paced, loud, and media-oriented. He is a founding member of NexGen Poker, a YouTube community with more than 204k subscribers that makes poker more accessible to newbie players.
He made it clear that one of his biggest goals in life is to 'make poker a spectacle' – and he is certainly making an effort to achieve said goal. In an interview, he said that the world is changing, people's attention spans are much shorter than they used to be, and poker content needs to change.
And while he is working towards revolutionizing the world of poker content, the American poker player has already managed to make $146,977 in live earnings, but he has yet to win a WSOP bracelet.
Next in line, we have William Oertling, a 23-year-old newbie from the US who so far has managed to accumulate $237,363 in his short poker career. His biggest achievement took place at the Beau Rivage Heater series, where Oertling won first place in the $1,200 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event. Outshining 1,755 other players, this young poker pro took home a $216,888 cash prize. This amazing win took place only a short while after Oertling failed to cash at another event in the same series, which serves to show that perseverance often pays off.
This is Oertling's first serious POY-qualified score of his career, but it certainly is not the last. We are bound to hear about the talented new poker player soon enough!
And last but not least, there is David Chen. Only a few months ago he was crowned as the youngest winner in PGT history, which is a noteworthy accomplishment. The 21-year-old MIT graduate was able to win a $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em event at the 2024 Poker Masters, leaving the tables with $217,500.
Chen won $551,283 in live earnings up until today, which makes him the youngest – and most profitable – player on our list. With less than 20 live games under his belt, Chen's achievements at the poker tables can't be ignored. He also won 3rd place during the PokerGO Tour and 5th place at a World Poker Tour event, all in the span of a few months. If he keeps decimating his opponents at the tables everywhere he turns, he is bound to become one of the most powerful poker players of the next generation.
Are You Ready to Face These Players?
Chen, Oertling, and Cucchiara are only small examples of what the next generation of poker players is all about: they are fierce, determined, and ready to face any challenge – live or online. Do you think you have what it takes to play with those young poker pros? Give it a go!