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'I played poker with a 100-year-old pro, here's his winning tips and what keeps him going'

100-year-old Ivor Ward is Britain's oldest poker player, but is the centenarian's love of cards really the secret to his extraordinary health after all these years?

[100-year-old Ivor Parker]

What can this 100-year-old teach us about poker, and life? (Image: Dave Nelson)

If there's two things I wouldn't mind the secrets to, it would be the key to a long life and how to beat my pals playing cards, and for 100-year-old poker pro Ivor Ward, both longevity and Texas Hold 'Em ability have seemed to come hand in hand.

Ivor, who worked well into his 90s at a pharmaceutical production plant, is Britain's oldest professional player, but has his love of cards contributed to his 10 decades of good health? I went down to meet the card-loving centenarian, who first played aged just 14, to see what secrets I could glean, and left with my outlook on both poker and life radically altered.

Catching up with Ivor at the launch of GG Poker's Goliath 2026 poker tournament taking place at Grosvenor Casino, I wanted to find out what he had learned from nearly nine decades at the table, and within moments of exchanging pleasantries I was being talked through the unbelievable complexities of his game.

[The Daily Star's Ed Easton caught up with Ivor]

The Daily Star's Ed Easton caught up with Ivor at the beginning of his latest tournament (Image: Dave Nelson)

Smiling and nodding while only understanding about ten percent of his impressive lingo, the centenarian talked me through pot odds, table position and algorithms, sounding more like a computer programmer than a pension-taking poker player.

"You've got to work out percentages, odds, studying your opponents," he said. "These are all things to take into consideration."

Poker, like many games, has been dramatically altered at the top level by the emergence of AI, which has seen top level pros relying more and more on complex algorithms and formulae to improve their game.

[Ivor worked as a production operative for East Midlands Farmer until he was 98]

Ivor worked as a production operative for East Midlands Farmer until he was 98(Image: Joseph Walshe / SWNS)

Despite learning the ropes in the 1940s, Ivor explained that he tries hard to keep up with the new wave of players, and spends his time analysing the latest data sets and game theories that are constantly emerging online.

Although "probably too old to change my game dramatically", Ivor says he has "brought a few modern things into my game", adding that he is "on the algorithms."

He explained: "I like to keep in touch with other players, a lot of them are getting really technical, but I think it's a good thing. It appeals to the next generation of players too".

[ Ivor Ward]

The centenarian says body language is key to reading poker opponents(Image: Dave Nelson)

While recognising poker as a changing game, Ivor still uses all 86 years of card-playing experience when at the table, admitting he is especially good at reading his opponents' body language.

The key, he told me, was to look out for "little habits" that can reveal the strength of someone's hand.

He said: "Sometimes you'll see someone sitting back, and they'll suddenly sit forward, and you know their cards are very good because they've taken an interest."

[Ivor started playing in 1940]

Ivor started playing in 1940(Image: Dave Nelson)

Ivor, who started playing poker with friends in a pub in Boston, Lincolnshire, in 1940 when he was just 14, told me that card playing was "definitely" the reason he had remained so sharp, especially as poker requires your brain to focus on so many things at once.

He now hopes that more older players will take up the game, and is encouraging them to start low-stakes friendly matches with their pals.

"People retire and just sit at home," he said. "They're not going out, they're not meeting people, they're not using their brains. Poker allows them to be active."

[Ivor started playing in 1940]

The 100-year-old is a popular figure at the table (Image: Dave Nelson)

Ivor insists relaxed, low-stakes games with friends can improve quality of life and offers one key piece of advice to anyone taking up the game.

"If you've had a bad hand or you got beat, forget it," he said. "The secret is to learn to live with your bad things and just wipe them out completely."

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