Life Skills You Can Apply to Poker

(Photo: 888Poker.com)

If I asked you to list the things you need to do to get good at poker, I imagine you would list things like learning 'how to play on each street’, ‘ betsizing’, ‘how to put your opponent on a range of hands’ and so on. You would be dead right too, these things must be learned in order to play poker well.

There are, however, many other skills that we need in order to be good at poker and many of these skills we already have in the form of life skills. We can take these life skills, apply them to poker, and find they are a perfect fit. They instantly improve our poker and for next to no effort at all! Brilliant!

Read the statements below and if they apply to you, read on to see how they can help you supercharge your poker game to levels you never thought possible.

I am great at managing money

In order to play poker you must be in the game. To buy into any game costs money and if you have an edge at the tables due to watching videos, studying strategy, and putting in lots of effort to get better, then it would be aweful to be frozen out of the game because you have gone busto buying into games irresponsibly.

Thankfully, you are good at managing your money. You respect it. You will be able to exercise the necessary discipline and stick to a fixed strategy regarding cash game or tournament buy-ins so you can always stay in the game. The discipline you must show to move down a level is significant for a poker player and gives you a great chance to mount a comeback. Only players who can manage their money well in their lives will be able to do this, so you are already one step ahead of the rest if you exercise good money management skills in your everyday life.

I always get back up when I get knocked down

In life we get major setbacks and there is never a good time to get a life beat. Imagine playing in a big poker tournament. Your reads are on point and you progress towards the big money spots. It’s your time, or so you think. You flop a set against the big stack, check raise all-in and are called by two pair. You are about to double up and take a huge lead with 10 players left. Unfortunately for you, it is not to be. Your opponent hits their full house on the river and you’re eliminated. Unbelievable. Your emotions are all over the place , and while the rest of the table celebrates making the final table, you are heading home.

No-one would blame you for wanting to quit, take a break, or angrily throw things. But you are able to brush off this setback and carry on, pledging to do better next time. Is this you? You had an edge but on this occasion you were just unlucky so you lick your wounds and go again. It’s not easy, but your skills got you this far and could get you further next time. Opponents usually have outs and the more you play the more often you risk getting a bad beat. Facing a bad beat means you were ahead in the hand rather than hoping for a reprieve from an error. If you have the life skills to be able to quickly rebound from devastating setbacks like this, it is only good news for your poker game.

I have great peoples skills

Are you someone who “can judge a person” very accurately and people always like to be around you and talk to you? If so you are very suited to playing live poker! These gut feelings and intuitive abilities can be honed to provide accurate reads at the poker table. If you can spot when a player is “at it” or telling a story you feel is simply not believable in the hand, this will lead you to make great plays and capture chips when other players would concede.

You can also use your excellent communication skills to effortlessly get people into conversation and glean vital information from them and they will not even realize you are doing it. These skills will help you make the right decision more often than not and instantly improve your poker results. It can be the difference between a decent cash and a big win. Just ask Daniel Negreanu, who has made millions of dollars combining brilliant poker with an effervescent personality.

I am a problem solver and good decision maker

I could probably leave this section blank as you should be able to see the link between this life skill and good poker. Having a logical mind will help you put together the varying pieces of information you will obtain throughout a hand and make a decision on that basis. You will also have to solve the problems holding incomplete information and employ fuzzy thinking whilst making decisions.

If you feel you are a good problem solver and decision maker, you are clearly confident in those abilities. Confidence is also a key skill in playing good poker. We make our decisions and we risk money on them, so if you have these life skills it is a great starting point. The good news is getting that experience at the poker tables will improve your problem solving and decision making skills even more.

I am good in stressful situations

Are you the person people turn to when things go wrong? Are you cool under pressure and thrive in difficult situations as the rest of your colleagues or friends run for the hills? If your answer is yes, you are suited to the high pressure situations in poker where the big money decisions rest upon thinking clearly and making the right decision. Emotional control is key to a solid poker game.

Raising with AA and watching everyone fold is easy. Putting together a believable story with a marginal hand and making your opponent believe your range is narrower than it is, is not so easy. Keeping your cool is a great skill for poker and if your life has helped you hone these abilities, you will be a force at the poker table. It’s as simple as that.

The above life skills can be used to improve your overall ability as a poker player and even if you feel one or two areas could do with improvement, poker will help you in these areas.

Alongside putting in the work on the essential technical training such as learning to put your opponent on a hand, optimal bet sizing, and other elements of poker without which you cannot hope to be successful, life skills sharpen your abilities. Looking at the game from every angle will help shape your overall understanding of poker and anything you can use to get better is worth it.