Poker Winner Blog

Is there a player out there who hasn’t observed that poker is a metaphor for life? That metaphor is probably one reason why poker is so popular. Not only does it frequently mirror life, poker models it. Poker is life in a nutshell. The entirety of our existence compressed into a single hand of poker is a compelling thought.

A metaphor and a model for life! If true, there should be important life lessons everyone can take away from the poker table. When learned and applied, these lessons should make it much easier for a poker player to survive in a world where most people haven’t been force-fed these life-lessons across the poker table.

Being Selective and Aggressive

In the real world you do have to pick your battles, just as you must in poker. Sometimes you have to draw your proverbial line in the sand (”You’ve gotta know when to hold ‘em“); other times you have to carefully choose when to retreat (”Know when to fold ‘em”).

History is replete with examples. General Robert E. Lee, confronting overwhelming supremacy in men, munitions, and technology, was able to keep the Confederacy’s cause alive as long as he did because he picked his battles carefully. He did not engage the Union Army at every opportunity; he selected opportunities only when he believed he could negate the Union’s inherent advantages and overcome them.

Safety at Aft Costs Can 13e Costly

During the early stages of the U.S. Civil War, Union General George McClellan was unwilling to commit his troops, even when the odds were strongly in his favor. McClellan behaved like a player who is overly weak and overly tight, and General Lee consistently ran him off the best hand. McClellan ultimately suffered the military equivalent of a really bad beat. President Lincoln, who realized that his man held most of the big cards — and wondered why he wouldn’t play a hand and therefore couldn’t win — sacked him!

You can’t wait for a royal flush in cards or in life. When you have an overwhelming advantage, it’s usually time to engage your opponent.

Knowing Your Opponent

If you can pick up tells in a poker game — where players take great pains not to broadcast them — think how easy reading people away from the table can be. Yet seemingly few of us really take the time to know our opponents. Is your boss in a nasty, irritable mood? Maybe you’d be better off feigning an emergency and postponing your annual performance review until next week. You have a bad hand, and rather than risk losing even more money, the smart move is to fold and wait for a better opportunity.

There’s undoubtedly something romantic about the fatalistic approach of marching into the jaws of death or some more civilized equivalent, but it’s not a strategy that will help you win at either poker or life. But you needn’t take our word for it. General George Patton said much the same thing in his celebrated quote, “The idea of war is not to die for your country; it’s to make the other guy die for his.”

Timing Can Be Everything

Is that boss of yours still in a foul mood? Wouldn’t you stand a better chance of winning if you held a stronger hand? Tackle a tough project now. Close that sale and make some customer so happy that he calls your boss and tells him how valuable you are. Once you’ve been able to accomplish that, you’re holding strong cards — strong enough to stand up to your annual performance review.

This situation is like so many that occur in poker. Someone bets, another player raises, and you throw your marginal hand away, preferring to wait for a much stronger hand before engaging your opponent.

Timing is important in your social life too. You don’t have to be an expert on body language to realize that you’re not making a great impression on your date, who has legs crossed, arms folded, and is leaning away from you with a bored, indifferent facial expression. It’s time to try a new strategy, or be selective, fold your hand, and wait for some new cards to be dealt.

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