The gaming industry in America is becoming increasingly popular and extremely profitable. Reports show that the gaming market generated around $7.78 billion for the country’s 2020 revenue in Nevada alone.
Other states also contributed a hefty $ 29.98 billion. Aside from being a potentially lucrative activity, many play poker because of its popularity in mainstream culture. James Bond, a suave movie character who is known for his machismo lifestyle, is known to spend his time in poker casinos drinking a Martini (shaken, not stirred of course). While James Bond may be a fictional character, many real-life poker players are just as legendary. And they can teach you a few life lessons, too.
Here are some words of advice from some of the greatest players:
Know How to Read People
This may sound like advice that is strictly for the game but knowing how to read people and play your hand makes sense even in life. Phil Ivey’s most important skill was that he could easily read his opponents, even the pros at bluffing. In reality, knowing how to read people means you can easily adapt and thrive in a social and professional environment. This can help you understand how to approach certain tasks and conversations to create a good rapport and build better connections. It’s a simple thing that can help you get ahead in life. It’s an important skill to hone and master.
Know When to Take Risks
Poker can be won through calculated risks. This is a skill Daniel Negreanu learned through the years. Being one of the all-time greatest poker players, he says that his strategy is dependent on knowing when to perform certain plays and when not to. Negreanu’s concept of “small ball” hinges on playing aggressively with small bets. It’s a low-risk move that can lead to big wins. If you apply this to real life, taking calculated risks means doing something that may end in a small loss, or may end with a big reward.
Make Peace with Things You Can’t Control
Maria Konnikova is a psychologist who was drawn into the world of poker by her natural curiosity. In her journey, she went from being an amateur to a pro in no time. Out of all the things she learned, the most crucial one was learning that life isn’t always going to go our way. We can plan and strategize all we want, but sometimes the cards just aren’t in our favor. We have to learn how to make peace with this fact and take it in stride. Despite the disappointments we may experience in life, we have the choice to let these misfortunes get the better of us or to keep playing. The latter just means that we have the chance to be better. Konnikova is right to say that it’s a great lesson to learn from poker. It’s one that can really be applied in real life.
Continue Striving to be Better
Sometimes, people have to continue working on certain skills to become good—maybe even great. Maria Ho, one of the top poker players at the moment, says that if she could give advice to novices out there trying to break into the scene, continued learning is a great tool. It will make you a better play, and if this is applied in real life, it can also make you a better person. There is no one way to become better, but the main point is to study what went wrong and how you can change that aspect moving forward. This means that there will always be room for improvement, no matter how good you think you are. This is great advice to keep you striving to become a better version of yourself.
Poker is a game that can teach many life lessons. These expert players offer some of the things they learned from the activity that make them become better players and live better lives.
