Winning hand. Photo: Jonathan Rubio
I love business and sporting analogies – they’re usually pretty inspiring, if sometime contradictory. I came across these inspiring list of Poker strategies that transfer to the business world of an entrepreneur and found them really, really inspiring. Hope you enjoy them
Market Evaluation:
- Table selection is the most important decision you can make
- It’s ok to switch tables if you find out it’s too hard to win at your table
- If there’s a lot of players who are irrational of inexperienced, it can be harder to win
Marketing/Branding
- Act weak when strong
- Act strong when weak
- Know when to bluff
- Help shape the stories people are telling about you
Financials
- Always be prepared for the worst possible scenario
- The guy who wins the most hands is not the person who makes the most money in the long run
- The guy who never loses a hand is not the guy who makes the most money in the long run
- Go for positive expected value, not what is least risky
- Make sure your bank roll is big enough for the game you’re playing and the risks you’re taking
- Play only with what you can afford to lose
- Remember it’s a long term game, you win or lose individual sessions, but it’s the long run that matters
Strategy
- Don’t play games you don’t understand, even if you see other people making money from them
- Figure out the game when the stakes aren’t high
- Don’t cheat. Cheaters don’t win in the long run
- Be flexible, be patient and think long term
- The players with the most stamina and focus usually win
- Differentiate yourself – do the opposite of what everyone else on the table is doing
- Hope is not a good plan
- Don’t play too long – it’s much better to take a break or have a rest for the night, then come back to the table
Continued Learning
- Read books from other people who have done it before
- Learn by doing, theory is nice but nothing replaces actual experience
- Learn by surrounding yourself with talented players
- Just because you win a hand doesn’t mean you’re good & you’ve not more learning to do – you might’ve just got lucky
- Don’t be afraid to ask for advice
Culture
- You’ve got to love the game
- To be really good, you’ve got to live it and sleep it
- Don’t be cocky, don’t be flashy; there’s always someone better than you
- Be nice and make friends – it’s a small community
- Share what you’ve learned with others
- Look for opportunities beyond the game you sat down to play
- You never know who you’re going to meet, in new business partners or contacts
- Have fun! The game is a lot more fun when you’re trying to do more than make money
Remember
- The game begins before you site down in the seat
- The most important decision to make is to know what table to sit at, this includes knowing when to change tables (you can make 9 times as much sitting with inexperienced players with lots of chips vs. a table with experienced players with few chips)
- It’s never too late to change tables
Hope you enjoyed these. Big props to the very inspirational Tony Heish for these, taken from his book: Delivering Happiness – I highly recommend you check it out – I read it his weekend while travelling the Scottish highlands and it made for a fantastic weekend.
