8 Life Lessons Learned By Playing Poker

By UpGifs.com in Educational Posts To Share December 5, 2017

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Poker is more than just a card game. Since its invention in the 10th century, the game has gone through many forms: Texas Hold ‘Em, Five Card Draw, and even online poker.

All of these forms have one thing in common: they allow the game to thrive by teaching players important life lessons. Here are a few things you can learn by playing poker.

Learning Life Lessons From The Hand You Have

“You need to play the hand you’re dealt.”

The phrase comes from poker. But whether you’re a gambler or just a person trying to make a budget, there is truth to this.

You can’t budget for the amount of money you should be making. You can only learn to make the most of what you have.

When you play poker, you know how to make these tough choices. Instead of assuming that you can succeed on sheer willpower, you know what it means to make the most of a tough situation.

And that’s something that will carry you far beyond the poker table.

Know When to Quit

Playing poker isn’t just about knowing when to get in the game. It teaches valuable life lessons about knowing when to fold.

Everybody has reached this point in a game. Things seem to be going well, but gradually it’s revealed that other players have superior hands.

You’ve sunk a lot of chips into this moment. Unfortunately, there’s no getting them back.

There are two responses to this situation. The bad one would be to double down, oblivious to reality. But what poker teaches is that you can do better.

Knowing when to fold is an important part of succeeding in this game. It’s also important in life, whether it involves knowing when to leave a bad relationship or stop smoking.

Life’s Not Fair

We’ve all been told that life isn’t fair. But we don’t really believe it without experience.

The truth is, we think that life isn’t fair to most people. But, we assume that it will find a way to benefit us. Most of becoming an adult is learning that time and time again, unfairness is still a regular part of your experience.

Poker is one of the best games for teaching somebody that life isn’t fair. Whether it’s a bad round at a table or a tough go on a site, playing the game will teach you that what’s right isn’t enough to succeed in this difficult world.

Be Disciplined

Discipline is an important part of succeeding in life. It’s also an important part of succeeding in poker.

We all know stories of wealthy people who lost it all through a total lack of discipline. Whether it’s the CEO making risky deals or the movie star who loses it all by buying castles, poker provides an alternative to this style of thinking.

The best poker players take calculated risks. While they don’t simply avoid the potential pitfalls of their bets, they also take action by making small bets that succeed in large numbers.

The basis of such a strategy isn’t simply risk taking. It’s discipline, one of the most important life lessons the game can teach any player.

Know How To Lie

We all know that lying is wrong. When you don’t tell the truth, you lose the trust and support of people around you. Because of this, it is highly important to tell the truth whenever possible.

That being said, there are times when either an outright lie or a stretching of the truth are a necessary part of life. There are also times when they’re an important part of poker.

The term “bluffing” refers to this type of lying. While it doesn’t involve outright falsehood, it does involve manipulating your adversary’s perception of what’s true and what’s false.

This is how some of the best players make the most of their hands. If it seems impossible or even ridiculous to try to win with a losing hand, you don’t have the ability to bluff properly.

In life, this can be an effective tool when engaging with difficult people. Once again, you shouldn’t lie entirely. But you don’t always need to tell the whole truth.

Compete With Luck

Most gambling games involve luck. When it comes to playing slots, craps, roulette, or blackjack: there’s not much the unlucky player can do.

Poker balances out luck and skill to create a unique gaming experience. It’s the only game to present life lessons through a realistic portrayal of luck.

In poker, luck certainly plays a role. Sometimes, you have a winning hand. Other times, you have nothing remotely worth playing.

But while luck can take you to third base in this game, you need skill and strategy to take you home. Learning how to balance out your desires with the situation you’re placed in is as valuable in poker as it is in life.

Act, Don’t React

There are two ways to handle any situation. You can act, or you can react.

In poker, reacting is the worst strategy. A reactive player sees somebody put in a large bet and immediately folds. Or, they see that they have a halfway decent bet and decide to raise it indefinitely.

Simply put, they refuse to take in the variables of a situation and learn that every second provides a unique opportunity.

The only way to win in poker is to act. Know where you stand and what to do about it. This may be one of the game’s most valuable life lessons.