Poker Can Teach You 4 Important Investment Strategies

Professional poker players make millions of dollars by consistently playing high stakes games against some of the smartest people in the sport. This can be a stressful career, full of ups and downs, which has also allowed them to gain some valuable lessons in regards to risking big amounts of money. Lessons that can be surprisingly relevant for the investment market.

Study the Other Players

An article on the Business Inquirer warns about the multitude of fake gurus ensuring that they have discovered a way to provide unbelievable returns. As a result, technical advice from truly successful investors may be lost among all the noise.

Beginners in the poker scene are also constantly being bombarded by ads promoting courses offering proven winning methods. However, even superficial research online may show that some of these “professionals” credentials may be a bit questionable. It’s always better to talk to those who have taken these courses and ask them how useful these tips really were.

Always Plan Ahead

If you follow financial headlines, you may have occasionally felt the desire to invest in a revolutionary piece of technology. As mentioned in a previous Instant Loans article, not planning ahead is one of the main reasons relatively good investments can end up in big losses.

Professional poker players, for example, don’t jump into every high stakes game, blindly trusting their skills. Rather, they prefer to carefully plan their strategy: from analyzing which poker variant better matches their playing style, to assessing which stages of the game are better for riskier bets.

Taking a Step Back

Making a good investment requires regularly monitoring financial news, and analyzing the potential of new opportunities. These activities can be deeply rewarding on their own, which can lead investors to immerse themselves in analytics for weeks at a time. As a result, they can end up focusing on projections rather than everyday losses.

Poker.org piece on leveling up in poker explains how sometimes it’s better for players to take a break from the tables. It’s hard to explain a series of losses when you are invested in every single play. Instead, successful players know that taking a short break from poker can help them return with a fresh mindset.

Trust the Math

An article on WSJ.com warns not to trust your instincts when it comes to trading. Research has shown that “gut feelings” are only reliable under stable circumstances. But in a volatile market, they become unreliable.

Poker players are also tempted to follow their gut, but the most successful ones pay close attention to what the math says. Starting a game of Texas Hold’em with an Ace and a Jack of the same suit may make us hope for a Royal Flush, but the reality is that getting this hand, which can beat all others, has a chance of only 1 in 30,000.

Poker can be an exciting game, where people can make or lose millions in a matter of hours. But for those who have managed to emerge consistently victorious, the lessons learned may be useful in different aspects of their life, including entrepreneurship and the investment market.