♠ ♥ Going all in is not just a Poker issue ♣ ♦

It doesn’t matter what you are studying or what you are working in, poker can be applied in any area of study that requires discipline and a good understanding of the others such as business, psychology or maths.

A friend in need – Cassius Marcellus Coolidge

How does it improve discipline?

Poker is not just luck, it is considered as a mental sport such as chess. In terms of discipline, you must be concerned when is a good moment to continue or to stop. Stopping doesn’t mean not winning, it means that it is important to be patient and wait until you hold a good hand or at least know how to play a poor one. In business, it is important to know when a stakeholder is more receptive and put more effort on him or just wait until the precise moment to achieve your purpose.

How do you know when you have to stop?

Another statement that we can apply to our day-to-day actions is that Poker prizes good actions like understanding the others and use the logic, but it also punishes when someone acts hot-headed and ignoring probabilities. During the last event, the people who waited were the ones who lasted more and they had more chances of winning.

Why not online poker?

The society is not just about playing poker but also about correcting others’ mistakes. We advice the others and we don’t look just for our own interest, we want to have fun all together. One of the disadvantages of online poker is that you are on your own and you cannot be advised by others nor understand their behaviour because you cannot see and interprete their facial expressions (something that also happens in real life). Furthermore, some recent research affirm that people thinks more critically when they can see and touch the chips so they have a better knowledge about the money that they are playing.

Last events

The first league night was on Thursday 3^rd of November. The prizes raised to £55 for the first one and there were other 5 prizes out of the 28 participants who came. A dose of adrenaline went across my body, waiting impatient for a good hand while the others were collecting more and more chips and then it happened. Maybe they were not the best cards (a jack of spades and a queen of clubs) but the end of the game was coming and I knew it was my opportunity. The chips were covering the table at the same time my nervous were being noticed by the others. It was the moment to show our cards and I had a pair and a trio. I knew it was good, maybe not how good it was, but then everyone was looking at me and then one of my current friends shouted: The novice has a full! And I know what you are wondering and the answer is no, I’m not one of the final winners but it was my second time and it wasn’t that bad, I learnt the importance of waiting and control my feelings.

Now that we are approaching the end of the semester it is possible to see how we have a better understanding about the importance of those skills for the future and we pay attention to details that at the beginning may had gone unnoticed. Poker has given us the skills we won’t learn in University being an important help for our future career.

If you want to try and have some fun, there are events every Thursday at 18:00 pm in Cross Keys Bar. The events are shared in Facebook and there is more info and tips in the Student’s Union page.

To see how a poor hand can turn into a good one, check out the last scene of Casino Royale (2006)