8 reasons Corporates should be hiring Poker Players
By: Patrick Connolly
Tags: Poker, Recruitment, Hiring, Entrepreneurship, Business

This is an article I’ve been wanting to compile for a while now.

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To give some context I love playing poker and have taken the game seriously for almost 10 years. I’ve never at any stage in my poker journey considered myself a full-time ‘professional’ or had a sustained win-rate that has been desirable enough for me to do so but I believe I have enough verifiable minor successes, volume, network and longevity within the game to provide more than enough of a #skininthegame and credible context on the subject.

I also know my biggest return on investment within the game has been the transferability of skills and learning into the business (and life) world which leads into some of my motivations for writing this article.

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If I was to have interviewed for a role ~5 years ago my poker playing is definitely something I would have incorrectly kept under wraps and feel a lot of players might still feel the same today, whether they play or played full time and have this as a ‘gap’ on the resume or played part time as a ‘side-hustle’ etc. Reasons players may do this might include a ‘stigma’ they think surrounds this or thinking an employer won’t look favourably upon their playing experience, thinking they are somehow dodgy or some sort of degenerate gambler etc.

Also, just to create some sort of ‘benchmark’, ‘players’ I’m referring to in the below examples should be able to refer to at least ~1k hours equivalent of tracked playing data. It will more than likely be a lot more than this but just stating a number to draw a line somewhere.

By putting this article together I hope that it can invite a player to be able to proudly include their poker experience on their CV, demonstrating what sort of skills, experience, responsibilities etc are included within the activity and how this can transfer to corporate success. I also hope it can help open a potential employer’s eyes to the unique opportunity they might have in front of them if the chance arises to embed someone with strong playing experience within their organisations.

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Reason 1 — They are skilled Decision-Makers — They are rational, process-orientated, analytical, have good situational awareness and are long-term thinkers.

This is probably the biggest reason, so I feel like I’ve had to break it down into a few parts -

Rational — Poker players understand that emotion can massively effect decision making and aim to make technically or theoretically optimal decisions despite how they are feeling at the time. They have awareness of these impacting emotions often referred to in the form of ‘tilt’ which can be both ‘negative’ tilt (think anger) or ‘positive’ tilt (think riding some sort of high) both of which influential towards suboptimal decisions.

Process orientated — Poker players understand they can do everything right but still receive a bad outcome. As the old saying goes “The operation was successful, but the patient died”. Poker players know that process is the most important thing and that is where the focus and attention needs to be regardless of the outcome that may occur. They also have awareness on how outcomes can affect emotions as alluded to above and can maintain rationality or level headedness despite the outcome being positive or negative. You can get all the money in pre-flop with Pocket aces but still lose, you can play a hand terribly and still win. Good process always wins in the long run.

Data driven/analytical — Poker players are continually collecting as much data/information as possible and using this data in an attempt to make theoretically clean decisions. Players know that the more reliable data available to support a decision the better, are great at collecting subtle data that others may miss or think is irrelevant and are also good at making logical interpretations of the data. They understand they need both reliable, and a good volume of data to support and back their decisions and that reasoning for an action akin to a ‘gut feeling’ isn’t good enough.

Situational awareness/emotional intelligence — Poker players have great situational awareness. Most players will have some sort of technically sound ‘equilibrium strategy’ but will use situational awareness to make deviations from this strategy. Some examples might include someone’s mood, body-language, a recent hand that’s occurred at the table, a recent conversation of some sort, a recent drink that’s been finished, something that’s going on in someone’s life, someone’s clothing etc.

Being able to make real-time ‘adjustments’ from someone’s equilibrium due to situational factors is a highly valuable trait in the corporate world… think relating to prospects, or not bringing something in particular to a colleague while they are having a rough day, waiting until your boss gets a big win to ask for your 7-week annual leave approval etc.

Long term thinkers — To be able to be truly rational and process-orientated the poker player knows he/she has to have a long-term mindset. Anyone can win or lose in the short term and the same goes in business. Those who continue to do the correct process consistently and over and over again will come out the best in the long run. This can be a hard concept to grasp especially from the emotions that outcomes can make someone feel in the short run, but it is a concept the Poker player has a strong grasp on. Poker players know short sample sizes are unreliable and that a large sample is required for accuracy or to get a better understanding of what is ‘true’.

Decision-Making will be a major aspect (potentially the most major?) of any corporate role. Poker players have put themselves through vigorous decision-making training, and have experience executing on this training in timely and pressure situations over decent sample sizes where something is always at stake. True skin in the game.



Reason 2 — Studious

Poker players study their craft, or they fall behind. They know that work ‘off the felt’ is as (or more) important as work on the felt and are disciplined enough to put the time in. I’m remembering an old famous saying something along the lines of using an allocated 6 hours to cut down a tree by spending 5 hours sharpening your saw and 1 hour actually sawing. Hiring a Poker player will bring you someone who is interested in improving and developing their new craft and will not only put in the necessary work outside of the office to do so but knows how. Poker players have studied and learnt a process-orientated competitive activity so have proven their studying competence outside of just rote memorisation. Players also understand that the landscape always changes, and that study is a continuous process or a habit rather than a 1 off. If your interviewing a poker player, ask them about their studying methods/plans/techniques/strategies etc and how they might transfer this into a corporate role.



Reason 3 — Great at tracking / admin

Poker players are good at tracking similar to how someone in the corporate world might need to track in say a CRM or HRM system etc. They use software, know what data inputs are relevant, are diligent enough to actually input the data, and continually look back at this data to track progress, spot areas of improvement, identify ‘leaks’ etc. Hiring a poker player will be one of your best ‘admin’ hires.

Reason 4 — Strong mindset and emotional intelligence.

Poker can be a devastating game. A deck of cards has no sympathy for anyone and doesn’t care who you are or what you’re going through in the ‘real world’. You can get all the money in as a 95% favourite and lose. This can happen time and time again, it can happen at the end of a 10 hour session, it can happen 1 spot before the money in a tournament, it can happen in favour of someone you despise. Poker is one of the only games (possibly the only) where you can absolutely dominate your opponent and still lose. Players understand the existence of this kind of variance, are accustom to taking these sort of hits and more importantly are able to get up and carry on with things regardless, understanding that the variance will work itself out over the long term as long as their process remains clean. A poker player would be one of your most ‘thick-skinned’ and resilient hires.

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Reason 5 — Action takers, but don’t bite off more than they can chew

Poker players show good level headedness whereby they have a healthy appetite for calculated risk, love challenge, but don’t bite off more than they can chew. The best example I can think of that is commonly talked about in the poker world is if you’re for example the 9th best player but you only play with the 8 best players you will be a losing player (unsuccessful). If you’re the 500th best player but only play with the 1500–2000th best players you’ll be a winning player (successful), even though you’re not technically as good as the 9th best player.

When it comes to ‘taking action’ I believe corporate managers find this to be a little bit of a ‘walking the tight rope’ challenge whereby they want hires to have the ability to get things done and work things out autonomously without requiring ‘hand holding’ but at the same time not dive into things that they aren’t ready for or isn’t their role.

I think the appetite for smart risk and openness to challenge the poker player shows means they’ll pick up things and dive into action without requiring this continual direction but they’ll also know when they’ve ‘sat down at the wrong table’ or are in a situation where they’re slightly out of their depth and are humble enough to step away at these times to ask for help, do the required study etc before returning.

Reason 6- Good bankroll management

This one may come as a surprise to include especially to those who still see poker players as something akin to a degenerate gambler but anyone who has had longevity in the game is more than likely practicing very disciplined and strict bankroll management. This includes having separate ‘bankrolls’ for separate areas of life and never mixing these bankrolls with ‘poker’ obviously being 1 of those areas. Within the ‘poker’ area for example players will generally only be using a very small % of this bankroll (which can vary depending on the players personal rules or the game but think somewhere in region of ~2%) at any given moment or in any specific game.

The reason I believe this to be a relevant point is that if your hire is managing their income in a strategic, frugal and responsible way they are likely going to be ‘on top of things’ outside of the office, thereby less stressed and more focussed/productive etc when at work. It’s unlikely a poker player would be taking on a stressful, lavish, ‘pay cheque to pay cheque’ type approach to their corporate income.

Reason 7 — They know how to perform

Poker isn’t a game where you can show up, ‘go through the motions’ and expect to be successful. Depending on how big your edge against your opponents is, you can maybe get away with playing your ‘B’ game but anything worse than your ‘C’ game will be devastating to your bottom line. Poker players know they perform best when they’re ‘in the zone’ or in some sort of flow state, know what it’s like to be in this state, and know what sort of mental strategies they need to use in an attempt to get themselves there. They also know that achieving this extends outside of just an ‘in-game’ strategy with things such as good sleep, keeping fit, correct food etc also playing a factor. It won’t be every day the successful player gets ‘in the zone’ but the closer most days the better it is for the P+L.

I’m certain corporate manager’s have witnessed these ‘type’s’ within their organisations who can really lock in and get ‘in the zone’ so will also know that it’s both highly valuable and not common (in my opinion). Hire a poker player for someone who understands performance psychology both practically and theoretically.

Reason 8 — Good networkers

I don’t feel as strongly on this point as I don’t think it’s an absolute ‘given’ like the others but still believe it’s worthwhile to include as a lot of poker players will be good networkers. Employers understand the importance and relevance of this skill in the corporate world both externally and internally to the organisation. This networking prowess may come about from having access/invitations to certain games, organising your own games, accessing high level coaching/study groups/mentoring etc or simply from sitting at tables full of interesting people from all walks of life for hours at a time.

What about the reasons not?

Although I’m not going to go into detail on this one as this is an article about the reasons for! — I want to be ‘balanced’ (This is another positive about poker players as they understand that almost nothing is a pure 100% or 0% frequency decision but will lie somewhere in between 1–99%) and recognise that some minor downsides may exist for organisations bringing on poker players (think following structure). Despite recognising this existence, I strongly believe that the reasons mentioned above far outweigh any potential cons. For a further insight into the potential disadvantages I would recommend checking out Brandon Adams book ‘Personal Organisation for Degenerates’ which delves a bit deeper into the ‘poker mind’ on both sides.

In closing — if you’re a player looking to jump into the corporate world I invite you to not hide behind your playing experience and instead proudly include it to strengthen your CV. If you’re an employer exploring hiring a poker player I invite you to have an excited and open mind and explore interview questions around the above positive points.

Best wishes to all — both on the felt and in the office!