5 Career Lessons I've Learned as a Professional Poker Player
"Open this for me, sir.”
The eyebrows of the security guard move to his nose.
His forehead wrinkles.
Normally I am calm under such situations, but this time I feel my heartbeat going up.
I slowly move the zipper to open my backpack.
“What is this?”
The guard holds up a large amount of bank notes.
I swallow the tempting single-word response: “Money”. Not the right time for jokes.
Instead I tell him that I’ve played poker in London, and that I exchanged the pounds into euros before coming to the airport.
The guard does not react and is ice-cold.
It feels like his dark eyes pierce right through me.
My body temperature rises.
Will I get into trouble?
Suddenly I recall that my hoodie is in my backpack. I show it to the guard, pointing at the logo of the website that sponsored me for the tournament in London.
“Hmmm.”
His eyebrows relax.
And his forehead unwrinkles.
Luckily this piece of ‘evidence’ convinces the guard that I did not visit London for a weekend of drug-dealing.
Relieved I take a seat in the waiting area and think about the time I started playing poker.
Tables with playmoney. And 1c/2c tables.
To the point I played the highest stakes and decided to put half of my University courses on hold. Freeing up time to take poker to the next level.
This all happened 10 years ago.
It was a long journey to get there – and hard work too.
More and more I see the parallels with other areas in life. And I understand that what I’ve learned as a poker player shaped the person that I am right now.
Five lessons.
1) Taking the right decisions consistently is long-term gold
Poker can make you go up and down, but you need to be patient and consistently make the right choices.
This is no different in life. Have the discipline and make the right choices every day. Invest in your friends. Make time for your family. Workout. Eat meals that nourish your body. Learn new things every day.
Results won’t come in a week.
But if you stick with strong habits – the future will smile at you.
2) Improve every day
At some point, poker started to become profitable. Does that mean the way to make money is by playing it?