Life Lessons of a Professional Online Poker Veteran
The life of a pro poker player seems like that of a glorious one. However, if you’re a poker player and haven’t been through tough times then I’d say you haven’t been doing it long enough. As I sit here typing on my laptop, my mind drifts into deep thought back to a time before I got into poker. I chose poker, it didn’t choose me. At least that’s what I would like to believe. But what if I didn’t take the path of poker. Where would I be now? How would my life be different? Most of all, what type of person would I be, and what values would I have or not have today?
I’m left wondering if I had made the right choice. Whether it was the path I was supposed to take or not, one thing remains certain… a poker player is what I am. I return from my brief day dream as my thoughts have now become clear with this realization. I have learned some of the most valuable lessons from internet poker; things that no teacher could have ever taught me.
How to deal with the variance of life.
I am a much different person now than I was 10 years ago. Poker has changed me, it has taken most of my emotion away from the everyday things.
When I play baseball, I notice the majority of my teammates over-expressing emotion when they strike out, make an error, or when the umpire makes a bad call. They lose control, their emotion shows in either temporary depression or in a fury of anger which leads to them playing worse and hurting the team.
If you looked into our dugout, you could tell by their actions if our team was winning or losing. You can see which teammates are having a good game and which ones were really sucking it up out there.
However, if you stared in my direction, you wouldn’t know if I was pitching a no hitter or if I just got rocked for a 5 run inning.
The biggest lesson I have learned, is to only worry about the things I can personally control. Now while that statement sounds very simple, it’s not a lesson I could’ve learned without years of poker.
Four months ago while living in Prague, I had lost my wallet during a night out drinking with friends. My wallet contained over 8,000 crowns ($500) that I had just withdrawn, my ATM card, my social security card, and all of my identification..
This happened about 9pm on the way to our first club, the accident occurred somewhere in or out of the taxi cab. The two girls I was with didn’t want to bring their purses out with them that night so I was juggling too many things in my pockets and somehow misplaced my wallet.
That night could have been one of the worst nights of my life being in a foreign country stuck with no money, identification or an ATM card. I understood that things like this happen and while it would be a mess to get it all back in the future, I didn’t let any of it affect my mood. I couldn’t change the fact my wallet was gone, but I could control how I felt that night and I did just that. That night was a blast, we had a great time and nothing about my bad beat affected me emotionally.
Click here for a story of the after effects of losing my wallet 
To be independent.
There are no co-workers, teammates, or bosses in poker. For you to survive, you must do it all by yourself. No one is there to make goals for you, set your work hours, or tell you if you are doing a good job.
I’ve learned to set the bar high and how to motivate myself in order to reach those goals. I enjoy a challenge and because I know how to challenge myself, I set goals that are often hard to reach. However, I know just how many hours and dedication is needed to reach those goals. Rewarding yourself for hard work is great and I feel extreme satisfaction when I hit those goals.
How to use all edges to win at life.
I was always good at strategy games as a kid. I played Risk, Chess, and Magic the Gathering. I enjoyed using my mind to beat my opponents. This transitioned well into Texas hold’em, which was a much simpler game with very few rules compared to my games of the past.
As online poker became tougher and tougher each year, I found that the even the smallest edges must be found and exploited in order to stay ahead of the curve. As I funded my life spotting these tiny advantages I realized that no edge should be wasted.
Now I can’t help but look at all the angles of everything I do. I’ve learned the true meaning of giving 100%. Whether it be pitching in a baseball game, picking up a girl at a bar, or planning a trip somewhere, I pay attention to every detail to make sure that I win at all of the things I can control.
