Life Lessons from Poker: There Is Always A Good Move

What’s the best thing I can do right now?

Everyone has times when they feel down. You could be going through a break-up. You could’ve just lost your job. You could’ve just failed an exam.

Or you could just be able a bad day.

When I’m down, I often believe that I’m going to be going down a spiral of depression. I feel like the cycle of terrible things is going to continue and that there’s no way out.

I’m a big picture person who loves to watch and analyse how complicated systems interact with each other. As a result of this, I tend to view the macro-environment of what’s happening rather than thinking about what the best thing I can do now is.

As a consequence, if I’ve been going downhill for a few months I’ll end up feeling like it’s going to keep going. But I’ve been shown again and again that this is wrong. The human experience is characterised by it’s turbulent ups and downs.

This quote by Elizabeth Wurtzel sums up how I feel about depression perfectly.

“That’s the thing about depression: A human being can survive almost anything, as long as she sees the end in sight. But depression is so insidious, and it compounds daily, that it’s impossible to ever see the end.” — Elizabeth Wurtzel

I’m at an age where one of my favourite things is to drink with my friends. And when I drink, I like to play beer pong. But when you play beer pong and you start losing — well, you keep losing.

Since there’s such a short time-frame for improvement and you’re getting drunker and drunker every time you take a loss, you’re more likely to lose.

But in life, you can always come back.

Life is like Poker, not Beer Pong

I had a friend once tell me that one lesson that he has carried from playing poker was that there is always a good move.

I’ve since thought about this poker analogy over and over. If you start losing in poker, you can always come back — granted that you don’t tilt.

Your life going downhill is like being dealt a bad hand. Even though you’re dealt with a bad hand, there are still ways to win the game. You can bluff, call your opponent’s bluff, tilt your opponent or the million other things that will give you an upper hand.

Unlike other logical games like chess or checkers where rules are clear, the social dimension of poker mimics the complicated nature of the human experience.

That doesn’t mean getting a bad hand is desirable. I’d rather get good hands every time I play. But sometimes you get dealt bad hands — and you need to accept reality and make the best decision you can.

Sometimes it’s difficult and other times it requires a whole new dimension of thinking. But when you’re losing, breaking the pattern is one of the most important things you can do.

“Life is not always a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes, playing a poor hand well.” — Jack London

This is a small excerpt of an idea that runs through my mind when I’ve taken a few losses. It helps take the focus off my present and past losses and shifts my mindset into a more future-facing one. I hope you remember this the next time you’re going through a hard time.