There are many things that can help improve your stance in business. Following business success stories can help inform you of how business greats succeeded – from Alan Sugar and Richard Branson to the Kardashian clan’s business exploits and even real housewife Bethenny Frankel’s Skinnygirl empire. Reading books on business and staying abreast of developments in the world of business, sales, marketing, and finance can also prove critical to developing yourself in business. But what about more out of the box ideas like poker? Can playing poker help improve your position in business?

Strategy Development

Granted, playing poker relies on a little bit of luck but there’s a whole load of strategic thinking involved too. Most prolific poker players will tell you that in order to succeed in poker, you need to think like a poker player. A strategy is key in poker – from monitoring your opponent to find their tells and identify their bluffing, to keeping your own strategy hidden while you slowly work your way up to the jackpot. Poker relies heavily on thoughtful play, which, in turn, can be replicated in a business sense.

Business relies on both evolutionary strategy and a more cast-iron one that acts a map for small businesses. While it is important to have a generalised idea of where your business is going, it also helps to be flexible enough to take advantage of unplanned developments and react to possible obstacles. In poker, you need a generalised idea of how far you plan to go, how much money you plan to wager, and a basic poker strategy for beating your opponent. But you also need to be flexible in your thinking in order to take advantage of things in the game you can’t plan for. So, whether it’s Texas Hold ‘Em or Seven Card Stud, playing poker can help solidify strategic thinking, which can, in turn, help put your business into perspective in order to plan for a profitable future.

Playing with both passive players and aggressive players can also affect gameplay, and this can’t be predicted most times before hitting the table. Being able to quickly adapt to the energy of the table and change your strategy to sustain the different playing styles around you is critical for success. Transfer this to business by adapting the ins and outs of the strategy to whoever you’re doing business with, while maintaining the core strategy.

Decision Making Skills

Playing poker can also help hone your decision making skills, which are crucial for making progress in a business, especially in such a saturated market. Poker success comes from winning money in the long run, not winning hands, as these can be equally distributed across players. Poker helps you work on decision making as you often have to make both fast decisions under pressure and ones that your opponent can’t anticipate or can’t read from your expressions. For example, Texas Hold ‘Em requires decisions to be made before the flop, when there is less information to go on. While Seven Card Stud provides more information up front, Texas Hold ‘Em requires the game to continue before you know whether you should fold your hand or not. Being able to do this well in poker can suit a business well, as you will be used to making fast decisions with high stakes and also ones that opponents – or business contacts, suppliers etc. – can’t read. You won’t last in business if key contacts sense your weakness and learn they can take advantage of you.

Focus Under Pressure

Poker is often a time-sensitive game, with delayed movements being regarded as indecisive, and quick movements been considered reckless. By being able to focus under pressure and make a decision in the right amount of time, you can come across as confident and strong, while furthering your position in the game. This is similar to business, as making too quick a decision comes across as naïve and impish, while delays can lose valuable time and face. Being able to make fast decisions while remaining focused enough under pressure to appear calm and confident is also key. In poker, from Omaha Hi-Lo to Texas Hold ‘Em, poker faces are key to the game. Much like in business, you should never let those around you know how worried or not you are, or how successful you are. By taking the “cards close to chest” analogy from poker and applying it to business, you should be able to keep just the optimal amount of aloofness.

When it comes to business, more happens below the surface than on the surface, and much the same with poker. As soon as finances are implemented in a business, you need to ensure that overheads are met and that the books balance throughout. To do this will involve a lot of scheming and ensuring deadlines are met without any hysteria. Your goal is to ensure each month (each hand) is played out perfectly and, each time you move forward, you do so with tangible lessons from before. Poker is much the same, with information gathered about opponents and your own playing style as you play out a game. The key is to have the huge pressures and stakes of wagers and jackpots, and the negative ramifications of your business not working, and still keep your head above water and be able to maintain a cool demeanour.

So, while playing poker and developing strategy and gameplay may not seem the most straightforward way to improve your skills in business, there are actually quite a lot of transferable skills. At the end of the day, business is about rising through the ranks and attempting to make money, while maintaining a cool air and keeping what you actually want close to your chest. Business is as much about analysing situations and playing the hand out as poker is. While poker may help develop strategic thinking, it can also help focus under pressure with deadlines looming, and help the general decision-making process. Playing poker can save your business.