How to Avoid Recurring Mistakes in Poker and Life
Poker is a card game played between two or more people around a table with their own stacks of chips. Players make bets on each hand, called a pot, until someone has all the chips or everyone folds. Players may also check, meaning they don’t want to bet. A good poker player will mix up their style, betting and bluffing to keep their opponents guessing what they have in their hand.
While luck plays a large role in the outcome of any single poker hand, the long-term expectations of the players are based on decisions made using principles of probability, psychology and game theory. In fact, poker has become so analytical that professional players often seem like machines.
Annie Duke writes that it’s easy to fall into the trap of what she calls “resulting.” This is the practice of starting at an outcome—like winning a hand—and working backwards to either validate or lambast the people who made the decision that led to that outcome. In poker, resulting can lead you to play too safe and miss opportunities where a moderate amount of risk could yield a big reward. In life, resulting can lead you to surrender when a challenging situation arises. Rather than giving up, focus on the process that leads to an outcome and try to learn from your mistakes. You’ll get farther in both poker and life if you don’t let fear and ego get in the way of your progress.