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20 Poker Quotes -Traders Must Read

Poker is one of the very few casino games that’s like trading. Unlike other games where the casino keeps the odds in their favor, in poker there are many ways to get an edge over other players at the poker table. The way you play the odds can give you an edge, folding on bad hands quickly and playing the best hands only give you an advantage. Managing risk per hand can keep you in the game while others blow out. Sticking with the odds instead of letting emotions take over is another big advantage over other players. I have a buddy that plays well in poker tournaments and it is odd how we can talk about the same elements of strategy that matches both endeavors. Both poker and most financial markets are zero sum games where money flows from those who do not know how the game works to those who do.

  •  “Living in the past is a Jethro Tull album, not a smart poker strategy.” -Richard Roeper
  • “The beautiful thing about poker is that everybody thinks they can play.” -Chris MoneyMaker
  • “If there weren’t luck involved, I would win every time.” — Phil Hellmuth
  • “If you can’t spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you are the sucker.” — Matt Damon in Rounders
  • “The cardinal sin in poker, worse than playing did cards, worse even than figuring your odds correctly, is becoming emotionally involved.” -Katy Lederer
  • “You cannot survive without that intangible quality we call heart. The mark of a top player is not how much he wins when he is winning but how he handles his losses. If you win for thirty days in a row, that makes no difference if on the thirty-first you have a bad night, go crazy, and throw it all away.” -Bobby Baldwin
  • “When we play, we must realize, before anything else, that we are out to make money.” -David Sklansky
  • “Poker may be a branch of psychological warfare, an art form or indeed a way of life – but it is also merely a game, in which money is simply the means of keeping score.” -Anthony Holden
  • “The real things to know is that folks will stand to lose more than they will to win. That’s the most important percentage there is. I mean, if they lose, they’re willing to lose everything. If they win, they’re usually satisfied to win enough to pay for dinner and a show. The best gamblers know that.” -Pug Pearson
  • “Poker reveals to the frank observer something else of import—it will teach him about his own nature. Many bad players do not improve because the cannot bear self-knowledge.” -David Mamet

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Objectivity and The Fundamental Theorem of Poker

 poker-

From David Sklansky’s The Theory of Poker:

Every time you play a hand differently from the way you would have played it if you could see all your opponents’ cards, you lose; and every time you play your hand the same way you would have played it if you could see their cards, they lose.

An analogy in trading can be made concerning objectivity while holding a position:

Every time you execute a trade that you would not have executed had you been flat, you lose; additionally, every time you refrain from executing a trade that you would have executed had you been flat, you lose. (more…)

20 Poker Quotes that Apply To Trading Too

Poker is one of the very few casino games that are like trading. Unlike other games where the casino keeps the odds in their favor in poker there are many ways to get an edge over other players at the poker table. The way you play the odds can give you an edge, folding on bad hands quickly and playing the best hands only give you an advantage. Managing risk per hand can keep you in the game while others blow out. Sticking with the odds instead of letting emotions take over is another big advantage over other players. I have a buddy that plays well in poker tournaments and it is odd how we can talk about the same elements of strategy that matches both endeavors. Both poker and most financial markets are zero sum games where money flows from those who do not know how the game works to those who do.

  1.  “Living in the past is a Jethro Tull album, not a smart poker strategy.” -Richard Roeper
  2. “The beautiful thing about poker is that everybody thinks they can play.” -Chris MoneyMaker
  3. “If there weren’t luck involved, I would win every time.” — Phil Hellmuth
  4. “If you can’t spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you are the sucker.” — Matt Damon in Rounders
  5. “The cardinal sin in poker, worse than playing did cards, worse even than figuring your odds correctly, is becoming emotionally involved.” -Katy Lederer
  6. “You cannot survive without that intangible quality we call heart. The mark of a top player is not how much he wins when he is winning but how he handles his losses. If you win for thirty days in a row, that makes no difference if on the thirty-first you have a bad night, go crazy, and throw it all away.” -Bobby Baldwin (more…)