{"id":15466,"date":"2025-05-21T07:50:58","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T07:50:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/?p=15466"},"modified":"2025-05-21T07:50:58","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T07:50:58","slug":"the-secret-to-being-a-winning-poker-player-and-investor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/?p=15466","title":{"rendered":"The Secret to Being a Winning Poker Player (and Investor)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I love playing poker. I\u2019m not as good as I\u2019d like to be, but I\u2019m good enough to know many of the mistakes I\u2019m making.<\/p>\n

With my wife out of town this past weekend, I spent a lot of my free time at the tables, both in person and online. It was a rare weekend where I won every session.<\/p>\n

What I was most proud of was that I won even though I didn\u2019t always have good cards, especially when I played live.<\/p>\n

The local card room has a lot of experienced players. When a guy sits down next to you and the dealer greets him by name and asks where his wife is, you know he\u2019s logged a lot of hours in the place.<\/p>\n

I took a big pot off of this regular with the one good hand I got all afternoon. He didn\u2019t believe that my hand was as good as I was representing, and he paid for it. An hour later, we reversed roles and he got his money back.<\/p>\n

When I got up from the table later that afternoon, I had won my money back and then some.<\/p>\n

How\u2019d I do it? By playing the same way I invest.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m very disciplined, but I occasionally take a big swing when I believe the odds are in my favor.<\/p>\n

Discipline in poker means I don\u2019t play bad cards. I\u2019m patient. I\u2019ll fold hand after hand if I\u2019m not getting good cards and there isn\u2019t the right opportunity to bluff. I know from experience that when I\u2019m undisciplined, I lose my money \u2013 usually quickly.<\/p>\n

With investing and trading, the same goes.<\/p>\n

I use stops to ensure that a small loss doesn\u2019t become a big, devastating loss \u2013 and that a nice win doesn\u2019t become a loser.<\/p>\n

At the poker table this weekend, the gentleman to my right lost all his chips. He pulled out a wad of cash an inch thick and peeled off another hundred in order to buy more chips. I saw him repeat that several times.<\/p>\n

I never \u2013 and I mean never<\/em> \u2013 do that. In fact, I don\u2019t even bring enough cash to go back into my pocket in case I\u2019m tempted.<\/p>\n

Before I get in the car, I make a rational decision (before emotions take over) about the maximum I\u2019m willing to risk. And that\u2019s what I start with. If I lose it all, I won\u2019t lose any more than I was comfortable risking.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what a stop will do for you in investing.<\/p>\n

Poker is also a lesson in position sizing.<\/p>\n

The Oxford Club recommends that you never put more than 4% of your portfolio into any one position. That way, if you suffer a 25% loss on the stock, which is where we traditionally set our stops, you\u2019ve only lost 1% of your entire portfolio, which is easy to bounce back from.<\/p>\n

The poker world is full of stories of brilliant players who go bust because they\u2019ve mismanaged their money. They take too much risk with too much money, and when things go badly, it becomes a catastrophe.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve worked way too hard in my life to let any one investment take me down. I assume you have too.<\/p>\n

Making and losing money is often an emotional experience. Make decisions about stops and position sizing before you put any money at risk.<\/p>\n

Your outcomes will be better, and when things do sometimes go against you, it won\u2019t be as traumatic \u2013 financially or emotionally.<\/p>\n

And if I see you at the tables, trust me, I have the cards.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n