A Synergy of Trading, Poker and Winners

Poker and trading have a lot of similarities. It's a game of probabilities, risk management, trading psychology, and endurance. I was never able to fully appreciate the game until recently.

Celeste showed me a video of a poker match and asked me to explain what was going on and why it was such a big deal. Here's the link https://www.facebook.com/NYCPOKERCLUB/videos/2008663292581147/

That lead me to download the game and spend hours playing. The stale market didn't help as well. What else should you do if your setups don't show but to distract yourself elsewhere?

The week after, I got invited to one of Kaizen's regular meetups. And guess what? There was a poker session and I got a chance to play with one of Asia's poker champions, Javi/Taylor. The game was totally different from the app. I could see people's reactions, my emotions were heightened, and there was a lot of chatter, similar to market noise.

If I were to describe the whole experience to you, it felt like I got back to being a level one trader. It was exciting! And I loved it.

I lost 200PHP that day. But I learned a lot.

Taylor was generous enough to share to us his learnings from a 2k USD seminar he attended, conducted by one poker legend. I won't go into the details but I'll share a few that have similarities to trading.

There are Three Levels in playing Poker

1. Playing the probabilities of the Cards dealt with you.

2. Anticipating and Playing your opponent's Cards.

3. And lastly, Deception.

If you are dealt a good hand, raise. In trading, that's called averaging up. If the odds are in your favor and you're winning, add to your position. Otherwise, you're wasting an opportunity.

If you are dealt with a bad hand, cut your losses and wait for a better hand. If you raise without a potential win when the flop appears, in trading, that's called averaging down. But that's the stupidest thing you can do unless you're a level 3 poker player who's crazy enough to try and pull a bluff.

I tried to play in situations where I had to divide my attention between playing and getting things done. It did not end well. It's the same as trading if your attention is divided when you plan and finally execute, chances are, it won't go towards your favor.

I mentioned that poker is waiting and an endurance game. Because just like trading you WAIT for your setups. Sitting out of the market is a skill everyone should develop. How many times have you experienced forcing trades and ending up losing because you were bored? How many of those ended up a huge mess because you kept raising until you were fully committed?

Don't ever Bluff with the Market - that shit doesn't work here.

If your setups don't appear, simply 

DO 

NOT 

TRADE.

"We play our risks and probabilities well in poker when we're dealt a good hand, pero sa trading, we mess it all up dahil bored. It doesn't make sense!"

Scraffy (top 5 of 2017 Investacup) explained to us. 

"So whenever I have the itchy fingers, I go to metro-walk and spend a thousand on Poker. Better to lose the money there and satisfy my itch than lose millions in the markets."

After learning these things, I was able to grow the virtual account by x20 with lesser time and effort. But I understand that consistent success isn't overnight and I have a long way to go when it comes to poker. I'm simply amazed by the law of averages at work. If you want to reduce your learning curve, if you want to learn how to win, Spend time with winners, STFU and listen - literally Spend if you have to. 

Don't be average. Throw your sense of pride and entitlement. Stop the blame game. Stop complaining and playing the victim. Nobody owes you anything. Don't wait for opportunities to come to you.

CREATE YOUR REALITY

Take responsibility and Deal with it.

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The week after, It was my turn to host the show. A tradecation with fellow ZFTs, friends from Kaizen and Caylum. The experience was unique than our usual sessions since the learning was peer to peer, from a different cultural standpoint.

It made me realize there's a DNA to winners. A lot of us grew up thinking that winning is a one-time thing. You win when you graduate. You win when you get first place. You win when you become the boss of your company. You win when you're the only one left standing. This is bullshit.

Winning is not a one-time thing. It is a continuous process. And for you to become a winner in whatever you do, you must develop the right habits and the right beliefs. If you won a competition by bending rules and cheating, you lost to yourself - don't live a fairytale and fool yourself. 

Because How we win matters. 

Have you ever heard of the phrase "trust the process?"

If you follow this, then good for you! But good means average. And being average is not enough. If you want to be great at anything, you shouldn't just trust the process. 

Fall 

in 

Love 

with 

it.