Top 4 Transferrable Skills of Gaming to PokerÂ
Gaming rewards us with prizes, prestige and hours of enjoyment, but there is more to gaming than that. Many of the skills we develop as gamers can be transferred to other past times. Provided you are of legal age in your country, poker is one such game where you can transfer already honed skills to become a proficient poker player. In this article we will share the top four skills you can seamlessly transfer to Texas Hold’em.
1] Strategizing
Most video games require strategy to become a master. The ability to plan ahead to exploit the AI or your online opponents is a fantastic skill to have. A gamer can transfer these skills to Texas Hold’em to good effect. The best poker players are always thinking ahead and planning their next move. So, you will be able to master poker strategy easily, particularly if you are using resources like a Texas Hold’em poker cheat sheet when you start.
2] Patience
Ask any poker coach and they will tell you patience is one of the key attributes for a winning poker player. Fortunately, the best gamers have this in spades (pardon the pun). A gamer has the patience to wait out favourable scenarios or keep trying a new thing on a level. By being mentally tough and patient you are already ahead of the majority of card players you will face! Many of these players just lack the simple patience to wait for profitable situations and good cards. Patience also goes hand in hand with solid bankroll management as you can stretch money out over a long time.
3] Attention to Detail & Concentration
As gamers we are always observing what is going on, never missing a trick. We like the little parts of a game which may have a minute detail that will help us succeed. Our ability to concentrate and have a keen eye will certainly help our poker performance. An observant poker player will pick up on things others won’t. By watching what is happening at the table we will be able to access more information and therefore make better decisions.
Losing players suffer from lapses in concentration, particularly when the session is long. As seasoned gamers with hours upon hours of online player under our belt, we are less likely to suffer from fatigue. This is very useful transferrable skill to call upon when we play online or live poker.
4] Communication Skills
A couple of decades ago a gamer didn’t need much in the way of communication to do well. You’d fire up your game and play alone. No longer is this the case where gamers are an online community. With teamwork via headsets, webcam and streaming devices, we are able to perform better with others.Â
Whether you know it or not you’ve likely developed excellent communication skills as a result of your gaming. Research actually shows that video games develop communication skills. What does this mean for poker? Well, you can chat to opponents to elicit information that reveals their hand. You can also coerce them into taking actions you want. Finally, you can also deceive opponents as to the strength of your hand. You only have to look at WSOP winner Jamie Gold to understand the value of table talk in poker.
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