Customer Reviews

The Poker MBA: Winning in Business No Matter What Cards You're Dealt

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

One of the greatest so called business strategy books often cited is Sun-Tzu "The Art of War", a treatise on warfare which has been adapted to the business world given that the arena of business is muhc like warfare. It is not surprising at all that the game of Poker also can be used to draw lessons and strategies in the business world.

I am a poker player, option trader and businessman and I found the book did an excellent job of showing the fun, intrigue and skill of poker and how it is played and how we can learn to use those same skills in negotiations, management and making investments. The book is written with great little stories and examples with special highlights of kep points and chapter summaries of diferent issues. If you love Poker, then you will love the details the book covers on what skills the pros use in bluffing, playing their hands, and reading their opponents. You will also enjoy how the authors show the use of those skills in business dealings and how relevant and useful those skills are.

To the reviewer who criticized the book in its discussion of poker and business, I think the reviewer missed an excellent point of hte book. Business is NOT a chess game where two people with equal resources (same pieces on the baord) deal with each other and the individual's skill level determines the winner. In chess, everything is out there on the board and your emotion plays no role in affecting your other opponent. for example, one side cannot seem more desparate at the beginning of the game before the pieces have been moved.

However this is not true in the real world. In business negotations, parties do not have the same resource to compete with. Parties are also coming from different emotional states. One side may be very desparate to get a deal doen while the other has enough money to wait out the deal and see if something better comes along. The individual skill in such settings is how you use your resources and emotions and play with the hand that has been dealt to you. This is poker at its finest.

If you have a good hand, you still need to analyze what your opponent has and how he or she is betting. But what if they are bluffing? Don't we bluff in business deals as well. The same pshychology that goes into learning your opponent and determing if they are bluffing you based on teh card showing is the same skill we need to sit across from someone at a negotiation table and determine what they are offering and what we can offer. It is also true in managing people and handling investments. The skills of POKER are very transferable to the business world.

THis book does a great job of showing how the wonderful skills of poker can be used in the business world and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. After just reading it once, it already got my mind thinking a different way when I consider future business proposals, negotiations or just dealing with co-workers on business issues.

This book is well written and fun to read. The analogies between poker & business are undeniable and insightful.

1) Know your opponent. Don't assume that they think like you, often they don't.

"Bad players play their own hand. Good ones play their opponent's hand first, then worry about their own cards." (pg 15)

2) In negotiation (and poker), remember three rules:
a) don't give up something without getting something in return
b) keep a poker face (e.g. Boxers are trained to smile after being hit - to show their fortitude)
c) let your opponent feel like they are winning (so they will do business with you again)

3) The answer is rarely black/white. The answer is IT DEPENDS. Advanced poker players think on many different levels.

4) Don't gamble. Do your homework and know the odds. Take calculated risks. If possible, be the house (not the player) by creating the system that other people use and pay for.

5) "Information has value. Just as you wouldn't give away cash, don't give away ideas - unless they contribute to you or your organization."

"It's who you know and who knows you. Find out the people of influence that you need to know, and earn the right to meet them." (pg 89)

6) ". . .the minute you achieve success, people will be coming after you. The best way to guard against it is to keep your success to yourself. (pg 92)

7) Don't put yourself in the situation where you HAVE TO win. The urgency of the situation puts you at a disadvantage.

8) Poker is a zero-sum game, but life and business are not.

9) Pump it, or dump it. In poker ". . you typically should either raise the pot (pump it) and take control of the hand or fold (dump it) and get out entirely. Just calling is an option, but rarely the right one." (pg 107) The same applies to business, stick to your strengths. 80/20 principle.

10) Be tight and aggressive. For poker, play only a few hands, but play them hard. For business, focus your investments.

As an executive at a major investment firm, I use skills and concepts from game theory every day. Poker strategy and business strategy go hand-in-hand as this book explains in a fun, easy-to-apply framework using examples from Fortune 500 companies to startup businesses. You don't need to be a professional poker player to enjoy and learn from this book. The lessons passed along are concise and applicable to all aspects of business.

To the reviewer below, this book does NOT attempt to teach the reader how to play poker. You obviously did not read the book. Do yourself a favor: read the book, start applying the skills articulated in it, get a job and move out of your parents' basement.

The author of "The Finance Doctor" has once again penned a simple-to-use guide to improving your stake in business and in life (and in poker, in this case.) You don't have to know anything about poker to read, understand, and apply the principles set forth in this book. The concepts are time-tested, thought-provoking, and executable for anyone wanting to get ahead in the board room. I found the chapters on starting your own business especially poignant. I will put my Poker MBA to good use!

An interesting and fun read, replete with some key business (and poker-playing) lessons.

The author tells in the introduction that "poker teaches you that following the laws of human nature can lead to poor decision making." Indeed, this book helps you apply the rules of poker to your business in order to counter the normal urges of human nature. When should you divulge information, whether to play the "good cop" or "bad cop" in a negotiation, how to arrive at a win-win deal with your business partner.

All of these questions can be answered, quite creatively, by lookly deeply into the game of high-stakes poker.

As a poker player and businessman, I found this book to be both extremely enjoyable and useful. The analogies are terrific, and the lessons to be learned are money. I plan on buying copies for my managers. I have often believed that many of the skills I use in poker are useful in business; this book confirms it! A must read!

Business professionals of all types need to understand one constant in today's marketplace.....it's all about people. To effectively manage individuals and teams or lead negotiations with partners, you have to have an intuitive sense of what people are thinking, doing, sensing, ALL THE TIME.....just as Dinkin and Gitomer suggest you do in the game of poker.

Although I am not a poker player, I enjoyed the poker analogies and think the authors do an excellent job of making you feel as though you are simultaneously sitting at the felt and in a conference room......learning all the time and studying people incessantly.

Like most salesman, I'm an optimist. I believe and trust most people I come in contact with. My outgoing personality is both my greatest strength, and my greatest weakness. The Poker MBA taught me how to get a better "read" on people, and what to do once I've made my read.

Never before did I realize that "weak is strong, and strong is weak". Since reading The Poker MBA, I not only understand this concept, but I've used my new found knowledge to successfully influence business deals.

Whether you're a poker player or not, the strategies taught in this book will help you win whatever hand you are dealt.

I really like reading this book. I like all the examples and the different ways the book gets an idea across. I will use the suggestions and advice for many years to come. I think the poker metaphor is very relevant to the way business is run and the way we interact with each other. I recommend this book to all younger people who are just getting their start in the business world.

It's really a shame that The Poker MBA doesn't get mentioned more than it does. It's a great read for everyone. The lessons go beyond poker and business and extend into the realm of everyday life. I give a copy to all my new interns and even to others as gifts.