Reading through this forum, I was quite surprised to find so many posts talking about non poker topics, like your favorite music and etc. I turned 20 just yesterday, and wanted to ask some people for some life advices or lessons that they stick to, as well as what got you interested in playing poker?
My lesson that I learned not so easily is to live my life without regrets, and that starts from minor things like being nice to everyone around me, and ends with making major impacts in my life and around the world.
As for the other question, I got interested in poker because my friends from Highschool would play, so I started to learn how to play as well. Now I play poker because surprisingly enough, the game calms me down tremendously as well as it being genuinely fun to play.
Anyways, thanks for reading and keep staying awesome! Much love to you all <3
Welcome to the Forums, MasterNiko64. Come back often and enjoy the games.
Many players began their poker journey in high school or earlier, often at family gatherings, for minimal stakes, perhaps even Monopoly money. It teaches us how to deal with a lot of social situations and emotions we might not otherwise learn to deal with (tough losses, for example). Poker can be like a game of chess, but it can also be like a boxing match or a free-for-all riot. It depends partly on your opponents and partly on what type of game you enjoy and therefore seek out.
Also, the principles we learn in poker games can help us make decisions in our daily lives, too. Managing risk is a necessary part of everyone’s life, at the tables or away from them.
Welcome! One life lesson I learned (in part) from poker was that nobody really has it figured out. I learned poker in high school, and was kind of intimidated by all the terminology and how confident people seemed. Not being able to see their cards, I was always afraid they had the best hands and I was the fish not knowing what to do.
But with experience, I learned how to play, how to figure out what the other person was holding, and that those supposed experts were often losing players. Poker is a good parallel to navigating life’s complexities and learning to understand psychology. But, unlike in poker, you don’t want to be the kind of person who exploits the weaknesses of others for personal gain.
As for life tips, either read Jordan Peterson’s “12 Rules for Life,” or go to YouTube and watch his 12 rules lecture series.
As far as poker, work on those parts of the game you control, like hand selection and betting (the process), and don’t worry about the parts you can’t control, like what cards come (the outcome). If you understand that having the best hand at an early stage doesn’t guarantee you will be the winner at the end, bad beats won’t stress you so much and you will enjoy the game more. Get the process right and you will profit in the long run, and you should be taking the long term view.
Welcome to the forums and good luck at the tables.
Welcome to the Forums, MasterNiko. Have fun playing poker! I started playing upon retirement, at age 58. I found that the experience of poker could have helped me in my career–but alas, it was all hindsight by then. Hopefully you can learn the lessons and apply them going forward.
I wish I had hedged my bets more in my career–that I had seen where my “sure thing” might not really be so sure. The people who struggle most in poker (and in career) are those who are SURE they have the winning hand…and are shocked when they find they don’t!
One last thing: I set out to live a life without regrets, but on this side of many decades, I now believe some regrets are inevitable. Now I try to live my life with compassion for regrets that I couldn’t avoid. I hope that helps.
Have a blast! This is a fun place to be and to meet people. Beware the cranky ones, embrace the friendships offered by people who look at the sunny side!
I hope that helps.