Poker Meta-Skills – Minimizing the Effect of Luck on Your Bottom Line

Poker is a card game played by two or more people. Each player must ante (put in a small amount of money; the amount varies by game) before being dealt two cards face down. After everyone has received their cards, they bet into the middle of the table (known as The Pot) and the person with the highest hand wins the pot.

The game requires a combination of skill and luck, as with most gambling games, but the best players have developed meta-skills that minimize the effect of luck on their bottom line. These skills include the ability to exploit opponents, to maintain a steady stream of relative advantage, and to execute well under pressure.

In addition to their innate skill, professional poker players have spent countless hours honing their strategy. They know that bluffing is an effective way to force weak hands out of the pot, and they can also improve their chances by betting aggressively with strong hands.

Like life, poker involves making decisions without full knowledge of the outcome. Unlike chess, in which the players have complete command of the facts throughout a hand, poker mimics real life, in which resources must be committed before all information is revealed. In fact, even expert players still need a lot of luck to get “in the money.” But applying the twin meta-skills of opportunity and strategy virtually eliminates the effect of luck over time.