Building Confidence and Career Success

While poker may not be the first place you'd expect to find women building their careers, it's becoming a surprising and effective training ground for risk-taking and negotiation skills. In a world where women still face significant pay gaps and underrepresentation in leadership roles, poker offers a unique opportunity to develop the skills needed to thrive in the professional world.

Jenny Just, founder of Poker Power, recognizes the parallels between the poker table and the boardroom. "The poker table was like every money table I had sat at," she says. "It was an opportunity to learn skills like capital allocation, taking risks, and learning how to strategize."

Playing poker repeatedly helps women become more comfortable taking risks in various scenarios, as Erin Lydon, former president of Poker Power, explains. "We want women to feel like something is at risk, and they have to make a decision. They may win. They may lose. And they are going to do it repetitively, so it starts to feel less uncomfortable to take those risks — at the poker table, asking for the raise, asking for the promotion."

Professional poker player Maria Konnikova echoes this sentiment, sharing how poker helped her identify and overcome internalized risk-averse behaviors that hindered her career. "In the half decade I've been playing, I have become better at taking strategic risks not only on the felt but also in life," she writes. "I've raised my speaking fees, negotiated better pay for my writing, and have extricated myself from unappealing situations with less concern about being 'nice.'"

Even in a male-dominated field like professional poker, women like Abby Merk are breaking stereotypes and achieving success. "When I sat down at the poker table, I was instantaneously stereotyped," she says. "I was supposed to be tight, so I was not supposed to play a lot of hands, and I was supposed to be passive when I played them because I was a female."

Through practice and perseverance, Merk transformed from a "losing player" to a successful tournament player, winning tens of thousands of dollars. "That mindset and the game itself are helpful in any workplace environment," she emphasizes. "Women existing in or striving for positions of power is sometimes an uncomfortable feeling for men, and the only way to get around that — and the only way to go against that — is to keep doing it."

As women continue to navigate the challenges of the professional world, poker offers a valuable training ground for developing the confidence, risk-taking, and negotiation skills needed to succeed. By embracing the game and its lessons, women can empower themselves to break barriers and achieve their full potential.