If you are a business entrepreneur with good Poker skills, you may unknowingly possess more business skills than you think you already have. Believe it or not, Poker players develop several critical skills while playing to win the pot by the end of the game since the game itself requires strategy and sharpness.
Poker generally has two main playing styles: Tight-Aggressive (TAG) and Loose-Aggressive (LAG). A winning poker style can change the course of an online poker game and help a player win real money. In this article, TAG, LAG, and their combinations will be further explained, besides demonstrating how the lessons learned from these styles can be applied to business.
Tight-Aggressive (TAG) Poker Style
In the Tight-Aggressive style of Poker, players usually play only a few hands, particularly when hitting a flip or a promising draw. This strategy is a more conservative way of playing, where players avoid seizing opportunities that create risks.
It is also considered a good starting point for new poker gamers since it helps keep their variance down, avoid difficult marginal situations, and keep things simple at the poker table.
However, it’s important for new players to also practice more aggressive play in low-stakes games or with play money to develop a well-rounded skill set. To facilitate this, online poker at Bovada offers practice play mode, which allows players to experiment with different strategies, learn to recognize profitable opportunities, and gain experience in making tough decisions without risking significant amounts of money.
Is playing TAG profitable in poker? Indeed, the TAG playing style is less profitable because players take fewer risks; however, players can make small and consistent wins, which will inevitably add up in the long run.
While employing the TAG playing style in a Poker game, players will develop two critical skills that can relate to business areas. Those are patience and selective engagement, and timing for maximum impact.
Patience and Selective Engagement
Patience and selective engagement are two critical skills to playing Poker with the TAG style. Players will need to calculate their playing decisions carefully and play hands only when they see a major chance of winning, which requires playing with prudence.
When relating this skill to business, learning patience and selective engagement helps in decision-making. Businesses need to make effective and accurate decisions at specific times when a great opportunity comes in.
For example, selective engagement in business is demonstrated when Oreo Company used an international event in the final American Football League in 2013 when electricity was suddenly cut off in the playing field. Oreo then published a tweet on its Twitter account about it, which went viral at once and increased its followers by more than 8,000 new followers. The given example shows how selective engagement can benefit a business considerably by acting when the time is ripe.
Timing for Maximum Impact
Timing is a strategy that lies at the heart of TAG Poker’s playing style, which requires players to wait for favorable moments to strike. Strategic timing can also be applied to businesses to achieve more impactful results.
Waiting for the right time to enter a new market, launch a new product, or run a marketing campaign is key to the success of any business idea. The right time is a time when as many significant indicators are in favor of the specific business.
Loose-Aggressive (LAG) Poker Style
In the Loose-Aggressive Poker style, players play more hands but maintain the aggressive approach. It is a more profitable playing style and gives a chance of winning big money, making it attractive for players eager to make a lot of money from Poker games.
This strategy still involves higher risks, while players sometimes play hands with a low or even a negative expected value. Moreover, the LAG playing style requires seizing opportunities, taking risks, and using a timing disruption strategy to disrupt opponents with unpredictable moves.
These strategies can be all transferred to business practices at times when taking risks can create golden opportunities or when disrupting competitors can give a business a distinct advantage.
Sizing Opportunities and Taking Risks
There are many phases during a business lifetime when taking risks can open up greater opportunities for bigger success. However, taking risks in a business is similar to in a Poker game in that it requires careful consideration of key measures that have a considerable effect on the desired results, either positively or negatively.
In popular poker games, players learn that to seize a great opportunity, they need to take some risks. However, their playing decisions are on a level of accuracy and rapidity. When applying this to business, there are times when a wonderful opportunity presents itself during sensitive moments.
However, learning how to make effective decisions under pressure is key to taking a business idea to the next stage and preventing it from stagnating.
Timing Disruption for Competitive Edge
Timing disruption in business is an efficient strategy used to take a competitive edge over competitors. In Poker, players use this strategy by betting, raising out of turn, or folding when unexpected.
However, timing disruption in business can be used in different ways, such as launching a new service or product or entering a new market before competitors do. In addition, changing the status quo in an industry by introducing new ideas and solutions is another interesting way to use the timing disruption strategy in business.
Conclusion
Poker is an interesting game that provides entertainment and teaches players valuable lessons they can use in business, which they won’t even learn during academic studies. When playing Poker next time, reflect on the methods and strategies you and your components employ and determine how they can be useful when applied in a business sphere.
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