Poker fast becomes corporate event of choice

A darkened, smoke-laden room with black suits, black ties, and visors forward – this is the stereotypical image of professional poker, though one that is, increasingly, fading into the past. It’s a sport that has been written about at length, and one that has made millionaires of its most discerning players. However, poker is not all cavernous gambling halls, po-faced seriousness and mind games, and, as such, a growing number of casual players are laying their chips down online, in their offices and in living rooms. Poker has come to be seen as a mainstay of contemporary sports and entertainment.

Upping the stakes
Today, poker takes up a larger chunk of television schedules than ever before, and big cash buy-ins have reached stratospheric upper limits. Back in 2012, the Big One for One Drop tournament had a $1m buy-in clause, and the then competition winner Antonio ‘The Magician’ Esfandiari walked away with a cash prize of over $18.3m. This year, the prize money will be over $20m. The biggest poker tournament champions today are comparable to global superstars and blessed with the financial rewards to match. The increase in winnings has coincided with a sharp upturn in the global gaming market. What began in dingy pub backrooms and casino halls has migrated onto the net, where casual and hardcore players alike try their hand at poker from the comfort of their own living room. One Companies & Markets report estimates that the global gaming industry will reach $174.1bn by 2018, representing a 28 percent increase on last year’s total and equivalent to five consecutive instances of 5.5 percent annual growth.

Online poker has really taken off in the US, where tighter regulations are forcing an increasing number of would-be players online, and in emerging markets such as Macau, where gaming has become a multi-million dollar industry and a major contributor to national GDP. However, aside from growth in these mainstream channels, there is one sub-sector that has been largely overlooked by observers – the emergence of poker as a corporate event.

Workers play
Millions of workers would love to take chips off their peers and superiors. This is the underlying idea behind a growing penchant for office poker, and the reason why an increasing number of businesses are looking to poker as a way to let off steam and bring together employees. However, above and beyond the satisfaction that comes with sending your co-workers home with empty pockets, are the business lessons that can be learned from the game.

Innumerable books have been written on the relationship between business and poker, and justifiably so. In poker, as in business, there exists an uncertain line between luck and logic, and both boil down to measuring probabilities and gauging the immediate competitive environment. The game also brings together unlikely competitors, united by the goal of making money, mirroring a typical business setting.

Many are quick to label poker a game of luck, but this ignores the qualities that turn an average poker player into a winner. If you play for an extended time, every player will eventually find a decent hand. However, the trick is to make the most of your cards throughout the whole game, rather than betting wild on one hand, and break down the probabilities of opponents holding a good hand. In poker, as in business, it’s important that players acknowledge the likelihood of winning, and follow up with a strategy to match.

Another defining feature of successful poker players is the ability to read an opponent. Looking at posture, breathing pattern, perspiration and unusual movements, players must identify ‘tells’ to establish whether an opponent is bluffing. Whereas online there’s little to indicate to what extent an opponent is justified in backing their hand, in face-to-face play, perception is key. This same ability to read an opponent is vital in a corporate setting, whether in an interview situation or when evaluating the market. In poker and in business, you not only play the game but the players in it.

That said, it’s important to know when it pays to be aggressive. Some hands can be won with character alone, but going all in on bad cards is ill-advised, or plain stupid. Passion and positive thinking go a long way in business and in poker, but can also spell your downfall. Winning is seldom a product of sheer determination, and playing on with odds stacked against you can often result in critical losses.

There is something to be said, however, for sometimes trusting intuition ahead of logic. When employed in moderation, risk-taking and assertiveness can bring rewards. For both business and poker there’s no single formula for winning, and though the fundamental lessons remain the same no matter the setting, sometimes an unconventional approach is best.

On a separate note, poker can teach would-be businesspeople about the merits of accepting losses in the short-term to reap rewards in the long-term. So-called short terminism has too often seen companies value profits over stakeholders’ best interests, and shareholders punish companies for failing to yield healthy returns on a regular basis. Success is not always plain sailing, and sometimes it takes losing a mound of chips to see. But the comparison between poker and business does not always hold true –sometimes people just want to play and win.

Whether for team-building, business bonding or learning some new skills, poker is fast emerging as a go-to corporate event for businesses across the globe and in all manner of sectors. To accommodate rising demand, a number of event organisers have emerged in recent years, each with their own unique way of hosting the perfect poker event.