There was a time when playing poker was not really something too many people were proud of. That has certainly changed and I for one am very proud to call myself a poker player. One reason for that is that good poker players have a number of highly developed skills that are quite valuable in the real world. If you are a good poker player you may seriously want to consider putting it on your resume.
The first skill that you have to have if you are going to be a good poker player is to be good at math. We are not talking about complex, high level math here but rather the kind of math that you need to be able to do everyday. In poker you need to be able to calculate the odds that a certain card will come up and you need to be able to do it quickly and in your head. It is surprising how many people can't do this because they simply lack the math skills.
Another skill that you have to have if you are going to play poker is that you need discipline. If you jump in and play every hand you are going to end up losing. It is important that you be able to wait until the time is right. This discipline is important in all aspects of life and it is something that a lot of people really struggle with which makes it a skill that you should be proud to have.
If you are going to be a good poker player you have to be able to read other people. You need to be able to tell what cards your opponent has and what he intends to do based on nothing more than watching him. Again this is a skill that comes in handy in all kinds of situations in the real world.
A good poker player also has to be good at risk management, they have to be able to decide if the reward is worth the risk. As every poker player knows your first priority has to be to not go bust, however you can't be so cautious that you are afraid to take a risk or you will never be a winner. You have to know it is worth it to take the risk. This is actually a complex decision that in the real world companies pay employees a lot of money to make.
Playing poker also requires you to make decisions with limited information. Most people when they don't have all the facts will become very indecisive, you can't do that if you are playing poker. You need to decide what you are going to do even though you never have all of the facts since you can't know what your opponents cards are. This is another very valuable skill that poker players have.
