Entrepreneur Hits Poker Sweet Spot
Poker is a game that is often associated with entrepreneurism and innovation.
Poker players exhibit many skills that also apply to entrepreneurs; the ability to react to changing situations, hold one’s nerve in the face of adversity, and read people and situations to the best of your abilities. All of these make you a good innovator in business, and they’re fundamental to success around a poker table.
Indeed, some of the best entrepreneurs have proven to succeed when the cards are dealt. Guy Laliberté is the owner of Cirque de Soleil, an entrepreneur who struck out into the entertainment industry with an idea to revolutionize the common perception of a circus. He succeeded; his Cirque de Soleil has performed on every continent in more than 450 cities, and he’s worth in the region of $1.37bn.
He’s also a keen poker player, finishing fourth in the World Poker Tour Season Five event in Las Vegas in 2007. He’s known to enjoy a high-stakes game as he’s rich enough to be able to risk it but also wily enough to be a success. One of the main tips for winning at poker is to manage your bankroll, play with what you can afford, and never over-commit during a game. The Canadian can clearly afford the games, but he proves his business acumen is still as sharp as ever when there are chips to manage.
Other big poker-playing names from the world of entrepreneurs include David Einhorn, the founder of Greenlight Capital, Bob Safai of Madison Partners, and Tony Hsieh, the one-time CEO of Zappos. Recently, tech entrepreneur Victoria Livschitz has also proven her skills at the World Series of Poker.
Livschitz grew up playIng chess in Lithuania, which helped her become a keen strategist in business. In 2006, she founded Grid Dynamics, a pioneer in cloud computing that went public in 2020. She innovated, anticipated a growing industry, and reacted when it mattered, something she has also proven very good at poker.
At the recent event in Las Vegas, she banked more than $30,000, including a 17th paced finish in the Ladies Championship. That was the headline finish, but she also came 26th in the $1,500 NLHE Shootout; 104th in the $3K 6-Handed NLHE; 404th in the $1,000 Double Stack; sixth in the $400 Daily Deepstack at Aria; and a won the $400 WSOP Daily Deepstack. It’s an impressive haul for someone who admitted she was new to the game.
“Poker is a relatively new hobby of mine,” the entrepreneur explained. “While I played small stakes, live cash games for a few years, it wasn’t until COVID lockdown that I took a more serious interest in the game. I decided to play at the [WSOP] this year at the last moment, as a much-needed vacation, and frankly didn’t expect to get this deep in so many events.”
Not only did she go deep in the events, but she has also given all of her winnings to good causes, namely the Glacier Institute and Flathead Valley Ski Education Foundation. “Poker is an exciting intellectual challenge and stress relief,” she added. “Being able to use the winnings for charity is a great motivator to study and compete harder.”
However she chooses to distribute her winnings, Livschitz is just one in a long line of entrepreneurs who are successful around a poker table.
Victoria Livschitz
Photo Credit: Erwin Dionisio
Posted by Jess
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