Friday, November 20, 2009

Harvard Poker Pro Says Texas Hold ‘Em Can Teach Traders to Fold


I am a poker player and have long thought that much about life and business can be learned at a poker table. Chip piles, bluffing, cutting and running, are all vital elements for poker, business, and life.

Harvard Poker Pro Says Texas Hold ‘Em Can Teach Traders to Fold

By Mason Levinson

Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Brandon Adams, who teaches behavioral finance at Harvard University’s Department of Economics, says some of the best candidates for Wall Street trading jobs are the professional card players at FullTiltPoker.com and similar Web sites.

“They’ve essentially been the survivors in the system, a very difficult system where 95 percent of people lose money,” the 30-year-old Adams, who plays at the site, said in a telephone interview. “Anyone smart enough and disciplined enough to survive that system is probably going to do very well in the trading world.”

An increasing number of hedge funds and brokerages are scrutinizing professional poker to find talent and analytical tools, according to financial recruiters including Options Group, a New York-based executive-search company. Susquehanna International Group LLP, the Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania-based options and equity trading company, uses poker to teach strategic thinking.