Every poker pro knows that the game teaches you invaluable life lessons. Apart from teaching you a lot about math, mobile poker also has a lot of influence on the player's character. Poker can teach you a lot about confidence, dealing with intimidating opponents, and making decisions in stressful situations.
All of those traits are key elements in the business world, which is why the Kellogg School of Management launched a new, unique poker program. In this program, female students get to learn how to implement online poker strategies in their work-related encounters.
What does the program entail? And was it successful? Learn all about how poker can prepare you for conducting business.
Poker & Business
Kellogg School of Management is part of Northwestern University, located in Illinois. Over the years, this establishment has made a point of promoting women and helping them take the business world by storm.
In April this year, the school launched a special extracurricular program to empower women through poker. Female students were able to join a six-week course that taught them how to play No-Limit Texas Hold'em and how to use poker strategies to succeed in life.
In the pilot run, 99 women attended the weekly classes. Throughout the program, they got to learn poker theories and hear lectures given by business experts. They also heard guest lectures by poker pros like Melanie Weisner and Maria Konnikova. After studying different poker tips, the students also got to practice their newly acquired skills at the poker tables, solidifying their knowledge of the game.
This project came about thanks to the hard work of Gail Berger - a faculty member at the university, and Erin Lydon – the managing director of Poker Powher, which is a company set on introducing women to poker.
Apparently, the course was so successful, Kellogg decided to offer the course as part of its Executive MBA program in 2022. One of the women who participated in the program, Marilia Teixeira, said it was life-changing. She said: " One of the many insights that stuck with me from the first class was how many of us judge if a decision was a good or bad decision depending on the results we get".
Also, other participants said that thanks to the program, they had more confidence and were able to present themselves better in interviews and when meeting powerful CEOs.
The Goal of the Kellogg Poker Course
unfortunately, women are still fighting for equality both at the poker tables and at the office. According to Catalyst, there are 500 S&P companies, but only 30 of them have female CEOs. In 2020, it was also reported that women represented 11% of top earners in those companies.
The same thing goes for the poker industry. In recent years, more women joined the ranks of the top poker pros. However, there are still far more men in poker than women.
Lydon took the time to explain why she thinks the current project is so important: "…At Poker Powher, we firmly believe there is a link between why so few women play this game of skill and risk and why so few women advance to the top in business and industry. Through this partnership, we are thrilled to shape tomorrow’s brightest minds in business…"
In Conclusion
Playing poker can teach you many important skills that you can utilize in all walks of life. Hopefully, the next generation of businesswomen will be able to use those skills to reach gender equality sooner rather than later.