It might surprise you that poker and cryptocurrency are similar, but they are! Let’s take a closer look at how they line up.

Poker and Crypto: The Similarities

Investing in cryptocurrency and playing poker seem like they’re from two completely different spheres, and they are…mostly. While playing a game of cards and investing in an unregulated currency don’t have a lot in common on the surface, there are many commonalities in the traits of people who take part in these two activities.

When you invest in cryptocurrency, you’re taking a chance on a currency that’s relatively new to the market and unregulated by official bodies. Crypto can’t be spent in many stores and it will be a long time before most countries recognize it as a ‘real’ currency.

Poker has been around a good deal longer than crypto: it’s a game that relies on chance but also a certain level of skill and understanding. Get the right hand and apply your skills in the right way and you might leave the table a winner. Luck is also a key component in crypto: you can’t control the market, right; you have to hope it goes your way.

While you can’t control the market, you can apply your knowledge and understanding of it to make smart trades. Are you starting to see how poker and crypto are similar yet?

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Poker and crypto both require you to know as much as you can before getting into either field. They both partially operate on chance and they both require that you have your wits about you when you’re engaged in the activity. Let’s take a look at some of the commonalities that poker players and crypto investors share.

Risk Understanding and Management

There is no way to evade or mitigate every risk that comes your way; risk is a part of life that can’t be avoided, no matter how well prepared we are. While we can’t avoid all risks, we can manage them if we are well prepared. Risk is inherent in poker and crypto investment but if you’re aware of the current conditions in the market or the different ways that you could play all the cards in a bad hand, you’ll be able to mitigate it as much as possible. Knowing when to fold, for example, or when to buy or sell are good management strategies.

Performance Under Pressure

Another characteristic found in both poker players and crypto investors is the ability to maintain calm and function well in high-pressure situations. If you are playing in a high-stakes poker game, there’s a lot of money to be won. You need to stay calm under pressure and maintain your poker face to pull off a win. If you are a crypto trader and there’s a sudden crash in value, you need to stay calm and think sensibly to make the best of a trying, stressful situation without losing your head.

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The Past Does Not Predict the Future

Something else that poker and crypto have in common is that you can necessarily bank on a win using past tactics in future situations. In gambling and crypto, unlike with other pastimes, the past does not necessarily inform the future.

You might be on a losing streak in the game or the market and think “Well if I’ve lost this much, surely I’ll win eventually. That’s what happened last time.” Unfortunately, the universe doesn’t operate this way. Playing ‘long enough’ doesn’t guarantee that you’ll eventually win, even if it has happened in a similar situation before. Similarly, making a bold move in a game or trading might not have paid off in a previous situation, but that’s not to say it won’t (or will) this time around. 

You have to use your cool head and all the skills you have at your disposal to handle these situations. It’s tough to accept, but this is how things go when there’s an element of chance or luck involved in a pastime.

Discipline

There is a level of discipline that poker players and people investing in crypto have to accept and foster in themselves. This dovetails with a lot of other similarities between the two hobbies and the kind of person who can handle them well.

To learn about either hobby you need to apply some self-discipline: some of the finer points can be tedious and it can be time-consuming to understand them well, but it’s a necessary part of playing or trading. In these situations, you have to be disciplined enough to remember to apply your knowledge and understanding of whether things are going well or falling apart.

Disciplining yourself might mean reigning yourself in when you’re about to make too bold a bet (risk management) or keeping it together when you’re feeling stressed (performing under pressure).

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The Odds

Odds are something that appears in both poker and crypto. Understanding what these odds mean and knowing how to play them well is a key component in doing well in either hobby. Both poker and crypto are unpredictable, but there are algorithms applied that can help the odds look a little less overwhelming and a little easier to understand and balance.

Final Word

Poker and crypto are different animals, but a lot of similarities run through the two! Which one do you like better?