5 Important Poker Skills That Can Be Applied To Hunting
On first appearance, the skills of hunting and poker may seem like two worlds apart. One involves cards and money, while the other involves guns and prey. It may surprise you to learn that the two disciplines may be a lot more similar than you would think.
Both of these valuable skills can be applied to each other; the strategic thinking that you must adopt when you want to learn how to play poker is important if you want to outwit your opponents. This skill is also very similar to the quick thinking that a hunter must use when they spot a potential target. In this article, we’ll be talking about five of the most important poker skills and how they can be applied to hunting. Keep on reading to find out more.
4 Important Poker Skills You Should Use When Hunting
Not sure that poker and hunting are similar hobbies? Here are four skills that poker players need to adopt to win that can also be used by hunters.
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Read Your Opponents
When you’re playing a high-stakes game of poker, you can’t afford to just worry about what you’re doing – you need to think about the moves of every single other play on the table around you. You may be playing a winning strategy, but your entire game plan could be brought to the ground by one move from an opponent.
Reading your opponents is important as it gives you a chance to identify their weaknesses and use them against them. It may be that you can read the signs of when a particular player is bluffing, or you may notice some silly mistakes being made that could be used to your advantage.
Although being out in the fields hunting is very different from sitting around a poker table, the same way of thinking still applies. Rather than having other poker players, you can see the game as your opponent. Depending on what type of game you’re hunting, you should know what gun works the best for them, what their habits are, how quickly they move, and where they are likely to be found. Once you understand the mind of the game you’re hunting, the easier it will be to get them.
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Stay Calm Under Pressure
In both poker and hunting, if you lose your cool, there’s no way you’re going to come out of the situation successfully. Either you’ll blow your cover and lose the hunt, or you’ll have to give up your hand and watch your opponents bask in all the glory of winning – either way, this is not a situation we want you to find yourself in.
Learning how to stay calm under pressure is one of the most important life lessons; whether it’s staying calm at work, or being able to rationally process your thoughts in a game of poker, it’s important to be able to regulate your emotions. If you’re not thinking clearly, you may miss the perfect opportunity to fire when out hunting or get caught bluffing by one of your opponents in a poker match.
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Learn How to Be Patient
Patience is a man’s best friend, especially when they’re into poker or hunting. In poker, you may not think you’ve been dealt a winning hand, but things can change very quickly in such a dynamic game. It always pays to wait and see what happens, how the game changes, and what your opponents do; you never know, if you play the patience game right, you may very well come out on top.
The same applies to hunters, you can’t set out on a hunting trip and expect something to come out of the trees straight away; lined up perfectly for you to take the ideal shot. Instead, you’ll probably have to wait a while, and let some animals walk right by you if they aren’t the perfect target. In the end, you’ll be rewarded for your patience.
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Think Ahead
The final skill that a poker player always needs in their gambling toolkit is the ability to always be two steps ahead of their competition. They should have a good idea of how much they want to bet, whether they want to bluff, and what they want to do with their cards long before they make the move.
As a hunter, you also need these skills if you want to have a successful day out. You need to have an idea of what guns you’re going to use, where you want to set up a base for the day, or how far you want to walk, plus have some idea of what you’re going to do with the animal after. Not thinking ahead not only minimizes your chances of a successful hunt but can also add unnecessary pressure to what should be a fun day.