How Poker Can Be an Unconventional Entrepreneurship Opportunity Did you know playing poker could possibly be a full-time job?Yes, indeed!

By Amit Kanodia

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Professionally playing poker is one thing, creating a business out of playing poker is another. It is smart, intriguing and honestly, allows you to invest as much time as you want to in general. It gives you real cash in the till until you drop.

Start-ups focus on building capital. As a poker player, you build it all on your own. It teaches you the nuances of getting about in the business like any entrepreneur would. It helps you evolve as a business owner and a person. As an unconventional career strategy, Poker is something you should consider if you are enthusiastic and passionate about it!

You use a lot of common skills when entrepreneurship and playing poker is concerned. It is essential that you use both sides to weigh out your options such that you hedge your chances if winning and creating a living out of it in the long run. Be it anticipating moves, playing a bluff, taking that risk or just going about the business, you ought to be on your toes, all calm and always composed.

You Learn Endurance and Dealing with Pressure

The one thing that entrepreneurship brings along with it is the pressure to be the best in the business. You are constantly competing with yourself to get the better out of you. As a professional poker player who is looking forward to creating opportunities in entrepreneurship, you need that perseverance to stand above the rest and make yourself credible and strong enough to stay back even if the others in the team drop out. The conviction counts and that is what most entrepreneurs lack these days.

You Utilise the Skills In The Process Of Playing And Running That Business.

Poker playing takes a lot of skills and learning. You have to constantly work towards improving your game and making it worth the try. After all, it is what your livelihood depends on. A general sense of gambling gets stretched out to running that poker entrepreneurial venture.

The risk associated with it is pretty high. The odds of growing into a successful unit is as close to winning poker every time you start playing it. It is similar in multiple aspects. Your skills in playing poker can be extended to dealing carefully with the nuances of the business that you are building.

How Does Playing Poker Make You A Better Boss?

Poker demands patience and conviction. There are people who work towards a goal and then there are those who work towards a vision. You understand the importance of losses. You understand that failures are not there to pull you down. It makes you only stronger and more optimistic.

Psychologically we are trained to feel the pain for a loss. However, poker players can take it up as a learning mechanism when dealing with huge losses is concerned. Isn't entrepreneurship all about being able to read people and motivate them to get the best out of them? Well, these skills come in handy when you mix Poker pleasure with business!

Amit Kanodia

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Mad Over Poker

As the Co-Founder and CEO, at Mad Over Poker, an early stage poker start-up, Amit has been involved in conceptualising, and strategising at the firm. This dynamic start-up is their first-of- its kind online real money driven product in India.  The start-up works in the happening industry associated with glamour. Amit co-founded Mad Over Poker in April 2017 along with  two other co-founders Avinash Pitti & Abhishek Pitti.

Amit, a graduate of IIM Indore, began his entrepreneurial journey from a very young age. Bitten by entrepreneurship bug, Amit quit his job and started his own manufacturing industry called Kanodia Industries, which is now run by his family.

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