Episode•December 28, 2023•20 min

From the Felt to the Boardroom: How Poker Skills Can Boost Your Career Success | Ep. 289

In this captivating episode, Erin Lydon of Poker Power deals out a hand of wisdom showing how poker strategies can shape your financial and professional world. Learn why folding isn't just a poker move, but a life skill, and how calculating risks can lead to big payoffs both on and off the felt. About Our Guest Erin Lydon is a thought leader, frequent speaker on equal pay and workplace equity, and President of Poker Power. Her passion to lead Poker Power stemmed from her experience working on Wall Street twenty years ago. After learning that she was not being paid the same as her male colleagues, and struggling to find a seat at the table in the male-dominated financial industry, Erin was confronted with the reality of the “force field” surrounding tables of power that keep women from sitting down, playing, and competing equally. Erin discovered poker during this time, and made the connection that learning to think, negotiate and take risks, like a winning poker player, trained her in skillsets that offered a solution for pushing the needle on women’s empowerment in the workplace. Erin now leads Poker Power’s mission to teach one million girls and women how to stack their skills, negotiate, and take calculated risks by gamifying key leadership lessons with poker gameplay. Before joining Poker Power, Erin was the strategic advisor to the management team of Evil Geniuses, a global e-sports organization. She has previously served as an independent corporate director on the boards of Marbles and Roomlinx and began her finance career at JPMorgan. Erin received her MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and BA from Bates College. In 2023, she received the Global Gaming Women “Women of Inspiration–Woman to Watch” award and has spoken on many premier stages including TEDx, Money 20/20 RiseUp, AWS Women’s Leadership Summits, TEDx Talk, Monaco Positive Impact Summit, and many more. Erin serves on the Advisory Board for Money 20/20 RiseUp and was a mentor for SXSW Edu in 2023. Additionally, she is a member of McKinsey’s Midwest Executive Women’s Forum. Connect with Erin Website: https://pokerpower.com/ Twitter: @joinpokerpower Instagram: @joinpokerpower Facebook: Join Poker Power Connect with Tiffany Website: https://moneytalkwitht.com Facebook: Money Talk With Tiff Twitter: @moneytalkwitht Instagram: @moneytalkwitht LinkedIn: Tiffany Grant YouTube: Money Talk With Tiff Channel Pinterest: Money Talk With Tiff This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy

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Key Takeaways

1
Poker develops three levels of thinking that directly translate to negotiation skills
Level 1: Binary decisions based solely on your own information (raise or fold)
Level 2: Considering what opponents likely hold and adjusting strategy accordingly
Level 3: Meta-thinking about what opponents think you have, creating strategic advantage
2
Position at the table mirrors real-life power dynamics in negotiations
Seating positions create relative strength or weakness that shifts each hand
You must adapt strategy based on whether you're in a position of power or disadvantage
This practice helps navigate situations where you don't have the biggest 'chip stack'
3
Folding 80% of hands teaches valuable discipline and strategic patience
Professional players fold ~80% of hands, focusing on high-value opportunities
When betting, do so aggressively (3x the big blind) for maximum impact
This translates to knowing when to walk away from suboptimal deals or situations
4
The 'power of the pause' (checking) prevents reactive decision-making
Taking time to analyze information before responding leads to better outcomes
In poker, this is literally tapping the table to 'check' without committing chips
Applies directly to financial decisions—pause before purchases to avoid impulse buying
5
Winning at poker builds transferable confidence for workplace success
First lesson is 'courage'—overcoming fear of sitting at the table
Celebrating wins (even small ones) creates positive reinforcement
Skills like negotiation, risk assessment, and reading situations transfer to salary negotiations and promotions

Intro

Erin Lydon, President of Poker Power, joins Tiffany to explain how poker strategies—negotiation, calculated risk-taking, and reading imperfect information—can dramatically improve women's professional and financial outcomes.
Erin Lydon is President of Poker Power, a former Wall Street professional, and strategic advisor to Evil Geniuses esports. She holds an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School and is a frequent speaker on workplace equity. Her mission is teaching one million girls and women leadership skills through poker gameplay.

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– Why Poker for Career Success?

Erin explains Poker Power uses poker strategy, negotiation, and risk-taking to empower women professionally—not to get them into casinos. The game teaches thinking, negotiating, and strategizing like a winning player.

It's a game of imperfect information. It's a game of asymmetrical information. It's a game of calculated risk-taking.
– Erin Lydon

– The Three Levels of Thinking in Negotiation

Level 1: Binary decisions (raise or fold) based only on your cards. Level 2: Assessing what opponents likely hold. Level 3: Understanding what opponents think you have—meta-strategy that develops through repeated practice.

Unlike once a year you get to negotiate for a raise... at a poker game, you're actively practicing that power shifting, that assessing of imperfect information.
– Erin Lydon

– Poker Math: Calculating Risk Without Fear

Originally called 'PokerMath,' the lesson was retitled 'Calculating' and moved to lesson 7 to reduce intimidation. Women often excel at home budgets but hesitate at table math—yet simple probability calculations give women an unexpected edge against male opponents who often lack this skill.

I love empowering women with skills that are outliers, that people are not expecting them to have.
– Erin Lydon

– Building Confidence Through Gameplay

Lesson one is 'courage.' Within 15 minutes, someone goes all-in and wins, creating a celebratory moment. The collaborative environment—everyone cheering each other's wins—builds confidence that transfers to real-life negotiations.

It's Pavlovian. You just want to hit again and again and again, so you can re-experience that pulling of the chips back.
– Erin Lydon

– The Power of the Pause and Discipline

Folding ~80% of hands teaches strategic patience. The 'check' (pause) allows processing information before reacting—critical for both poker and financial decisions. One participant used these skills during a contentious divorce negotiation.

Just taking that breather... can get us in a lot of trouble financially.
– Tiffany Grant

– How to Get Started

Options include: monthly community classes (1 hour/week via Zoom, affordable pricing), the Poker Power Play app for self-paced learning with bots, and community games offered three times daily with no real money at stake.

Monthly Zoom classes starting January
Poker Power Play app with 14 self-learning modules
Practice against bots before live play
Daily community games (no real money)

Resources

Poker Power Websitetool
Poker Power Play Apptool

Topics

Poker StrategyNegotiation SkillsWomen's EmpowermentCareer DevelopmentRisk ManagementWorkplace EquityFinancial Decision-MakingLeadership TrainingCalculated RiskConfidence Building