Poker as an Event Activity: Fun and Strategy

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Are you interested in knowing who in your company is capable of making quick decisions, who has sangfroid, who knows how to take risks, and who does not? If you would like to know the answers to these questions, poker is your game. This card game is a powerful psychological tool that allows you to analyze the character traits of the players.

The crisis does not exist when you have good ideas. In March 2009, in the middle of the slump, Elvis Rodriguez Alonso and Rémi Person started up Poker Events, an original idea that is currently all the rage in the meetings and event industry. Imported from USA, the idea is to recreate the atmosphere of a professional poker tournament or a real casino. Although the company offers other games, such as roulette, traditional poker, and blackjack, the company’s forte is Texas hold’em poker, a modality that was invented in the 1970s and, since then, has revolutionized the world of poker, since the game depends just as much on strategy as on luck. People with a clear mind, an adequate dose of aggressiveness, a talent for observation and a good head for calculations are potential winners. […]

Hotels, restaurants or your own office decked out like a casino
According to Rodriguez and Person, what makes Texas hold’em poker such a practical option for events is the fact that, although it takes a lifetime to become a real pro, the rules can be learnt in under five minutes. Poker Events’ services are highly suitable for office parties, sales meetings, incentives, team building programmes, seminars and congresses, and the company also provides an analysis of the character traits of each player, based on his or her game strategy, on request. The company provides material used in real tournaments and a professional croupier, as well as a special software package, and sets everything up at the venue of the client’s choice, which is usually a hotel, a private dinning room at a restaurant or a business premises, or even at the client’s office, recreating the atmosphere of a present-day casino or one from another era. […]

In the opinion of Rodriguez and Person, anyone can play poker, although there are a number of character traits that make some players stand out from the crowd. It is essential to be patient, meticulous, logical, and intelligent, as well as possessing qualities of a professional athlete: professional tournaments can last from 4-5 days, so players must be physically very fit. Professional players are like top athletes, training many hours a day, and so as to be able to play in optimum conditions, “they must be not only mentally fit, but also physically so.”

Published
07/08/2010