Gaming is, however, notoriously time-demanding. Multitasking Elon Musk has been accused of exaggerating his performance at Diablo IV. Before cryptocurrency exchange FTX’s collapse, co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s ability to play League of Legends and Storybook Brawl while in business meetings was talked of as a sign of his genius. But perhaps a greater genius would have been to give his full attention to the lawyers. Adherents: Jeff Yass, co-founder, Susquehanna International Group; Chamath Palihapitiya, venture capitalist Poker is the source of corporate phrases such as “above board” and “pass the buck”. The game itself has the clearest relevance to traders. Susquehanna, the quantitative trading firm, is one that embraces the link. “Before you become a trader at Susquehanna, you learn how to play poker,” says Jeff Yass, who co-founded the company with his poker friends. “We have a couple of months training in poker, because ...being a poker player and a trader ...is very similar.” Success in poker derives not just from an understanding of probability, or from luck, but from a reading of other players’ intentions and an acceptance of uncertainty. Jo Living runs Aces High London, a company that organises corporate poker workshops. She argues poker should be taken seriously – as a way of revealing and improving business skills. “How people show up in the real world is how they show up at the poker table,” she says. The game rewards “deep listening” and punishes a lack of assertiveness, she adds. Investor Chamath Palihapitiya says it teaches you to “be unemotional but stubborn”. The scenario of imperfect information echoes real-life negotiations. As such, poker could even be a tool for assessing recruits. (Gary Stevenson, the self-proclaimed best trader in the world, says he won his Citibank internship via a poker-related game.) Poker’s addictiveness is a potential downside. “The worst possible outcome would be if everyone left here and started playing internet poker, gambling against eastern European bots,” an Aces High instructor warned participants at a recent workshop. Other card games are available, some of them involving teamwork: Warren Buffett spent at least eight hours a week playing bridge, claiming it was “the best exercise there is for the brain...You are learning from every word spoken and not spoken.” Henry Mance and Charlotte Guckian © 2025 The Financial Times Ltd This article first appeared in The Financial Times.