Improve Your Poker Game Through the Art of War

The Art of War begins with a section called the Five Factors, and it’s these five factors that are the genesis of a solid poker game. If you can understand and implement these five factors from the Art of War into your poker game you will be at the top of your game, and a force to be reckoned with.

The Five Factors: Tao, Heaven, Earth, General, and Method

Sun Tzu:

Tao is what causes the people to have the same purpose as their superior.

Thus they can die with him, live with him and not deceive him.

In this passage the Sun Tzu is speaking of the way something works, and the accepted course of action. In poker terms having the same purpose as your superior translates to knowing the basic strategies of the game. The second sentence in this passage which refers to living, dying and deceiving, points more towards accepting the outcome, and not questioning your results at the table similar to understanding the long-term implications of poker.

Sun Tzu:

Heaven is yin and yang, cold and hot, the order of the seasons.

Going with it, going against it -this is military victory.

In this passage the Sun Tzu is telling us there are variables beyond our control, and fighting these variables is counterproductive. The way this applies to poker is by accepting that your hand is simply a small part of a larger entity. You have to be able to adjust to what happens at the poker tables and not stubbornly fight these uncontrollable forces. Such as giving up your pocket Aces on a T-J-Q suited flop.

Sun Tzu:

Earth is high and low, broad and narrow, far and near, steep and level, death and life.

In the Sun Tzu Heaven represents the uncontrollable, where Earth represents variables that are known; you can see them. So, while you may not be able to know what cards will flop, you can know the makeup of the table, your opponents’ strengths and weaknesses, as well as the current game texture, and how these variables will play into your strategy.

Sun Tzu:

The general is knowledge, trustworthiness, courage and strictness.

The general is an important figure in the Sun Tzu, without a competent general victory is impossible. The general is needed for knowledge, leadership, and decision making. This aspect of leadership is often referred to in poker as being the “Table Captain” and is how you gain your opponents respect and admiration.  You must study and work-hard so your decisions can be made confidently, and only then will you be a competent general.

Sun Tzu:

Method is ordering divisions, the Tao of ranking and principal supply.

Method in the Sun Tzu is akin to structure and order; being able to continually do the same thing without disruption. In poker this refers to discipline and focus; when a poker player loses their discipline, or their focus, bad things start to happen.

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