Why Poker is good for your mind

Like many games, poker teaches some beneficial mental habits.

1. Rapid decision making: Online poker requires a decision to be made within 30 seconds. This involves factoring in your cards, how much money you and your opponent have, the texture of the board, the implications of the next cards, the chances a raise will result in your opponent folding (usually minimal, but sometimes significant on the turn), and the chance of making a second best hand.
   

   
   

2. Accepting losing: everyone loses in poker, even the greatest players. That's actually quite a contrast to other competitive activities. Consider tennis: Roger Federer wins the vast majority of his matches. He's won some of the world's elite tournaments four times running; he's currently been ranked first in the world for 196 straight weeks. That sort of dominance isn't possible in poker; the great players have to accept far more losing sessions, even in cash games, than pros in other sports (let's leave aside the debate over whether poker is a sport - it's not). Ed Miller has a nice post on poker as a perpetual learning activity, not just a moneymaking opportunity. He argues, and I would agree, that a learning mindset will help you control tilt and self-recrimination far better.
   
   
3. Self-discipline: With so much information available on how to play poker, it's no secret how you should be playing. Play tight, don't stand raises with weak hands, use position, focus on hand-reading and betting patterns. With all of that good information, anyone should be able to beat low-stakes games (even with a high rake). But most players can't. Because they get excited when they see A8 suited, call raises with that hand, and get in trouble. I speak from experience: the first time I tried to transition from limit to no-limit, I played terribly, because hand values are different, and because I got excited about marginal hands. I'm doing better now because of discipline, partly learned in tougher limit games, partly from the experience of losing.