The Wrestling Skills Useful Around a Poker Table

Cheyenne Bowman at last year’s CIF Girls State Championships. Photo courtesy of Dan Glenn.

The discipline of wrestling takes many attributes to master, with successful competitors managing to blend all to achieve success.

The true art behind wrestling is often taken away by the perception of bright lights, costumes and an outlandish storyline in sports entertainment. Strip away that pomp and bluster and you discover a true art, requiring immense physical and mental command of yourself and the sport itself.

At the very top of the profession, there is a huge reward. Take for instance Tamyra Mensah-Stock, who is seemingly on a collision course with a podium finish at the Tokyo Olympics. She fought back from the adversity of missing out four years ago and has since shown application and fortitude to continue her rise towards what is considered by many to be her destiny.

Those attributes are transferable too, not least to a poker table. The Detroit News tell the story of Dash Dudley, who took his in-ring skills and applied them to poker. Dudley was forging a promising wrestling career at Michigan State but instead picked up the cards, winning a WSOP bracelet in 2019.

What skills served him both in the ring and around the felt? We have picked out four that you should look to practice in both sports.

Preparation

Preparation, in any sport, is everything, but in wrestling, it is perhaps the most important aspect of all. You must learn the rules, create your own strategy, know your limitations and form a plan to win the bout. The same goes for poker, starting at the very beginning. Using a guide such as the Poker.org hand ranking chart, you will be able to understand the principles of the game, the best hands in the game and then implement a strategy. Make sure you are physically and mentally prepared for the battle you are about to enter. Failure to prepare in preparing to fail, in both sports.

Understand Your Opponents

Unlike team sports, in both wrestling and poker, your opponent is there to beat you, not a team. Your strategy and your approach must be tailored towards the person facing off against you. Is the opponent a grappler? Do they practice throws or prefer to work up close? Understanding how they will come at you will help you beat them, as it will in poker. Is the player opposite you a bluffer? What is their track record like in previous competition, do they tend to lure you in early, or sit for the long game? If you know that, you will understand why they make certain moves.

Be Ready to Adapt

Things do not always go well in the ring, nor on the poker table. An opponent may surprise you, or the unexpected happens and throws you off your course. There is an element of unpredictability in both sports, be it the cards on the river or the opponent’s reaction to your moves. Either way, you must show resolve to adapt and change if you need to. Flexibility is a great mental attribute, and in wrestling, it is probably a great physical one, too! Expect the unexpected and have the ability to quickly adapt to a fluid and changing situation.

Focus 

Wrestling might not draw you into hours of competing, bouts can feel like a lifetime when you are in competition. Tokyo2020.org explains how their matches last for six minutes, two periods of three minutes each, with a 30-second gap, but with so many different scoring opportunities available, your mind and body must be active and focused the whole time. When grappling a powerful opponent or looking to claw back a deficit, that takes endurance. Around a poker table, an endurance of a different kind is needed. There is no physical demand, other than that brought about by competing in matches which could last several hours, sometimes even running into another day. That takes endurance of a different kind, a focus that requires sharpness over a long period of time. Both sports still require maximum focus and application.