Lawyers’ Poker
I finished my last final (Complex Civil Litigation) on the 10th and headed to Las Vegas with my girlfriend on the 13th. We stayed at the Tropicana.
The gaudy, cheap, dated Tropicana.
We stayed up until 4:00 AM every night and slept until noon every day. It was fantastic.
I played Elton John’s red piano at Caesars Palace…
…and Susie learned about ancient Greek sculpture.
But mostly we played poker. Low limit hold ‘em.
We played for about eight hours every day, and in the end, I left a few hundred dollars up.
Before the trip, I read Steven Lubet’s book “Lawyers’ Poker: 52 Lessons That Lawyers Can Learn From Card Players.”
According to Lubet, “Great poker players are master tacticians. Not only do they calculate odds with lightning speed and astonishing precision, but they also cunningly anticipate and manipulate the actions of their adversaries. In short, they boast skills that every lawyer can envy.”
Lubet claims, “The theory and practice of poker will be immediately recognizable to every attorney who has ever made a strategic choice in the face of uncertainty.”
Do you buy it? Do you think most people would? More importantly, should I consider putting “Poker Player” on my resume?
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May 23rd, 2007 at 6:54 am
Almost every business transaction that I’ve been involved with over the years has had an element of poker in it. The words from Kenny Rogers’classic tune “The Gambler” are so true. When negotiating any deal, you’ve got to “know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em,
know when to walk away, and know when to run.
You never count your money, when you’re sittin’ at the table.
There’ll be time enough for countin’, when the dealin’s done.”
How far can you push the price, how much risk can you negotiate out of the deal, and are you better off passing this deal are things that are considered by my clients every day. When they ask me what I think, I just tell that the negotiation process is nothing more than a “big poker game”. Does the other side have the “goods” or are they just bluffing when they say “I’m not paying a penny more ….”
“Reading” the other guy in a poker game is really no different than reading the other side in a business transaction. Do they have a “tell” or how have they played their cards before are important in evaluating the other guy in a poker game and equally important in the negotiating process.
The elements of poker and business deals are surprisingly similar and any good business lawyer should have the skills to be a pretty good poker player.
On the other hand Ricky, I have seen many resumes from young lawyers over the years and I DO NOT think it is a good idea to include the fact you are a poker player on it.
May 24th, 2007 at 10:00 am
I have to agree with Chuck. On my resume, I have listed the following special skills:
Snowboarding, skiing, ping-pong, tennis, golf, irish accent, soccer, pinball, billiards, kung fu/taekwondo, sailing, fishing, piano-3 years formal training, electric and acoustic guitar-6 years, wiggling ears and nose, tying cherry stem into a knot in mouth, driving-automatic and stick, conversant Spanish, some Latin, interior decorating/remodeling.
Poker didn’t make the list because NOBODY CARES.
May 24th, 2007 at 11:32 am
Counselor Ryan,
What have you been using that resume for?
-Rick Lax
May 25th, 2007 at 10:06 am
I agree with Chuck. As a litigation lawyer, poker is always involved. There are always unknowns. How is your client going to hold up to cross-examination? Will the Judge grant my motion? You always have known information, but litigation involves trying to quantify the unknown. NASD arbitration where you get only limited document discovery is like playing 5-card draw where you have little hard information. In court, it is probably more similar to 7 card stud where you know part of your adversary’s hand. Some might say the facts are the same for both sides so it’s more like Texas Hold-Em, but when you look at the different theories developed for the same facts, I would say 7 card stud.
May 25th, 2007 at 11:02 am
Counselor Saperstein,
Well done. I’m pretty sure Lubet didn’t compare different areas of law to different poker games in all 200-some pages.
So what do you think about putting it on the resume?
-Rick Lax
May 28th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
That’s my acting resume, but I’ve been offered over 50 law firm commercials because of it. Unfortunately I had to turn them all down because of my anti-lawyer and lawschool morals.
May 30th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
Ricky—you are attending Law School, not an acting class. As an unaccomplished but a card player with more then a few miles, I can state with a great deal of certainty that you “act” and play the cards you are dealt. Sometimes, when you do not act so well, you are “caught with your finger trying to get the honey in the pot”. Stick to blackjact and play one-on-one and even then you hope. Otherwise, use the summer to help save people point by knocking them down to impeding and honing skills you will certainly use more often then you card playing skils and certainly for greater compensation—henry
May 30th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
Poker playing is on my resume and delightful repartee has been the result. However, I keep it to a line under “interests” - I’m sure it will be far less impressive as your sole activity during college.