Entrepreneurship 101 in its first season, features Crispin Leyser talking about about Why poker mirrors the decision-making process for business and life.

Crispin Leyser

Executive training using poker as a game-based learning tool to enhance decision-making when information is incomplete, emotions are high and outcomes matter

I'm British. I've been in LA for 23 years. I spent 17 years as Channel 4's LA-based consultant for acquisitions and co-productions. But during that time I also became a professional poker player and instructor for World Poker Tour Bootcamps, teaching classes across America how to become a better poker player. But what struck me even then, was that I wasn't just teaching people how to become better at poker. I was teaching them how to become better at life. That ranges from simple life lessons about controlling the controllables (such as your emotions

and game selection); to more complex decision-making concepts such as expected value. Tens of thousands of people in LA have lost their jobs, arguably on the backs of bad decisions taken by studios and networks over the years. So I made a decision. To set up The Winning Hand and marry my poker skills with my executive background to provide leaders with a roadmap for better decision-making.