What’s got tradition, fashion, and competition wrapped into one?

What’s got tradition, fashion, and competition wrapped into one?

The Kentucky Derby.

It’s called “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports.”

But for me, it’s something else.

In my concert promotions days, I took a big gamble:

Put up my money and produce a party in Louisville the night before the Derby.

There were other well-established parties with…

A-list celebrities,

Blue-chip sponsors,

And national media attention.

I wanted in.

Yet I had no Derby Eve party experience.

But all of my events succeeded; why wouldn’t this one?

I moved forward.

As you’d expect, we had a VIP guest list.

Professional athletes.

Celebrities.

Models.

But the real stars were professional poker players.

Party-goers lined up to rub shoulders and get pictures.

Despite the VIPs, the party flopped financially.

My gamble didn’t pay off.

In the aftermath, I thought about the poker players.

What lesson could I learn from them?

In poker, players make bets based on probabilities:

Their hand versus their opponents.

Even with the best odds, the outcome doesn’t always work.

But that doesn’t mean the decision to bet was bad.

It may have been the right decision based on the available information.

Nearly all decisions we make are based on probabilities.

Rarely do we have all the information.

Even when we do, external factors can affect the outcome.

As in poker, we can make more informed choices by acknowledging that we are working with incomplete information.

We can learn from the outcomes, regardless of success or failure.

When evaluating decisions, shifting focus from the outcome to the process is important.

After that experience, I asked:

1. Did I consider all relevant information and possible outcomes?

2. Were there any biases or emotions that influenced my decision?

3. Are there any lessons I can learn to improve my future decision-making process?

In this case, I didn’t research the competition and market well enough.

My ego clouded my judgment.

But I learned a valuable lesson on decision-making from poker that I use to this day.

To be successful in poker and life, embrace uncertainty and play the odds.