There are plenty of ways to keep your brain healthy as you get older. According to the Mayo Clinic, that includes getting plenty of sleep, exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, and socializing. More importantly, however, you’ll want to strengthen your brain.
Training your brain with a variety of mentally stimulating activities can help you practice a diverse range of cognitive skills, from visual processing to working memory and logical thinking. The best part is you don’t need to limit yourself to the likes of crossword and sudoku puzzles to keep your mind sharp. You can add even more exciting games to your brain training routine—including poker.
Poker is considered by Britannica as America’s national card game, poker is exceptionally popular and easily accessible. Whether you play it at home with friends, online, or in a casino, it relies on more than just chance—you also need a good strategy and skillset to win. That’s why playing poker offers a number of cognitive benefits:
It Improves Your Analytical Skills
When playing poker, you need to pay attention to a number of factors, from the cards you’re dealt to the opponents you’re playing with. The latter is particularly important since you’re playing with incomplete information: observing how others play can clue you in on the type of hands they have and how you can respond accordingly. That means playing poker can ultimately sharpen your analytical skills.
In fact, a study from Nantes Université titled “Spatial Attention to Social Information in Poker” confirms that regular live poker players can more efficiently analyze their opponents to improve their chances of success. One notable example of a poker pro who’s used this to his advantage is Phil Hellmuth, who’s found success multiple times at the World Series of Poker (WSOP).
Known as the world’s most prestigious poker tournament, it attracts tens of thousands of players every year with its large prize pools and global reach—and Hellmuth has beat those players to win over 17 WSOP bracelets and even be inducted into the tournament’s Hall of Fame. His secret? He has the uncanny ability to read his opponents, which he dubs “White Magic.” In an interview, he noted that this skill—which he believes only three to seven percent of live poker players have—allows him to better analyze his competition, play more strategically, and give himself more chances to win.
It Helps You Think Under Pressure
Poker can go beyond improving how well you process information—because it can also impact how quickly you can do so. Since the card game often requires you to make informed decisions in fast-paced, competitive environments, it helps you better think under pressure. As a result, research from the International Journal of Decision Support System Technology finds that playing poker can improve your focus, allowing you to process information and make better decisions in a shorter period of time.
One way you can help improve your cognitive function is to play speed poker or multi-table games online. The US’ top poker site, America’s Card Room uses innovative formats designed to make each round faster and more challenging. The events under its new tourney scheduled for 2025 includes Lightning PKO, which boasts streamlined run times that come in under one hour each. The site also has unique game formats like Blitz Poker, which immediately moves you to a new table every time you fold to increase the number of hands you play in a single session. The new mechanics you’ll find in these online poker games, which America’s Card Room ambassador Rene Nezhoda have lauded for providing “quick poker action,” can further encourage you to think under pressure and more effectively train your brain.
It Encourages Self-Reflection
As with any other pastime, practice also makes perfect when it comes to poker. That’s why even professional players like Daniel Negreanu and Johnathan Little encourage new and experienced players alike to take notes of their poker journey—so they can keep track of their strengths and weaknesses, as well as how much they improve with each game. In doing so, poker can encourage self-reflection, especially through journaling. Our post, The Benefits of Journaling, notes that this activity can help you better regulate your emotions and improve your problem-solving skills by helping you define what you want to improve on. When journaling for poker, you can also improve cognitive abilities like memory and critical thinking by seeing where you may have gone wrong during a game—and remembering not to make the same mistakes moving forward.
For more on health, wellness, and the best mindful practices for bolstering a healthy lifestyle, keep reading here on the Tran Smart Project.
