Many people think poker is about domination: running over the table and proving you’re the smartest (and luckiest) player in the game. I’ve seen players walk in to a poker room with swagger, puffed chests, and a plan to be the bully regardless of what cards they hold.
Quite often, I’ve seen those same players leave empty-handed.
Poker, like life, rarely rewards brute force for long. The real winners are those who understand a deeper truth: the soft, the yielding, and the humble often outlast the hard and the proud.
That’s the Tao of poker.
What is the Tao?
The Tao, pronounced “Dow,” means “the Way.” Its teaching comes from the Tao Te Ching, a slim book of verses credited to Lao Tzu, the “Old Master,” more than 2,000 years ago.
Some say he was a real man serving in the emperor’s court. Others say he’s more legend than fact. As the story goes, he grew tired of society’s noise, a feeling I know well in today’s chaos. As he left for the mountains, a guard at the border asked him to write down his wisdom before disappearing.
The result was the Tao Te Ching: 81 short verses that have guided seekers ever since. Its teaching is simple: live in step with the flow of life.
The soft overcomes the hard. The yielding outlasts the forcing. Balance creates strength.
For me, that’s poker pure and simple. It’s why I named my first membership offering to students “Poker Pure & Simple,” which lasted eight years.
Yielding Wins the Long Game
If you’ve ever watched a beginner play, you’ve seen it: the death grip on pocket aces. They’ll hold on tight and throw good money after bad because they refuse to fold the “best” hand. But the fact is, even aces lose.
Against a single random hand, aces get cracked about 15% of the time. Add more players who refuse to fold, and the odds swing hard against you. In a limped pot, aces lose more often than they win.
That’s why I say, “Limping is for losers!”
The wise player yields when the situation calls for it. They fold with grace, detach from the outcome, and live to play the next hand. Yielding isn’t weakness. It’s strategy. It’s survival. It’s the reason they’re still in their seat when the bullies have burned out.
Life is the same. How many times have you clung to something — a job, a relationship, a belief — long after it stopped serving you?
The strength is not in holding tighter. The strength is in letting go when the time is right.
Humility as Endurance
Poker has a way of humbling you, whether you like it or not. You can make all the “right” moves, still lose the hand, and still bust out before reaching the money in a tournament.
Ego hates that.
However, players who embrace humility tend to last longer.
- They recognize that poker is a long game, a marathon, rather than a sprint in a single pot.
- They learn from each loss instead of swearing at the cards. They stop bemoaning bad beats like drama queens or kings.
- They find patience in the rhythm of the game.
Humility isn’t passive. It’s active awareness. It’s saying, “I have no control over the cards, but I can control my actions.”
And that awareness turns into endurance and resilience.
Balance Between Push and Pause
Aggression wins in poker. That’s true. And it’s foolish to sit back and wait forever for premium hands. But aggression without balance is a fast trip to the rail.
Poker is a constant dance between yin and yang — push and pause, attack and observe. Sometimes the strongest play is a bold raise. Sometimes the strongest play is folding before you get trapped.
And one of the weakest plays? Refusing to fold when you know you’re beaten, just because you want to see what they’re holding. Sheesh!
That’s what I call an idiot move. And since I’ve had my fair share of idiot moves, I’ve learned how expensive playing stupid can be.
Balance is what keeps you sharp, steady, and unpredictable.
As I redevelop my skills, it’s increasingly clear to me that the pause, even before the push, can be game-changing.
And isn’t life the same? Sometimes you boldly step forward. Sometimes you wait and watch. That’s the art is knowing which to do in the moment.
The Power of Simplicity
Some players love fancy moves. Bluffing six ways to Sunday. Talking like a genius while they push chips in the pot.
But the players who consistently walk away with money? They stick to fundamentals: bankroll discipline, emotional control, and making decisions based on position, odds, and awareness.
It looks simple, even boring. Yet simplicity has power.
That’s what the Tao teaches. The straightforward, the grounded, the patient path is the one that lasts. Poker teaches it, too.
Real Strength in Poker is Changing
I’ve sat across from players who wanted to prove they were the “alpha” at the table. They pushed every hand. They bluffed every pot.
On the surface, they looked strong, but poker strips all that away. The cards don’t care how tough you act. What matters is who’s still standing when the chips are counted.
The soft survives. The yielding outlasts. The humble wins.
Poker drilled that lesson into me again and again. It remains one of the greatest gifts the game has given me in life.
At its core, the Tao teaches this:
- The soft overcomes the hard (water wears down stone).
- The yielding endures longer than the rigid (a tree that bends in the wind doesn’t break).
- Balance and flow create strength (yin and yang are not enemies, but partners).
Applied to poker, the Tao’s lesson goes beyond lasting.
It’s deeper. Strength doesn’t come from forcing, clinging, or posturing. It comes from aligning with the flow, knowing when to yield, and lasting because you’re adaptable.
So the truest Tao teaching is this:
Real strength is flexibility. The ones who last are the ones who bend and are willing to change.
Editor’s Note: Way “back in the day” there used to be a very popular poker blog called “Tao of Poker”. This article’s title was chosen by the author with no plagiaristic intent whatsoever. For those interested, you can read our 2018 interview with Tao of Poker founder Paul McGuire.
