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Chris Sparks01 September 2022

World Poker Champion On The Science Of Decision Making - Chris Sparks

5Frameworks
15Insights

Frameworks in this episode

Insights & moments

The myth-busts, hot takes, explainers, and tools worth keeping.

Myth Buster· 2

Myth Buster1:12:30

Over-optimisation: nobody came for the michelin-star food

is there's an assumption that hey if i'm going to do something i need to do it all out or it's not worth doing at…

Chris Sparks · 1:13:00

people aren't coming to my birthday trip because they want the trip of a lifetime

Chris Sparks · 1:13:30
Myth Buster1:54:30

Not all rest recharges: distraction disguised as self-care

so when you hear phrases like i need or i should or i have to i think it's very revealing about things that we're assuming…

Chris Sparks · 1:55:00

where i see a lot of people going astray when it comes to things like recovery and taking breaks is that they do things that…

Chris Sparks · 1:56:00

Hot Take· 2

Hot Take21:30

Skill is relativistic: choose the right game, not the hardest one

if you find a good game you can make unlimited money right it's not a fact skill is not the predominating factor it's choosing the…

Chris Sparks · 21:30

and so that's the real difference about poker is that it's relativistic skill and i think a lot of success in life comes down to…

Chris Sparks · 22:00
Hot Take48:30

The rules are conventions — find the back door

the conventions are just conventions it's just things that people agree to but they're not set in stone

Chris Sparks · 52:30

here's the way that all the other people are playing the game and that's great but it feels really competitive over here what's the back…

Chris Sparks · 49:30

Explainer· 5

Explainer05:00

The Red Queen effect: why poker gets harder every year

a good rule of thumb is that the average player is about twice as good on an annual basis

Chris Sparks · 05:30

the idea is like your things are moving so quickly that you have to run really quickly just to maintain your place

Chris Sparks · 06:00
Explainer08:30

Poker is a game of imperfect information played in the mind

i think the advantage is all psychological so understanding other players and most importantly understanding yourself

Chris Sparks · 09:00

this isn't chess where you can just have the perfect move

Chris Sparks · 09:30
Explainer13:00

Online vs live poker: 600 hands an hour vs 25

the primary advantage of playing online is that you can play multiple games at a time so i've played a maximum of 30 games at…

Chris Sparks · 13:30

if i'm playing 12 games i'm getting about 600 hands per hour at a typical live game at a home or a casino you're getting…

Chris Sparks · 14:30
Explainer1:02:30

Status quo bias: imagine you sold every commitment you have

a lot of the temptation in psychology we call this status quo bias is hey everything that i'm doing right now is pretty great i'm…

Chris Sparks · 1:03:00

i use another investment analogy imagine that you sold all of your investments and now you're just sitting on a pile of cash

Chris Sparks · 1:03:30
Explainer1:28:30

What an executive performance coach actually does

i act as a third party objective observer for high performers to

Chris Sparks · 1:28:30

that's like the coaching cheat code by the way is like hey that time that things were going really well for you what were you…

Chris Sparks · 1:36:00

Story· 1

Story27:30

From dial-up free-rolls to top 20 in the world

luckily economy had other plans and i was forced to like hey why don't i do an experiment and treat poker as a full-time thing…

Chris Sparks · 29:00

fast forward 18 months of going full time i was ranked top 20 in the world

Chris Sparks · 29:30

Q&A· 1

Q&A25:00

How do you get invited to the big private games?

the same thing is like oh how do i get invited to more parties well be someone that people want at your parties

Chris Sparks · 25:30

it seems to be this unfortunate fact of life and that the people with the most opportunities are the people who get the most opportunities

Chris Sparks · 26:30

Tool· 1

Tool1:05:00

Two objectivity hacks: advise a friend, and fear is a compass

another way is to imagine that you're giving advice to a friend and the friend is in the exact situation that you're in what's the…

Chris Sparks · 1:05:00

another one that i like a lot is fear is a compass so if i'm between two options always do the thing that's scarier because…

Chris Sparks · 1:05:30

Takeaway· 3

Takeaway14:00

Improvement speed is proportional to the tightness of your feedback loops

there's this concept that i like that improvement speed is proportional to the tightness of your feedback loops

Chris Sparks · 14:00
Takeaway41:30

Hire for trajectory and iteration speed, not current position

is like not where this person is where they project them to be a few years down the line if they keep improving

Chris Sparks · 42:00
Takeaway1:16:30

Reframe the to-do list as opportunities, not obligations

and it's this morbid thought that we're going to die with a very long to-do list because we're going to keep adding things to it

Chris Sparks · 1:16:30

this is not my list of to do's this is not an obligation that i've thrown upon my shoulders but all opportunities these are all…

Chris Sparks · 1:17:00