While some people think that playing poker is bad for the mind, it can be quite the opposite. It actually helps you build your mental resilience and critical thinking skills. In addition to this, it improves your concentration and observational skills. It also teaches you how to celebrate your wins and learn from your losses. Moreover, it helps you develop good habits in terms of money management.

It also teaches you how to make decisions under uncertainty, which is an essential skill in many areas of life including business and investing. For example, in poker, you don’t know what cards other players have, how they’ll be played or what the odds are of getting a particular card. So, you have to estimate probabilities and make a decision under uncertainty.

Another important aspect of poker is learning to fold when you have a weak hand. Often, beginner players will play a hand all the way to the end believing that they’re already invested so they might as well win. However, this is not always the case. A smart player will know when to fold and save their chips for another time. This is something that professional players like Scotty Nguyen have mastered. It is a testament to how they’ve developed their poker game over the years.