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I think the author makes an extremely far-fetched parallel between prominent people throughout history being excellent poker players. Could it be the other way round: being an extraordinary personality would make one good at activities that require careful reasoning/observation etc. ?

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I'm not sure he meant to imply that all these prominent people were excellent players. Just that the game provided a kind of training ground for decision-making and its analysis and an excuse for extended conversations with interesting people.

Interesting? You obviously haven't played much poker in a casino environment. Now it doesn't apply to everyone obviously, but by and large the most shady, degenerate low lives I have ever met in my life collectively have come from my hours at poker. And most of the conversations involve shallow discussion of hands by ego maniacs or complaints of beats.

What this author (promoter) seems to either forget or ignore is that gambling, and poker in particular, is synonymous with hustlers, criminals and two-bit cheats.

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