Key Takeaways:

• Confidence is a muscle, and like any skill, it requires practice.
• Silence is a strategy; observe to gather intelligence and influence the room.
• The biggest risk is folding on yourself out of a fear of not belonging.

April Oury doesn't wait for permission. She started a physical therapy business that was cash-only, pioneering the model long before it became popular. She transformed a one-woman shop, starting with zero revenue, into a multi-million dollar, multi-state operation. After successfully selling the company, she pivoted her energy to advising, connecting with, and angel investing in other founders and entrepreneurs across multiple sectors.

Armed with a degree in physical therapy and a little hutzpah, she found herself running in the investor class circle, full of MBAs and family money. “I found a lot of people played poker,” April said. “I come from a conservative religious background with parents who not only never played cards, but most of their circle considered card playing taboo.” Initially, April avoided the game, equating it with pure chance, a common misconception of this popular mind sport. She finally decided to try it after being persuaded by PEAK6’s co-founder, Jenny Just, who had recently founded Poker Power. “She convinced me to give it a shot because it was more about strategy than it is anything else,” April said. “Poker teaches you how to think. It really piqued my interest to imagine what another person is going to do.” The realization that poker is a high-level emotional intelligence laboratory for decision making and reading people shifted her entire perspective.

The Ultimate Prep: Testing Confidence and Risk

April approached the training with hesitation at first, admitting to taking only the first half of the Poker Power classes – three times. (A classic example of practicing until confidence catches up with skill.) She was still a student of the game when she was given an opportunity to vet a possible investment based in Nevada.

After spending two days immersed in the potential investment, April felt good about what she learned, and decided to make a bold pivot to explore her first poker game. “I had no idea what I was doing,” she shared.

She took a video of herself in front of the Bellagio’s water feature, boldly declaring “I’m going in there and I’m going to win!”

Reading the Table: Resourcefulness and Emotional Control

Ironically, she hadn’t a clue where the playing area was, how to garner a spot at the table, or even how to buy chips. Once she found the room, she said she learned how it worked by watching as players walked up, put their names on a list, and bought chips from a window in the back of the room. In no time, April finally took her seat at the table, “I don’t remember seeing any women in there, except the women who were working.” She went on, “I was put at a table. Nobody said a word to me. The first couple of rounds, I just folded. I didn’t have anything to play but this gave me a good opportunity to watch and learn the basic logistics and start strategizing what might work at the table. Then I started putting in a couple of chips here and there. I kept losing.” But she leaned on her resourcefulness, turning observation into action.

Finally, she peeked at her hand and saw she was dealt pocket aces. “My heart was racing so hard!” April admitted. “I was thinking, ‘Don’t let anyone see your face. You’re going to turn red and then they’ll know.’ So I was playing it cool. I put in more than I normally would, but no one seemed to notice.”

She kept adding to her bets. The pot grew as everyone at the table tossed in their chips. Once the final card was turned over, April decided to go all-in. The other players finally began to take notice. Eventually, her calculated risk paid off: One by one they started to fold, until only one player was left to call her bet.

“That was when I won all my money back, times four,” she said. “That was the first time anyone said anything to me the entire time. One guy said, ‘Wow, nice job, nice hand.’ I played two more hands because I didn’t know how to leave the table! I finally asked the dealer if I could leave.” (Even when you win big, sometimes the most important move is exiting gracefully.)

Poker Pays Dividends: Confidence in Negotiation

April drew strength from her Poker Power lessons and the live-table experience and applied it to the next round of vetting for the Nevada potential investment. “It actually helped me for the rest of that trip and the investment.” April went on to say, “I pushed a little bit more during the vetting. It helped me make a much better choice.” That feeling of control, honed at the felt, gave her the confidence boost she needed to step up and own her risk intelligence in this major business negotiation.

April had already played her cards right with a successful business exit while helping others with their entrepreneurial business dreams as a strategist, connector, and investor. So what critical lesson could poker teach her about being courageous, bold, and perceptive? It taught her how to own her seat.

From the outside looking in, April was the epitome of success, yet she had a nagging feeling she didn’t really belong among the investor circle. In fact, she would admit that investors have asked for her opinion and encouraged her to participate more, but it was she who held herself back, thinking she didn’t have the credentials – no MBA, no long history of investing success.

April’s poker experience gave her a way to stretch her risk muscle, trying out her newfound confidence and skills in a low-risk scenario. Taking her seat at a table where no one knew her and only a few dollars were at stake – not her reputation, not her whole business, not her self-worth. She faced her fear of rejection head-on, and failure showed her how resilient she could be as she stepped into the unknown. The game provided a safe sandbox for high-stakes behavior.

Why We Fold Ourselves: Claiming Your Seat

“I’m telling my story because I found out most women don’t take the chance at a live game because they think they have to be a professional poker player,” April said. “They feel too intimidated because it is a space full of men who have been doing this for hours and hours. It is scary at first, but once you take your seat, you can feel the confidence grow.”