This weekend, I won a no-limit Texas Hold'em tournament in my new neighborhood against 17 other gents having never played before. All I did was learn the basic rules, play a few hands online to learn the mechanics, and read some articles at www.learn-texas-holdem.com. The sections on understanding the psychology of the no limit games proved to be so on target that I walked home with a trophy and a wad of cash. I doubt I'll be able to repeat the feat and don't plan on quitting my day job to join the World Poker Tour, but it was sure interesting understanding what makes people tick in a particular situation. See the pics at www.leaguelineup.com/chipsandclubs. I'm sure there are some business lessons to glean from the experience - mostly about working hard to understand the personalities in one's work environment and using those insights in "Getting to Yes". But there are a lot fewer variables in a poker game than in life, so the analogies are bound to break down early.