Does Playing Poker Make You Smarter? Ask a Poker Brain Scientist

Even during its prime television days on ESPN, many felt quite uncomfortable calling poker a sport—unless you’re talking about a mind sport.

Poker undeniably tests your logical thinking (and flexes your mental muscles).

It overlaps with the strategic battles of Scrabble or chess, showing if you’ve done your homework.

• Fun fact: Did you know that Joe McKeehan, the winner of the 2015 World Series of Poker Main Event, is also a world champion in the board game Risk? That’s not an accident.

To succeed, you need rigorous logical reasoning skills. Leave the Texas Hold’em cheat sheet at the door!

Now, the average person’s expertise in biology doesn’t extend much beyond clicking random YouTube videos.

You know you’ve searched titles such as Why You Should Never Swallow Gum and What If You Only Drank Coffee And Nothing Else? Or Google searches asking if your dog knows he’s cute.

But let’s rewind to the moment when the author found herself knee-deep in the complexities of poker brain science while working on her book, “A Girl’s Guide to Poker.”

She quickly realised that she needed someone with profound expertise – cue Dr Tricia Cardner, a powerhouse in the field.