Poker lessons from FIFA World Cup

The World Cup was won by France a team full of individuals which switched gears well thanks to their boss Didier Deschamps. France didn't play sexy football, they just did what their coach told them to do.

Lesson: Don't be fancy. Simply play solidly, using the poker knowledge you have.

Croatia wasn't the second best team in terms of skill in the World Cup. However, thanks to their great commitment, the Croatians reached the final, winning the fans' hearts along the way.

Lesson: Even if you have very few chips, don't give up. Look for opportunities to counterattack, and beautiful things can happen.

In the third place match Belgium won against England. The football skills of both teams stood at a very similar level, but thanks to the experience of the Belgians it was possible to tip the scales of victory in their favour.

Lesson: The more you play the more experience you gain. Volume is the key!

The Germans won the World Cup in 2014, but in 2018 they were not even able to get out of the group.

Lesson: Even if you are the winning player, you have to remember that this is not guaranteed forever. You have to work on improving your game all the time.

In the last match of the group phase in the Group G, England played against Belgium. The winner of this match on their way to the final round would play against Brazil or Mexico, and in the semi-final they would meet Uruguay, Portugal, France or Argentina. The loser, in the last 16 final round went to Colombia, Sweden or Switzerland in the quarter-finals, and Spain, Russia, Croatia or Denmark in the semi-finals.

The English did not care about the victory - the match was lost by them 1:0.

Lesson: Game selection is very important. If you are the best player among the bad, you will win. However, if you are a good player but fight against even better players, you are a fish.

In the last match of the Group H Poland played against Japan. The Poles wanted to win after their defeats in their first two matches. The Japanese would get out of the group even with a 0:1 defeat, and the Poles managed to score a goal indeed. Both teams were satisfied with this result, which is why the last 10 minutes of the match was absolutely nothing to watch on the pitch. The players simply gave each other the ball.

Lesson: You don't always have to be active and aggressive. There are situations where you can fold hand after hand. In a satellite tournament fpr example, if you have a stack that guarantees you a seat, you have no reason to attack players with smaller stacks. You can sit back and wait for others to eliminate each other.

The players from Panama were happy, simply because they managed to get to the World Cup. In the game against England where they lost 6:1, the Panamanian team celebrated the goal as if it were a victory for them.

Lesson: Sometimes you simply don't have a chance to win. You get drawn at the table with the professionals in a tournament, or you get no playable hands. It happens. But if you know you have given your best, be proud!

The teams that did well at the World Cup really had a 'team spirit' and were monoliths - France, Croatia and Belgium. Those with one big star, achieved very little - Portugal, Argentina, Poland.

Lesson: Look at each player in the team as one skill. Mastering only one skill at the world level will not allow you to achieve success. If you play tournaments and you play very well in the push or fold phase, but you are unable to cope with the deep-stack phase, you will not succeed. If you play cash and read your opponents' hands perfectly, but your mindset is tragic, and you're tilting every time you lose a hand, say goodbye to your bankroll.

Neymar rolled around in pain on the pitch every time he was touched by the opposite team's players became a meme and he was universally hated by football fans around the world.

Lesson: Don't cry after losing hands. We all have bad beats sometimes - but some of us know how to lose with a class, others don't. Don't be this second person, don't be Neymar.