Poker! MIT Offers a Free Online Strategy Class

What can you learn from playing poker? Lots, according to Kevin Desmond, a 2015 master of finance graduate. Poker models larger games of risk like investment management and stock trading. If you boost your day-to-day poker skills, you can take that knowledge into professional fields, he says.

“A lot of very successful people in finance have a background in poker,” said Desmond in a recent Sloan News interview.

Desmond taught Poker Theory and Analytics to 150 students this winter during MIT’s Independent Activities Period.

“Coming into a career in finance already understanding risk management on a personal level is critical.”

Now you can take the same course, Poker Theory and Analytics, through MIT’s OpenCourseWare online for free. What do you get?

• Videos starting with Introduction to Poker Theory
• Lecture notes on topics such as Poker Economics, plus assignments
• Links to free online poker games, equity calculators, and animators
• Information on how and why it was taught at MIT.

On the OCW site, Desmond describes why he taught the IAP class. “For students entering the business world, I believe the key concepts of poker that transfer well to management positions are decision making with incomplete information, reading the actions of others, and being comfortable with self-assessment. I believe these skills can benefit students in many aspects of life, not just their careers.”

So visit Poker Theory and Analytics and get started.

MIT OpenCourseWare offers free learning materials for some 1,800 MIT courses and specialized OCW Scholar courses for independent learners who want to master core college level subjects.