I'm not a fan of gambling for money conceptually, but I was surprised by how much I learned playing Texas Hold'em for small cash stakes with a group of friends.
I think the most generally applicable thing I learned is the idea of folding a bad hand, and that most of the time you should fold. It seems to come up in regular life quite often, and I used to routinely double down on bad hands in life. It's also impressive how someone who is "ahead" can sort of bully people off the table.
It does seem to be the case that playing for some interesting amount of cash is helpful or even necessary in order to properly stimulate the brain. I hear backgammon for money is totally different as well, with the introduction of the doubling cube.
I think the most generally applicable thing I learned is the idea of folding a bad hand, and that most of the time you should fold. It seems to come up in regular life quite often, and I used to routinely double down on bad hands in life. It's also impressive how someone who is "ahead" can sort of bully people off the table.
It does seem to be the case that playing for some interesting amount of cash is helpful or even necessary in order to properly stimulate the brain. I hear backgammon for money is totally different as well, with the introduction of the doubling cube.