© 2014 The Texas Lawbook.
By Patricia Baldwin
Lifestyle Writer for The Texas Lawbook
(January 2) – Paul Lackey of Lackey Hershman has missed playing in the Main Event of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas only once in the past 10 years. And, each year, he has returned to the questions and curiosity of his Dallas colleagues about the culminating event of the renowned series of poker tournaments.
There’s one question, however, that still has him stumped: Does poker make him a better lawyer or does being a lawyer make him a better poker player?
One thing is certain.
“There are tons of lawyers who play poker,” Lackey says.
In fact, thousands participate in the WSOP. Lackey suggests the reason is the same thing that he finds most fun about both poker and his specialty of complex commercial litigation – the competition. “There are so many factors beyond luck involved.”
Pete Marketos agrees.
The commercial trial attorney with Reese Gordon Marketos in Dallas started playing Texas Hold’em with a group of lawyers in the early 2000s and “immediately fell in love with the game. In so many ways, it’s a complete analogy with what we do as trial lawyers.”
He likens poker to golf: “It’s not something you ever master.”
But unlike the top tiers of professional golf, poker is an egalitarian endeavor. Poker is a matter of you pay, you play – and that includes the Main Event.
“That’s the appeal,” Marketos says. “The common man can become a millionaire.”
Indeed, the common man has. In 2003, an accountant from Nashville, Tenn., won the first prize of $2.5 million in the WSOP Main Event. He became the first person to become a world champion by qualifying – with an initial $39 entry fee – at an online poker site. Chris Moneymaker (yes, really, that’s his name) subsequently inspired the rank and file of the poker world by trading his sedentary bean-counting existence for the life of a traveling poker pro.
The invention of the broadcast “pocket cam” or “hole cam” in 1997 also boosted poker’s popularity. While the game had been televised since the late 1970s, the hole cam allowed home television viewers to see the cards that players held in their hands.
Marketos knows, however, that television tends to glamorize poker. “It’s a grind.”
Thus, one of Lackey’s lessons involves stamina. He says that, during the WSOP, he traveled with a blender to make protein shakes and eschewed fried foods, sugars, flours. He also worked out every day.
“That helped me make it through multiple 12-hour days of concentration,” he says.
And it takes concentration, players agree, to keep the proverbial “poker face.” The term has become a cliché, however, because it’s true.
In poker and the law, Marc Schoenecker says, there is a good deal of bluffing.
Schoenecker, an in-house attorney with a Fortune 50 company, describes himself as a “casual or weekend poker player,” although he has played in the WSOP in Las Vegas.
“If somebody is a really competitive person, then poker is something they should consider,” he explains. “It has instant gratification. And you have to want to win.”
In competitive terms, he ranks poker as “far more competitive” than his other hobbies of golf and bridge.
He adds that poker is well suited to lawyers, perhaps more so than other professions, because lawyers deal with adversaries.
These days, however, his poker “adversaries” are mostly his neighbors and friends who gather for weekly games. He notes that the neighborhood games reveal the diversity of poker players – for good reason. Poker is easier to learn than bridge.
“Poker is the bridge of days gone by,” Schoenecker says.
Steve Ladik, managing partner in Berry Appleman & Leiden’s Dallas office, was once described as knowing how to win at poker without ever playing a hand. Sorry, no punch line.
His current sub-specialty started in 1989 when South African native and pro golfer David Frost connected with Ladik. Frost and his agent were so happy that they started a word-of-mouth campaign that netted Ladik clients from a variety of sports.
And, for Ladik, his contribution to the groundswell of poker’s popularity is establishing it as a “sport.”
The long version of the story involves the complicated U.S. immigration laws and legalese describing various visas. The short story is that the P-1 visa is available to those who “excel as artists, entertainers or athletes.” Ladik has secured the P-1 visa for a variety of athletes, including poker players. Thus, he says, it is a “sport.”
And while Ladik doesn’t play poker, he has enjoyed traveling to Las Vegas to watch clients play in WSOP tournaments.
Speaking of, Marketos hopes to play in the 2014 WSOP Main Event. A client even has offered to stake him the $10,000 entry fee. He says he might accept the offer, with a qualification: “It depends upon if I settle her case. I have to earn it.”
Paul Lackey: Seven Things Poker Has Taught Me About the Law
- Poker teaches the value of aggression. When you make a bet in poker, you might not have the best hand, but you can win without best hand. Sometimes, you also can win in law without the “best hand.” Advantages are critical, such as picking a jury, framing and timing issues and more.
- Poker teaches the willingness to be “all in.” When you are “all in” in tournament poker, you push all your chips in. If somebody calls you, you might lose, and you are out. It’s about the confidence to do the right thing at the right time. To be successful in the law, you have to have an “all in” commitment to the client. The song lyrics are correct: You need to know when to hold them.
- Poker teaches attention to detail. Notice everything. Poker players can reveal themselves in various ways, such as the way they move chips into the pot, the way they glance at their cards. There are many individual clues, and the same is true in complex litigation.
- Poker and the law require long, intense periods of focus and concentration. You need to stay in good physical and mental condition.
- Poker teaches the importance of overall strategy. In a poker tournament, you have to understand why you or others are making certain decisions. There are mathematical probabilities. In the law, you need to understand the goals of those involved and the probabilities regarding outcomes.
- Poker teaches the ability to deal with pressure in high stakes situations. Don’t think about the money or the outcome, or you might be overwhelmed.
- Poker teaches an understanding of people. When I first started playing poker, I thought it was a game of cards played by people. It’s a game of people played with cards. So is the law.
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