In Poker, I’m What You’d Call a Fish

5 minute read

Lesson #1: Say YES. Do Epic Sh*t.

Yesterday, I played my first real poker game.

A $400 buy-in, No Limit Texas Hold’em table—stacked with legends:

• Chris Moneymaker (yes, the guy who made poker famous).

• Dan “Jungleman” Cates, who just won $3.5 million at Triton last weekend.

• John “The Goob” Dorsey and Chris Elkins, both semi-pros.

Not exactly a soft table.

Let’s be real, I had no business playing with them. But when given the chance to do something epic, take it. Even if it costs you.

How I Ended Up At the Table

Dan “Jungleman” Cates is one of my clients. I’ve been working with him for the last six months, helping him launch Jungleverse, his online poker training community.

We are working on a new promotion for the site called Shuffle & Shred, a first-of-its-kind poker and fitness challenge, where players compete in a 60-day fitness challenge (tracking macros, lifting, running) to earn real poker advantages in a free-roll tournament with a $15,000 prize pool.

I was at the game to help facilitate, collect content, and handle logistics, but an hour in, an empty seat opened up.

So I took it.

How epic is that for a first game?

Lesson #2: Consistency Beats Intensity

In poker, I’m what you’d call a fish, the guy who plays way too many hands and gets exploited by the pros.

And for a little while? It worked.

I doubled my stack, and even won a few hands against Jungle himself.

I always tell my clients:

“You only really pay attention to what you pay for.”

And with $400 on the line (the winners Moneymaker and Elkins took home about $4k between the two of them) I was learning at warp speed.

I played every hand aggressively.

I played over 30 hands and had a VPIP of nearly 100% (translation: I was playing almost everything).

For reference:

• Tight players (VPIP 15-20%) only play strong hands.

• Balanced players (VPIP 20-30%) mix strong hands with speculative ones.

• Loose players (VPIP >40%) are too active and play hands they shouldn’t.

At VPIP 100%, I was:

In the action constantly. Finding myself in some tough post-flop spots and while it wasn’t sustainable I did have a good little run and I got to see the impact of an aggressive player on table mechanics.

I got to see in real-time the nuances of the game, psychology of play, strategy and table dynamics… plus it was pretty exciting.

Well worth the $400 masterclass.

And it taught me a very important lesson.

How’s the country song go?

“know when to hold em’ and know when to fold em’?”

That’s Lesson #2.

Poker, fitness, and life all require strategic consistency, not just short bursts of intensity.

There’s a time to go all-in, and there’s a time to step back.

By the end, I lost my buy-in, but I gained something far more valuable, real experience.

Lesson #3: Content vs. Context

For months, I’ve studied poker content as we build out the Jungleverse community site, GTO, courses, mechanics and table play.

But all of that is content and learning isn’t doing.

Sitting at that table showed me the game differently, I saw context for the material I’d been learning.

I saw how aggressive play changed player dynamics - who bluffed and who held strong hands.

This actually came in handy a few hands in.

My reckless, all-gas playing style built a reputation at the table. Jungle and Goob would call me light, play the bluff, and I’d either win on pure luck or lose on a bad run.

But one of the winners, Chris Elkins, never bluffed. When he bet, he had the hand.

That’s when I started folding.

There’s no way I could have learned that from watching a YouTube course.

This is the same reason why working out with someone who’s better than you levels you up faster. You pick up subtleties in form, pacing, and strategy that you wouldn’t get on your own.

That’s Lesson #3.

Content is important, but context is everything. You don’t really understand something until you’re in the game.

It’s the same with fitness.

• You can read about macros, but tracking them daily actually teaches you.

• You can watch workout tutorials, but getting under the bar builds strength.

• You can work out on your own and make some progress, but training with a pro will level you up much faster.

Poker, fitness, business—it’s all the same.

You can sit on the sidelines, watch others play, and compare yourself to the best, telling yourself you’re not ready.

Or, you can get in the game, learn from people who are better than you, and get real-time feedback on whether your strategy actually works.

This is exactly why Shuffle & Shred excites me.

It takes the discipline, endurance, and strategy of fitness and combines it with the mental sharpness of poker.

After one game, I can already see how much poker is a mind sport. And like any sport, you perform better when you’re in peak shape.

Fitness, like poker, isn’t about going all-in for short bursts—it’s about strategy, discipline, and playing the long game.

Three rules to learn anything and win at life:

1. Say yes. Do epic things—even if you don’t feel ready.

2. Be consistent with a proven strategy instead of winging it.

3. Learn the content, but apply it in context. Enough theory, get in the game.

I’m hooked. I’ll definitely be playing again, but I think I’ll stick to softer tables for a while.

The mechanics of poker translate into every other domain of life, discipline, mindset, emotional control, psychology, strategy, competition. These are the things that make you a better man.

That’s why I signed up for Shuffle & Shred.

This challenge isn’t just about poker. Or fitness. Or even winning.

It’s about playing at your highest level—at the table and in life.

To play better, you need to think sharper.

To think sharper, you need to train harder.

Shuffle & Shred is your shot to do both.

Inside the challenge, there’s extensive training, an active community, and access to fitness and poker pros who will help you level up faster.

Plus, a guaranteed $15,000 prize pool.

60 days to get stronger, sharper, and more strategic.

Want to join me?

Register for the Shuffle and Shred Challenge

You can use my code: FITBEARD for 10% off your buy-in get in the community and learn alongside me and I’ll see you at the tournament table!

Let’s run it.

E

PS… If you know nothing or very little about poker (like me) but want to learn, this challenge is perfect for you, we have extensive content, training and a super supportive community to help you learn the game, master a strategy and get real-time feedback from the professionals.

Join the Shuffle & Shred challenge and use code FITBEARD at checkout, come sweat with me and test your skills at the tournament table for you chance at $15k.