Spartan Poker Team Pro Nikita Luther Speaks About Betting Big, Going All-In & Catching Bluffs in Her TEDx Talk at IIFT Kolkata

India’s poker superwoman, Nikita Luther, has many achievements to her name. Not only is she India’s first and only female WSOP bracelet champion, but she has also proved her mettle at other prominent stops like the Deltin Poker Tournament and the Macau Poker Cup. Adding to her thriving poker career, Luther has become one of the first Indian poker personalities to give a TEDx Talk at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) Kolkata.

The 29-year-old, self-proclaimed maths nerd is the #1 ranked female poker pro in India. She is also the brand ambassador of one of India’s leading online poker platforms, Spartan Poker.

Her 15-minutes long talk at IIFT Kolkata on November 29 touched upon three specific aspects – betting big, going all-in, and catching bluffs. Using these popular poker terminologies, Luther parted some fundamental life lessons, often imbibing instances from her own life to drive the point home.

Let us briefly tell you about the three aspects that Luther talked about in her speech.

Betting Big & Embracing Uncertainty

Luther started out by discussing the idea of betting big. Expounding on the same, she explained that it is only when people bet on themselves that they genuinely embrace uncertainty.

“We humans are wired to look for predictable patterns and avoid situations that risk us losing security. But the truth is that certainty is an illusion. And instead of avoiding uncertainty, an exercise in futility, we should work to cultivate conditions that unleash the potential within us. The potential to navigate uncertainty with greater creativity and courage.”

It is only after Luther took uncertainty in her stride by wholly believing in herself that she was able to emerge as one of the leading names in a male-dominated industry and convince her parents of the validity of poker as a profession.

Going All-In & Adapting to Changing Variables

The Spartan Poker Team Pro elucidated how poker’s dynamic nature makes it essential for players to adapt to any situation and change their gameplay accordingly. Using her own example, Luther described how she has had to reinvent herself over the years to stay at the top of her game.

“You need to constantly adapt and adjust to the variables before you can make your move. Even on a macro level, the game of poker is constantly evolving. Every few years, a talented crop of new players totally changes how the game is played and, therefore, how it should be approached to be successful. I have had to disrupt myself numerous times over my career to remain at the top of the game.”

She further explained that the only way to handle this continually changing scenario is by ‘going all-in’ and becoming an adaptive person.

Catching Bluffs & Thriving in Uncertainty

Using a personal incident, Luther explained: “how biased we are by our emotions and by the nature of outcomes about forming a judgment on whether the same decision was correct or incorrect.”

She underlined how deciding whether a decision is good or bad based on a past result is the “biggest bluff of all time.”

“We humans have a tendency to fail to look at decisions objectively. We see that everywhere. An engineering student who wanted to be an actor fails – comes back home – and his parents won’t support him when he needs it the most. The same engineering student goes and does well in acting, and society applauds him for his courage. But it is not about that. It is not about the outcome of your decisions. It is about how well you executed your decision.”

Luther’s TEDx talk was full to the brim with many interesting anecdotes and valuable life lessons useful not just for budding poker players but even for those uninitiated in the game’s nuances.