How Susquehanna Uses Poker to Train Elite Traders: A Deep Dive into Decision-Making Parallels

Chat logo Chat with this page
How Susquehanna Uses Poker to Train Elite Traders: A Deep Dive into Decision-Making Parallels
LIVE
 / 
  • Speed1
  • Subtitles
  • Quality
Quality
    Speed
    • Normal (1x)
    • 1.25x
    • 1.5x
    • 2x
    • 0.5x
    • 0.25x
    Subtitles
      🔉🔉🔉 CLICK TO UNMUTE 🔉🔉🔉
      • Copy video url at current time
      • Exit Fullscreen (f)
      0:00
      PRIVATE CONTENT
      OK
      Enter password to view
      Please enter valid password!

      Susquehanna International Group, one of the world’s largest market-makers, embeds poker into its culture not for recreation, but as a deliberate training tool for high-stakes trading. Quantitative researcher and former professional poker player Jared Angenman breaks down the three-phase structure that links every poker hand to every trade.

      Phase 1 – The Ante: Why You Must Play
      • Poker: The ante (or blinds) is the compulsory stake that forces action; without it, optimal play is to fold every hand.
      • Trading: Fixed costs—co-located servers, market-data feeds, salaries—create an identical “ante” that obliges Susquehanna to seek trades just to cover the overhead.
      • Key insight: Both arenas require a minimum level of activity; passivity is punished by the structure itself.
      Phase 2 – Decision-Making Under Uncertainty
      • Information hierarchy:
        • Private information (hole cards vs. internal models & trader intuition).
        • Public information (community cards vs. news, filings, macro releases).
        • Opponent actions (betting patterns vs. tape prints and order-flow clues).
      • Time pressure: Both poker and trading demand rapid, heuristic-based choices that approximate the “infinite-time” optimal decision.
      • Objective: Maximise expected value (EV) while managing the risk of adverse selection, not mere price volatility.
      • Training method: Post-hand or post-trade peer review—traders dissect decisions exactly like poker players analysing hands.
      Phase 3 – Outcomes & Noise
      • Signal vs. noise: A +EV poker hand can lose 49 % of the time; a well-priced option trade can still lose on random market drift.
      • Law of large numbers: Susquehanna runs thousands of independent trades daily to reach the “long run” quickly and dilute noise.
      • Psychological discipline: Poker trains traders to separate process from outcome, preventing tilt after inevitable losses.
      Practical Take-aways for Australian Investors
      • View your platform fees, data subscriptions and advisory costs as an “ante” that must be overcome before any strategy is profitable.
      • Build a repeatable decision checklist—private insight, public data, market action—then review every trade with the rigour of a poker debrief.
      • Track process metrics (edge size, risk controls) rather than short-term P&L to avoid being fooled by noise.

      “No man ever reached to excellence in any one art or profession without having passed through the slow and painful process of study and preparation.” – Mark Douglas

      WELCOME BACK

      Page content will refresh after entry.

      Let´s create your 100%-free membership, instantly
      Complete
      Your membership has been created, next:
      This link is already saved
      Your link has been saved

      BLOOMBERG GLOBAL NEWS

      Bloomberg video news feed with live charts, watchlists & fundamentals
      Audio/video feed with live charts, watchlists & fundamentals
      CHARTS + FEED

      RBA ECONOMIC UPDATES

      Periodic updates on the Australian economy, direct from the RBA, with live charts, watchlists & fundamentals
      Audio/video feed with live charts, watchlists & fundamentals
      CHARTS + FEED

      US FEDERAL RESERVE UPDATES

      Bloomberg News focussed upon the Federal Reserve, with live charts, watchlists & fundamentals
      Audio/video feed with live charts, watchlists & fundamentals
      CHARTS + FEED

      FX/GLOBAL BRIEFS

      Brief global updates with a focus upon currencies, with live charts, watchlists & fundamentals
      Audio/video feed with live charts, watchlists & fundamentals
      CHARTS + FEED

      ASX MARKET UPDATES

      ASX-focussed updates, with live charts, watchlists & fundamentals
      Audio/video feed with live charts, watchlists & fundamentals
      CHARTS + FEED

      BLOOMBERG BRIEFS

      Global briefs from Bloomberg with live charts, watchlists & fundamentals
      Audio/video feed with live charts, watchlists & fundamentals
      CHARTS + FEED

      Let´s create your 100%-free membership, instantly

      Complete
      Your membership has been created, next: