Why We Started No Stakes Poker
We’ve found that a lot of people avoid learning poker due to one simple thing: fear. The fear of not knowing what to do, the fear of looking “stupid,” the fear of losing...
At No Stakes Poker, our approach isn’t about memorizing rules. We’ll walk you through the process of developing a strategic mindset in an easy, digestible way, giving you the opportunity to learn poker in a safe, non-judgmental environment.
We believe that everyone deserves to enjoy the confidence that comes with learning poker, along with an improved sense of self-awareness, emotional control, and real human connection.
During a 2.5-hour workshop, we’ll cover the basics of poker from the ground up, from the fundamentals of gameplay to game theory, strategy development, and more.
In other words? We make the greatest game in the world accessible and empowering for everyone. Click the link to learn more about how it works.
What You’ll Learn
Poker fundamentals
Game theory
Advanced strategy
Decision making skills
Stress management
Self-awareness
Observational skills
Adaptability and risk management
About the Founder
When I moved to Chicago in 2015, I didn’t know a single person...but I did know how to play poker. Eventually, I stumbled upon an underground game, and what I found was a lot more than cards: I found a family. I found that sitting there—many hours a week, phones down, just us and the game—I met people I would have never otherwise encountered...lifelong friends, mentors, people from vastly different cultures, career paths, and backgrounds. Poker broke down every barrier I knew, giving me a language I could share with people from all over the world.
Had my dad never taught me poker when I was a kid, I would have never experienced any of this. So I created No Stakes Poker because I believe everyone deserves the opportunity to experience the things poker taught me.
In my 20s, as I navigated a high-stakes corporate career, poker became my secret weapon. The more I learned about the game, the better I performed. I found myself more adept at risk calculation, problem-solving, and high-pressure decision making. Maybe most importantly, my confidence became ironclad.
In 2021, I discovered my true passion: Passing that confidence and those skills along by teaching poker to beginners. I fell so in love with it that I made it my full-time career.
Since then, I’ve taught nearly 1,000 people—ranging from Girl Scouts to Fortune 100 C-suite execs, to young girls in Kenya who barely spoke English—traveling the country and teaching people how poker skills translate into a series of abilities that’ll carry you through the real world.
– Carly Lane, No Stakes Poker founder