There are 26 hours of intense, pleasurable Daredevil action on Netflix right now.
I've loved every minute of it.
The Netflix Original Series has broken the old superhero mold and created a new one. Along the way, they've incidentally created a character who has everything it takes to succeed in the world of poker.
Before you go and mainline as much of Marvel's new legend in the making, take a second to consider these nine attributes that suggest Daredevil could be a phenomenal poker player - or poker "mindset" coach. There's a lot to admire and adapt to our own poker toolkit.
1. He Has a Job
We’ve all been there; stuck in a nine to five, making a dying doing something we hate.
The alarm bell rings. We clock off. We head home. Kiss the wife. Kiss the kid. Eat food. Have a shower.
The we head to the local pub and play poker all night. And it's bliss.
Daredevil isn't a billionaire playboy like Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark. Matt Murdock has to hustle, and thus far (in the first two seasons) the way I see things, he is getting paid in bananas and pie.
He doesn't care about the daytime. Like all great poker players, he can't wait for the moon. He wants to rip off that shirt and howl. Bliss.
2. 10,000 hrs Kicking Ass
I always end my interviews by asking professional poker players what they would do if they had 10,000 hours to work on anything.
The theory being (thanks, Malcolm Gladwell) that if you work on anything solidly for 10,000 hours, you will achieve mastery.
Most poker players provide the same answer: “Play more poker.”
Daredevil isn’t Superman. He wasn’t born a bad ass. He became one by spending a lifetime refining his art. He worked. He bled. He worked. He bled. He spent 10,000 hours learning to kick ass. Think about that.
3. Find a Great Mentor
Daredevil wasn't alone when he started those 10,000 hours of ass kicking. He had a mentor. The perfect guide.
Blinded by radioactive waste - an accident that led to highly attuned senses - Daredevil was taught how to kick ass by another blind man with highly attuned senses known as Stick.
If you want to get to the top of any profession, find the person at the top and figure out how he or she can haul you up there.
As a betting man I assume Stick is right up there when it comes to 'blind men with highly attuned senses who can kick ass like Bruce Lee.'
Who's at the top of your poker tree?
4. He's Always in the Now
A magical ability to time travel can be deadly for a poker player. If they aren't thinking about a bad beat that happened 10 hands ago, they're likely thinking about potential bad beats 10 hands into the future.
The secret to successful poker is to take it one hand at a time. That mindset requires incredible presence.
Daredevil has that presence. Spiderman is always whining about Uncle Whatshisname getting shot. Batman is always having nightmares about bats.
Daredevil? The guy has beautiful women crawling all over him and he can't even see them? Does he complain about the accident that robbed him of his misogynistic goggles?
Not on your nelly. He focuses on the NOW.
5. Leaks
Daredevil isn't perfect. He is a man. He regularly gets a spanking. One thing I like about the savior of Hell's Kitchen is he always plugs his leaks.
Take his suit as an example. In the first season, he was dodging bullets wearing nothing but a smelly stocking over his head.
Then he met Melvin Potter and hey, presto! Leak plugged. He now has a bulletproof suit.
We all have leaks in our game. The key is to recognize and plug them.
6. Dodging Bullets
Phil Hellmuth can do it. So can Daredevil. So can you. You just have to believe you can.
7. The Vigilante
I'm not calling poker players who give their money to Raising for Effective Giving (REG) vigilantes, but there is a thread of familiarity.
Daredevil comes out at night and beats the crap out of people to bring stability to the world. REG members take other people's money for the same purpose.
8. Perseverance
Daredevil gets his ass kicked. Regularly. But he keeps getting up.
He keeps fighting. All the best poker players have that in their blood.
9. The Annette Obrestad Factor
Annette Obrestad once won a 180-man Sit 'n' Go without looking at her cards.
Daredevil can't see shit.
Sometimes you don't have to see the cards to know the right move. Remember that.
