Poker playing experience in buy-side interview
Im a college senior with final rounds for FT buy-side analyst roles coming up and am wondering if I should attempt to discuss my poker playing experience in the interviews. Some background: Im a college athlete, finance major, and have payed my way through school with my athletic scholsrship and by playing poker during winter/summer breaks. It is much more than a hobby and I estimate my experience is in the millions of hands. My sport went through the summer so i have no internships but have somehow managed to land some final rounds anyway. I know buy-side jobs tend to be a little more interested in uniquie experiences like this, and a lot of my analytical skills have been developed and honed through poker. There are easily drawn parallels between poker and investing so I think I would have an easy enough time making it sound good. I am also teaching a class through the math department at my school called "probabilistic thinking and analystics in Poker". Does anybody have an opinion on whether this is a good experience to bring up or if it is a red flag/topic to be avoided in a final round/superday setting? My main concern is that people may see it as gambling (which it isnt, its a pure skill game with variance), but I also know that its a topic I am an expert in with strong parallels to investing and it has taught me a great deal about managing risk and uncertainty. Any advice from people who have gone through the buy-side interview process is welcome.