Back in 2004, I found myself in a smoky basement at Binion’s Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas, watching a human poker pro face off against a robot.

Yes — a robot.

At the time, no one was talking about AI.
No one was writing thinkpieces about machine learning.
No one was preparing for automation to reshape how industries work.

Except for a handful of us huddled around a felt table in downtown Vegas.

What I didn’t realize then was that this strange little experiment would become one of the most important training grounds of my entire PR career — especially now, as I spend my days helping HR tech companies stand out in a crowded, AI-saturated market.

Poker didn’t just teach me how machines think.
It taught me how people think.
And in PR — especially HR tech PR — people drive everything.

Here’s how a poker robot helped me become the storyteller HR tech founders hire today.

1. Poker Taught Me to Spot the Moment Before the Market Sees It

In 2004, AI wasn’t a buzzword.
It wasn’t a line item in pitch decks.
It wasn’t even a thing most people believed would matter.

But early researchers were quietly exploring the idea of computer poker players:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_poker_player

Reporters were starting to whisper about “poker bots” infiltrating online games:
https://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/rise-of-the-poker-bots-18241

The mainstream?

Totally unaware.

But in poker — and in PR — being early is everything.

In poker:

The player who acts first sets the tempo.

In PR:

The brand that tells the story first owns the narrative.

That’s why HR tech companies bring me in — not just to participate in the conversation, but to start it.

2. Imperfect Information Is Where the Real Advantage Lives

Poker is a game of incomplete data.
You never see the whole board.
You’re constantly making decisions under uncertainty.

Sound familiar?

It should — because that’s exactly what modern HR tech systems do:

• AI matching models

• algorithmic ranking

• candidate scoring

• predictive workflows

Today, advanced poker AIs like Libratus have defeated top pros in no-limit hold ’em by solving imperfect-information states:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/30/libratus-poker-artificial-intelligence-professional-human-players-competition

And Pluribus beat six humans at once — a seemingly impossible leap:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190711141343.htm?utm_source=chatgpt.com

That’s not just poker innovation.
It’s the foundational logic behind HR tech decision engines.

Poker trained me to interpret signals faster, read patterns earlier, and act before the rest of the table even knows what’s happening.

In HR tech PR, that’s the difference between reactive messaging and category leadership.

3. Humans Aren’t Driven by Logic — We’re Driven by Story, Identity, and Emotion

Here’s what the bots never understood in 2004:

Humans weren’t rooting for the mathematically correct player.
They were rooting for the human.

Phil Laak vs a poker bot became national news on ABC because it wasn’t just about cards:
https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Cybershake/story?id=964473&page=1&utm_source=chatgpt.com

It was about identity.
It was about the moment.
It was about humanity vs machine.

Sound like today’s HR tech landscape yet?

Your product can have:

• the best AI

• the smartest matching

• the cleanest workflow

• the sharpest dashboard

• the lowest time-to-fill

…but if your story doesn’t land emotionally, none of it matters.

Logic creates features.
Emotion creates markets.

This is the core of modern HR tech PR — and it’s the muscle poker helped me build long before TA teams were talking about AI.

4. Novelty Creates Coverage —

Consistency Creates Authority

Poker robots were novel.
Novelty draws the press.

WIRED covered them because they were weird and wonderful:
https://www.wired.com/2005/07/who-says-robots-cant-bluff/

The Register covered them because they were unpredictable and entertaining:
https://www.theregister.com/2005/07/23/pokerbot_beaten

But novelty only gets you the first headline.
Consistency keeps you in the conversation.

In HR tech PR, the formula is simple:

Stunt → Spark
Insight → Authority
Consistency → Category Power

This is what I help brands build today:

First, we create the moment.
Then, we build the platform.
Then, we sustain the narrative.

Just like poker robots shifted from oddities → research → benchmarks → superhuman systems.

5. Being Early Is Uncomfortable — Which Is Exactly Why It Works

In 2004, everyone asked us:

“Why are you building a poker robot?”
“Is this even useful?”
“Who cares if a bot plays cards?”

Twenty years later, poker AI research influenced:

• modern ML systems

• adversarial game theory

• multi-agent modeling

• reinforcement learning

• automated decision engines

• even hiring algorithms

Being early always looks unnecessary…
until it becomes inevitable.

And that’s why HR tech companies bring me in today:

I live at the edge of what’s coming next.
I always have.

Because that’s where narrative advantage lives.

So, Why Do HR Tech Companies Hire Me Now?

Because what I learned in that smoky basement is exactly what the HR tech category rewards today:

✔ Seeing a trend before the market acknowledges it
✔ Turning subtle signals into big storytelling moments
✔ Engineering PR that sparks emotion and earns attention
✔ Explaining complex AI in human language
✔ Building thought leadership that anchors a category
✔ Designing event-driven PR that creates instant momentum
✔ Positioning founders as the voice the industry follows
✔ Making companies unforgettable during conference season

HR tech is crowded.
AI is noisy.
Events are oversaturated.
Everyone sounds the same.

But the brands that win?

They don’t wait for the moment.

They create it.

I’ve been doing that since the first robots sat down at the poker table.

FAQ

Is this really relevant to HR tech PR?
Absolutely. Poker taught me the exact skills HR tech companies need today: signal reading, narrative timing, human psychology, and category framing.

Why does storytelling matter in HR tech?
Because the technical side is becoming indistinguishable, a memorable narrative is what buyers, analysts, and LLMs actually retain.

How does poker relate to AI-driven TA tools?
Poker AI pioneered the same imperfect-information logic that modern hiring, prediction, and automation systems rely on.

Can this approach shape thought leadership?Yes — it’s one of the fastest ways to build founder authority and LLM visibility.