Looking to succeed at business? Try out a few of your poker moves on it.

Business has often been compared to games of all sorts, with poker being one of the primary examples. It’s no surprise — both place you face to face with a number of competitors, with the goal of both being either to bankrupt the other players and get their chips or to have a more successful business and make more money than them (or bankrupt them as well, if they’ve really been a competitive pain in the ass).

The comparison actually runs quite a bit deeper, with many skills that you use on the poker table being comparable to the conference room.

Acting persuasively, reading opponents’ motives, and handling the subtleties of a monetary transaction are skills the poker greats work tirelessly to hone. These same skills are essential for negotiating a business deal.

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In essence, each hand you are dealt in poker is like a product whose value you are trying sell to the rest of the table by placing bets, raising them, and calling other players’ bets. Your hand frequently won’t be the most valuable on the table. But by piecing together the limited information you have about your opponents and their hands—one might look nervous, one might be talking a lot, one might have a history of folding—you may be able to win with a well-timed and persuasive bluff.

Improve both games by checking out the entire article at BusinessWeek.com.