Poker players make good businessmen because they are used to making money, an expert has said.

Online poker players have all the necessary attributes needed to succeed in a high pressure sales job, experts have said.

Brandon Evans, a behavioural finance teacher at Harvard University's Department of Economics, explained that the best internet poker players have learned how to keep their heads and make money when "95 per cent of people" around them are losing cash.

Speaking to news agency Bloomberg, he said: "Anyone smart enough and disciplined enough to survive that system is probably going to do very well in the trading world."

Mr Evans is not the only expert from the business world to share that view. According to financial recruitment firm Options Group, hedge funds and brokerage groups are increasingly turning to professional poker to unearth new talent.

Aaron Brown successfully made the transition from poker to the business world. Having been a professional card player, he is now risk manager at AQR Capital Management LLC in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Any would-be employers watching the 2009 World Series of Poker may have seen the makings of a potential Wall Street trader in Joseph Cada, the 21-year-old who became the tournament's youngest ever winner earlier this month.