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365 reviews for:
The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win
Maria Konnikova
4.0 AVERAGE
365 reviews for:
The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win
Maria Konnikova
4.0 AVERAGE
This was great and really made me want to play poker! Konnikova manages to make this about so much more than "amateur learns how to play poker," even though that element is absolutely fascinating.
Excellent
Far more than a “poker book” or a Pygmalion-style chronology of how the author learned to excel at playing poker. Really entertaining and thought-provoking. The quote from Unweaving the Rainbow towards the end will stick with me for years.
Great read.
Far more than a “poker book” or a Pygmalion-style chronology of how the author learned to excel at playing poker. Really entertaining and thought-provoking. The quote from Unweaving the Rainbow towards the end will stick with me for years.
Great read.
Though I'm neither poker player nor gambler, I found this a fascinating examination of decision-making through the lens of the game of poker. Dr. Konnikova frequently blends current research on decision-making with her observations as a neophyte poker player in ways that bring an otherwise dry subject to life.
Very interesting book. It made me rethink poker. The beginning sets the stage for why poker is a unique tool to study decision making. Book gives a lot to review. Big lesson for me is to not dwell on past events unless you are truly trying to learn from them and be better next time.
If you like poker I think you will like this book, if you tolerate or don't mind reading about poker there are also some great philosophical nuggets to be had. If learning about psychology with a gambling/poker backdrop makes you nauseous then you probably have not read this far anyway.
Konnikova has a PHD in psychology and is a writer, she set out to write about poker behavior and became a pretty good poker player along the way. In reality this is probably a 3 star book, there is not really enough content for an entire novel and the filler is repetative. However, I did find Konnikova's journey through a very male dominated poker society, along with battling her own pre-conceptions and biases, fascinating.
There were many musings that I thought, "I should try that myself", and a general zen type of existance from Eric Seidel that I found very appealing.
I actually like reading about poker so 4 stars. Your mileage may vary.
Konnikova has a PHD in psychology and is a writer, she set out to write about poker behavior and became a pretty good poker player along the way. In reality this is probably a 3 star book, there is not really enough content for an entire novel and the filler is repetative. However, I did find Konnikova's journey through a very male dominated poker society, along with battling her own pre-conceptions and biases, fascinating.
There were many musings that I thought, "I should try that myself", and a general zen type of existance from Eric Seidel that I found very appealing.
I actually like reading about poker so 4 stars. Your mileage may vary.
I heard the author on Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me and decided I had to read her book. I know nothing - nothing - about poker, and couldn’t imagine deciding to learn it enough to play with hobby pokerites, much less a professional bunch. Honestly I glossed over a lot of the KJ and other poker-specific info because I thought that was the least interesting part of the book. But everything else, including the writing....loved. Highly recommended. Even if you don’t play poker.
Ob man sich für Poker interessiert oder nicht, spielt keine Rolle, hier geht es vor allem um den Umgang mit Fehlern. Die Erzähltechnik ist supergeschmeidig – nicht originell, aber hier wirklich mal extrem kompetent umgesetzt, ich fühlte mich in sehr guten Händen, es hat Spaß gemacht und ich habe was dazugelernt.
Kleine Probleme: Wenn man keine Ahnung von Poker hat, wird man bei den Spielbeschreibungen nur "und dann flippte er ein Flupp und ich hatte ein Flapp, so dass ich in der Floprunde verfleppte" lesen und nicht mal wissen, ob die Autorin jetzt gewonnen oder verloren hat. Das Glossar im Buch ist unvollständig und keine Hilfe. Ich hätte gern gewusst, wovon die Autorin in dem Jahr gelebt hat, das sie mit der Recherche für dieses Buch zugebracht hat, und warum die Pokerwelt die US-Demografie nur so unvollständig abbildet, wenn das Spiel doch so eine reine Meritokratie ist (worum es ausführlich geht). Wie die Autorin Erik Seidel dazu bewegt, ihr Mentor zu werden, ist in peinlichen Verführungsmetaphern erzählt. Aber während der Lektüre hat mich das alles nur ganz am Rande gestört, in erster Linie war es ein Vergnügen.
Kleine Probleme: Wenn man keine Ahnung von Poker hat, wird man bei den Spielbeschreibungen nur "und dann flippte er ein Flupp und ich hatte ein Flapp, so dass ich in der Floprunde verfleppte" lesen und nicht mal wissen, ob die Autorin jetzt gewonnen oder verloren hat. Das Glossar im Buch ist unvollständig und keine Hilfe. Ich hätte gern gewusst, wovon die Autorin in dem Jahr gelebt hat, das sie mit der Recherche für dieses Buch zugebracht hat, und warum die Pokerwelt die US-Demografie nur so unvollständig abbildet, wenn das Spiel doch so eine reine Meritokratie ist (worum es ausführlich geht). Wie die Autorin Erik Seidel dazu bewegt, ihr Mentor zu werden, ist in peinlichen Verführungsmetaphern erzählt. Aber während der Lektüre hat mich das alles nur ganz am Rande gestört, in erster Linie war es ein Vergnügen.
So interesting! I think I want to really learn how to play poker now. Sure, it helps to have some interest in poker, but this book isn't about gambling - it's about psychology and behavior and it's really fascinating.
Excellent narrative on life uncertainties, decision making , anxieties and learning and patience.
I was completely riveted from page to one the last.
Beautifully articulated life lessons which we all know but sometimes when told from different perspective , make more impact in our minds and gets etched in our memory more deeply. The kind of lessons which would really help improving our odds.
Few of my favourite quotes from the book are :
- Do we see ourselves as victims or victors? A victim: The cards went against me. Things are being done to me, things are happening around me, and I am neither to blame nor in control. A victor: I made the correct decision. Sure, the outcome didn’t go my way, but I thought correctly under pressure. And that’s the skill I can control
- People failed to see what the world was telling them when that message wasn’t one they wanted to hear.
- And while probabilities do even out in the long term, in the short term, who the hell knows. Anything is possible
- If you don’t have an objective evaluation of what’s going on, you’re a loser.
- The benefit of failure is an objectivity that success simply can’t offer.
I was completely riveted from page to one the last.
Beautifully articulated life lessons which we all know but sometimes when told from different perspective , make more impact in our minds and gets etched in our memory more deeply. The kind of lessons which would really help improving our odds.
Few of my favourite quotes from the book are :
- Do we see ourselves as victims or victors? A victim: The cards went against me. Things are being done to me, things are happening around me, and I am neither to blame nor in control. A victor: I made the correct decision. Sure, the outcome didn’t go my way, but I thought correctly under pressure. And that’s the skill I can control
- People failed to see what the world was telling them when that message wasn’t one they wanted to hear.
- And while probabilities do even out in the long term, in the short term, who the hell knows. Anything is possible
- If you don’t have an objective evaluation of what’s going on, you’re a loser.
- The benefit of failure is an objectivity that success simply can’t offer.
What an amazing book! Maria is a talented and charismatic narrator that I constantly found myself rooting for. This could have made up for a lack of interesting content, but it didn't need to. This book was chock full of not only good advice for poker, but good advice for life. My favorite chapters were the one's that addressed overcoming bias and perception, as well as the importance of not collapsing statistics into digital yes/no.