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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
I'm not a poker player, but this book resonated in so many levels. First of all, my partner went through a poker phase so it was fascinating to learn more about the strategy and psychology behind it. Now I can say it's a "wet board" and sound like a pro (never mind the fact I can never remember the rankings of all the hands). I found Konnikova very relatable -- her insecurities, her desire for certainty where there is none familiar, her tilts... She breaks down our psychological tendencies to make irrational decisions and inability to deal with chance in a clear eyed, compassionate way as she learns these tough lessons herself through her poker playing. This book is a refreshing blend of game & strategy, psychology, therapy and philosophy.
Also, I found her capacity to dive into this new space and ultimately becoming an international poker champion supremely badass.
Also, I found her capacity to dive into this new space and ultimately becoming an international poker champion supremely badass.
This is not the motivational kind of self-help, which I think is useless. Although I still don't understand poker, this helped me understand the world a bit more. The author uses a blend of math and psychology to conceptualize the world and exposes thinking patterns that lead people to lose in poker (and in life). Her personal journey from novice to kind of pro is also interesting to follow.
The most interesting part of this book (and poker) is what it has to say about perception. Konnikova writes that women are trained to act in a certain manner (cooperative, not taking risks) that is genuinely helpful for them most of the time but disadvantageous when decisive play style is needed. I found it inspiring how the author was able to change her mindset while using other peoples perceptions (which, if you're female, will never be truly neutral) to her advantage.
“When we’re winning, we don’t think we’re due for a change in the least. If the run is on our side, we’re thrilled to let it continue indefinitely. We think the bad streaks are overdue to end yesterday, but no one wants the good to end.”
“Every time we experience something, we interpret it for ourselves. How we phrase sentences—are we the one doing the acting or being acted upon?—can determine whether we have an internal or external locus of control, whether we’re masters of our fates or peons of forces beyond us.”
“Here’s the thing about thin-slice judgments: they are intuitive, and they are based on large samples. As with all things statistical, they break down in accuracy at the level of the individual.”
The most interesting part of this book (and poker) is what it has to say about perception. Konnikova writes that women are trained to act in a certain manner (cooperative, not taking risks) that is genuinely helpful for them most of the time but disadvantageous when decisive play style is needed. I found it inspiring how the author was able to change her mindset while using other peoples perceptions (which, if you're female, will never be truly neutral) to her advantage.
“When we’re winning, we don’t think we’re due for a change in the least. If the run is on our side, we’re thrilled to let it continue indefinitely. We think the bad streaks are overdue to end yesterday, but no one wants the good to end.”
“Every time we experience something, we interpret it for ourselves. How we phrase sentences—are we the one doing the acting or being acted upon?—can determine whether we have an internal or external locus of control, whether we’re masters of our fates or peons of forces beyond us.”
“Here’s the thing about thin-slice judgments: they are intuitive, and they are based on large samples. As with all things statistical, they break down in accuracy at the level of the individual.”
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
A very interesting look in the way psychological experience can be brought to bear in an attempt to understand just how much skill we ever really have in a moment, versus how much luck is driving the bus. Very enjoyable read.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
slow-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
A crackingly compelling tale of a rank novice going pro in one year, interweaved with fun science
In April, I read somewhere that Maria Konnikova had become a poker pro and won over $200k in prize money. Huh?! Same social psychology PhD Konnikova who wrote for The New Yorker? And 'The Confidence Game' and 'Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes'? This seemed so farfetched that I just had to find out more. Especially since I'm a social psych aficionado and once was a semipro player myself. How did she train up to play well enough to win a big tourney in less than a year? Who taught her? Could a psych PhD trained in cognitive biases by the great Walter Mischel of marshmallow-test fame apply her knowledge to the game, or will she be a fumbling mortal like the rest of us? And, of all the pain one could inflict upon oneself in the name of journalism, why poker?! So many questions. I had no choice but to pre-order the book.
When the ebook arrived last night, I consumed it one sitting. The tale of Konnikova going from 100% naive novice to sponsored pro in a year is crackingly compelling. No triumphalist tale here. She's candid about the painful process of improving via error: impatience, misplaced pride, susceptibility to the biases she has written whole books about, and her incomplete self-knowledge. But she also has the insight and humility to ask for help from a mindset coach, who apparently makes some difference (even though he quotes Freud, and it's not exactly clear how he changes mindset - this coach would like to know). She endures enough crap -- crippling self-doubt, insomnia, sexism, vicious migraines, perfidious allies, crude propositions by creepy dudes -- that when she describes her first big tournament win, I threw my hands in the air and audibly woo-hooed. Her victory is every hard-working underdog's victory.
The heart of the book is her relationship with her poker coach, Erik Seidel, one of the game's all-time greats. A deeply wise and caring mentor, he dispenses advice that is not just timeless but omni-applicable: Telling bad beat stories is like dumping trash on your neighbor's lawn: it just stinks. The goal of poker is not to win pots or chips but to make good decisions. Defeat teaches you more than victory. Don't play a tournament if you don't feel at your best.
I also picked up on a lot of useful resources to improve my own game: the PioSOLVER software for game-theory optimized play; SnapShove; Phil Galfond's Run It Once coaching site; and live streaming of real hands played by pros. These alone were easily worth the cover price.
What delighted me was Maria's interweaving of the scientific literature into her narrative of training and tournament play. The description-experience gap will make our gut feelings trump numerical rules. Only a third of tournament hands go to showdown, and the best hand only wins 12% of the time. Facial tells are worse than useless; look at hand motions instead. Her long digression into the science and lore of superstition was particularly fun. If you have a lucky shirt or necklace, Konnikova makes a persuasive case for getting rid of it.
Finally, there's much dishy poker lore here. Konnikova has met some greats of the game - Paul Magriel, LuckyChewy, Ike Haxton, Patrik Antonius, and my personal hero "Action Dan" Harrington - and retells stories from legends like Doyle Brunson, Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Laak. Thanks to Maria, our home games will probably soon feature the silly but fun sides bets of the Lodden Game.
Even though the bits of poker strategy Konnikova shares are incidental to the storytelling and not the main show, I learned more about the psychology of my own game from this book than dozens of pure strategy books I've read. Besides being a cracking tale, 'The Biggest Bluff' is about how seemingly unlikely results can come within reach through persistence, planning, systematic training, and mindset management. Some seed funding probably also helps. World-class training ain't cheap, a detail I wish the book said more about.
Konnikova has earned every bit of her excellent results, one of them being this book. You can, too. May it serve as rocket fuel for your own farfetched daydreams, or that of your favorite budding entrepreneur.
-- Ali Binazir, M.D., M.Phil., Happiness Engineer and author of [b: The Tao of Dating: The Smart Woman's Guide to Being Absolutely Irresistible|33977456|The Tao of Dating The Smart Woman's Guide to Being Absolutely Irresistible|Ali Binazir|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1485248157l/33977456._SY75_.jpg|13580088], the highest-rated dating book on Amazon, and [b: Should I Go to Medical School?: An Irreverent Guide to the Pros and Cons of a Career in Medicine|34099644|Should I Go to Medical School An Irreverent Guide to the Pros and Cons of a Career in Medicine|Ali Binazir|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1486004834l/34099644._SY75_.jpg|55119946]
In April, I read somewhere that Maria Konnikova had become a poker pro and won over $200k in prize money. Huh?! Same social psychology PhD Konnikova who wrote for The New Yorker? And 'The Confidence Game' and 'Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes'? This seemed so farfetched that I just had to find out more. Especially since I'm a social psych aficionado and once was a semipro player myself. How did she train up to play well enough to win a big tourney in less than a year? Who taught her? Could a psych PhD trained in cognitive biases by the great Walter Mischel of marshmallow-test fame apply her knowledge to the game, or will she be a fumbling mortal like the rest of us? And, of all the pain one could inflict upon oneself in the name of journalism, why poker?! So many questions. I had no choice but to pre-order the book.
When the ebook arrived last night, I consumed it one sitting. The tale of Konnikova going from 100% naive novice to sponsored pro in a year is crackingly compelling. No triumphalist tale here. She's candid about the painful process of improving via error: impatience, misplaced pride, susceptibility to the biases she has written whole books about, and her incomplete self-knowledge. But she also has the insight and humility to ask for help from a mindset coach, who apparently makes some difference (even though he quotes Freud, and it's not exactly clear how he changes mindset - this coach would like to know). She endures enough crap -- crippling self-doubt, insomnia, sexism, vicious migraines, perfidious allies, crude propositions by creepy dudes -- that when she describes her first big tournament win, I threw my hands in the air and audibly woo-hooed. Her victory is every hard-working underdog's victory.
The heart of the book is her relationship with her poker coach, Erik Seidel, one of the game's all-time greats. A deeply wise and caring mentor, he dispenses advice that is not just timeless but omni-applicable: Telling bad beat stories is like dumping trash on your neighbor's lawn: it just stinks. The goal of poker is not to win pots or chips but to make good decisions. Defeat teaches you more than victory. Don't play a tournament if you don't feel at your best.
I also picked up on a lot of useful resources to improve my own game: the PioSOLVER software for game-theory optimized play; SnapShove; Phil Galfond's Run It Once coaching site; and live streaming of real hands played by pros. These alone were easily worth the cover price.
What delighted me was Maria's interweaving of the scientific literature into her narrative of training and tournament play. The description-experience gap will make our gut feelings trump numerical rules. Only a third of tournament hands go to showdown, and the best hand only wins 12% of the time. Facial tells are worse than useless; look at hand motions instead. Her long digression into the science and lore of superstition was particularly fun. If you have a lucky shirt or necklace, Konnikova makes a persuasive case for getting rid of it.
Finally, there's much dishy poker lore here. Konnikova has met some greats of the game - Paul Magriel, LuckyChewy, Ike Haxton, Patrik Antonius, and my personal hero "Action Dan" Harrington - and retells stories from legends like Doyle Brunson, Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Laak. Thanks to Maria, our home games will probably soon feature the silly but fun sides bets of the Lodden Game.
Even though the bits of poker strategy Konnikova shares are incidental to the storytelling and not the main show, I learned more about the psychology of my own game from this book than dozens of pure strategy books I've read. Besides being a cracking tale, 'The Biggest Bluff' is about how seemingly unlikely results can come within reach through persistence, planning, systematic training, and mindset management. Some seed funding probably also helps. World-class training ain't cheap, a detail I wish the book said more about.
Konnikova has earned every bit of her excellent results, one of them being this book. You can, too. May it serve as rocket fuel for your own farfetched daydreams, or that of your favorite budding entrepreneur.
-- Ali Binazir, M.D., M.Phil., Happiness Engineer and author of [b: The Tao of Dating: The Smart Woman's Guide to Being Absolutely Irresistible|33977456|The Tao of Dating The Smart Woman's Guide to Being Absolutely Irresistible|Ali Binazir|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1485248157l/33977456._SY75_.jpg|13580088], the highest-rated dating book on Amazon, and [b: Should I Go to Medical School?: An Irreverent Guide to the Pros and Cons of a Career in Medicine|34099644|Should I Go to Medical School An Irreverent Guide to the Pros and Cons of a Career in Medicine|Ali Binazir|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1486004834l/34099644._SY75_.jpg|55119946]
informative
reflective
medium-paced