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366 reviews for:
The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win
Maria Konnikova
4.0 AVERAGE
366 reviews for:
The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win
Maria Konnikova
4.0 AVERAGE
Interesting insight into psychology through the realm of poker. A study in why we make the decisions we do, and how we are fooled by chance time and time again, despite being highly educated on its principles. I thought the book was interesting, though probably could have been shorter. It became repetitive as she basically was emphasizing the same point about the fallacy of chance from page 1 to page 326. I read this through a combination of audio and on the page.
3.5 stars
I'm not a huge poker player but I really enjoyed my time with this book. It was quite interesting to see how you can go from someone who doesn't play to someone who can achieve quite a lot with concerted effort, a LOT of practice, guidance from the pros, and self-mastery.
I find most nonfiction to be a little longer than necessary and this was no exception. It was still interesting the whole time.
I'm not a huge poker player but I really enjoyed my time with this book. It was quite interesting to see how you can go from someone who doesn't play to someone who can achieve quite a lot with concerted effort, a LOT of practice, guidance from the pros, and self-mastery.
I find most nonfiction to be a little longer than necessary and this was no exception. It was still interesting the whole time.
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
More fun to read through the poker hands, not that much focus on relevance to life decisions
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.
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Listened to this because I heard the interview on Freakonomics. I didn't get a ton out of it because I don't play nor know how to play poker, but it was interesting to hear some of the psychology behind it and Maria has given me hope that if I ever did decide to play poker I theoretically have a chance (although I have the worst poker face of all time).
I am a very tough critic of poker books--not only because I play professionally, but because the poker memoir has already been done so well by Alvarez, Holden, McManus, and Whitehead. (I even tried writing one of these entries myself!) So I'm surprised and thrilled to report that Maria Konnikova has written the next great poker book, and one that should immediately enter the canon alongside the authors I mentioned above. Her prose is sharp, her descriptions are perfect, and she's obviously a relentless student of the game whose long hours of dedication to her craft have obviously paid off. If you like poker even a little, I highly recommend this book.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced