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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
informative
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
inspiring
reflective
Konnikova, a New Yorker writer, decides to learn professional-level poker, even though she knows pretty much nothing about the game, or cards. She enlist the help of Erick Seidel, a pro, who decides to teach her, and they set a goal for her to play in the World Series of Poker in a year. She is hugely successful, winning some tournaments and placing in others, to the tune of $300K won in her first couple years. She's a very adept writer, passing along Seidel's lessons (and those of other pros) and what she learns. Beyond being about poker, this is about personal psychology on a lot of levels. It's an engaging story, though sometimes the life lessons seem a bit long. I haven't read any poker books in some time, and one thing that sticks out, and she really comments on it, is how much the game has changed, in so many ways. There aren't many secrets now, and there are apps that tell you how to bet, not just from a statistical point of view. Her description of her first appearance in the WSOP is pretty amazing, for the vast majority of us who have never been there.
Fun read! It made me want to play poker, which wasn't why I read it, but anyway. ;) I thought it would be more about decision-making (it was, to be fair, just not as I expected it), but what I took away was more about the importance of thoughtful negotiation. Great writing.
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
slow-paced
Konnikova (who has a PhD in psychology and regularly writes for The New Yorker) had a run of bad luck that piqued her interest in luck, which got her interested in game theory, which somehow led her to give herself a year to learn to play professional poker. Spoilers: it’s a happy ending.
[[some of my reviews--like this one--are just little plot summaries, written for friends on FB at the end of the year and then copied over here.]]
[[some of my reviews--like this one--are just little plot summaries, written for friends on FB at the end of the year and then copied over here.]]
"We don’t often question the role of chance in the moments it protects us from others and ourselves. When chance is on our side, we disregard it: it is invisible. But when it breaks against us, we wake to its power. We begin to reason about its whys and hows."
Picked this book up without knowing anything about the author and the book and overall, found the story engaging enough and the theories and learnings interesting. I really admire the dedication and commitment Konnikova put into this endeavor. 3.5 stars rounded up.
Konnikova breaks up the narrative with theories psychology, and I thought it was done in a way that wasn't too disruptive. The book can feel a bit dense and long at times given the theory coupled with the story, but I do think she did the best she could to keep the audience and reader engaged. She also makes it possible to follow and understand what's going on even if you don't have Poker knowledge (although knowing the basics certainly helps). I also really appreciated that Konnikova takes a gender lens in one of the chapters and addresses women (or lack thereof) in the world of Poker.
My biggest takeaways from the book are the lessons she learned in Poker that can apply to real life. Some favorite quotes:
- You can do what you do but in the end, some things remain stubbornly outside your control.
- The thing you have to conquer most obviously is yourself
- The language we use becomes our mental habits—and our mental habits determine how we learn, how we grow, what we become. It’s not just a question of semantics: telling bad beat stories matters.
- You’re not lucky because more good things are actually happening; you’re lucky because you’re alert to them when they do.
-First dates aren’t simply about honesty. Silence and awkwardness have to be earned. First dates are about dazzle. You play each hand, even when you’d rather fold and crawl back home, admitting defeat
That being said, if you're reading this for nuggets of wisdom to apply to life, I'd say there are better books for that. But if you have a mild interest in the story - going from Poker beginning to Pro - then this could be worth your time.
Picked this book up without knowing anything about the author and the book and overall, found the story engaging enough and the theories and learnings interesting. I really admire the dedication and commitment Konnikova put into this endeavor. 3.5 stars rounded up.
Konnikova breaks up the narrative with theories psychology, and I thought it was done in a way that wasn't too disruptive. The book can feel a bit dense and long at times given the theory coupled with the story, but I do think she did the best she could to keep the audience and reader engaged. She also makes it possible to follow and understand what's going on even if you don't have Poker knowledge (although knowing the basics certainly helps). I also really appreciated that Konnikova takes a gender lens in one of the chapters and addresses women (or lack thereof) in the world of Poker.
My biggest takeaways from the book are the lessons she learned in Poker that can apply to real life. Some favorite quotes:
- You can do what you do but in the end, some things remain stubbornly outside your control.
- The thing you have to conquer most obviously is yourself
- The language we use becomes our mental habits—and our mental habits determine how we learn, how we grow, what we become. It’s not just a question of semantics: telling bad beat stories matters.
- You’re not lucky because more good things are actually happening; you’re lucky because you’re alert to them when they do.
-First dates aren’t simply about honesty. Silence and awkwardness have to be earned. First dates are about dazzle. You play each hand, even when you’d rather fold and crawl back home, admitting defeat
That being said, if you're reading this for nuggets of wisdom to apply to life, I'd say there are better books for that. But if you have a mild interest in the story - going from Poker beginning to Pro - then this could be worth your time.
hopeful
informative
reflective
I´m not a poker fan - or even know the entirety of the rules of the game for that matter - but I still thought it was one of the best non fiction books I´ve read in the last few years. Maria is such an interesting and clever person, her whole ordeal with learning to play and going to tournaments, her insights on the game and life combined with her knowledge of Psychology are just incredible. I had to switch from audio format to print edition so I could make notes. The Poker Starts stories are a treat for the curious and if it wasn´t for a pandemic, I might have booked tickets to visit Vegas.