juliavrubio 's review for:

The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win by Maria Konnikova

5.0

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I throughly enjoyed this book. It caused me to pause and evaluate my own problem-solving skills and shift my perspective away from emotion-based decisions (for someone who believed herself to be a rational/logical person already--this was a revelation). It is a case study on decision making and human behavior through the lens of Texas Hold 'Em Poker. In the prelude, Konnikova writes: "That's the thing about life: You can do what you do but in the end, some things remain stubbornly outside your control. You can't calculate for dumb bad luck. As they say, man plans, God laughs."

Through the course of learning the game and rising to pro-level competition, Konnikova explores our tendency to stay the course, often ignoring new information that should cause us to reevaluate our decisions; the need to be observant of your circumstances before making any decision; and the need for flexibility in both short-term decision making and executing more longterm plans. What I found particularly interesting was Konnikova's own struggle to implement what she had learned and how she fell victim to her emotions at times despite her PhD in psychology!

The book was enlightening, thought-provoking and worth a second read.