The Biggest Bluff – How I Learned To Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win
Author: Maria Konnikova
354ppgs, Penguin Books, 2021 2023
I first met Maria Konnikova at the World Game Protection Conference in March. I interviewed her prior to her main stage presentation at the show and had not yet read this book.
She seemed so young, innocent and frail, I couldn’t help myself in wanting to be solicitous during our interview since I didn’t want to intimidate her with my multi-decades of professional casino experience.
That perception evaporated the moment she opened her mouth. Who knew that she was a Harvard graduate, held a doctorate in psychology from Columbia, had written three New York Times bestsellers, hosted a weekly award-winning podcast and won a bracelet at the World Series of Poker (WSOP)?
When I told her about my preconceptions, she grinned and said, “Men just can’t help themselves. They are either rude, arrogant misogynists or have that father-daughter protective gene. As a woman, I can take advantage of both those traits while playing poker.”
But if I became a fanboy during our brief interview and her conference presentation (see Buck Wargo’s story here), it was nothing compared to my appreciation for this book and her writing.
If you haven’t played poker and want to learn about the game, this is the book for you. If you are a veteran player, even if you also have a few WSOP bracelets, this is the book for you. If you couldn’t care less about poker, this book still offers some amazing insight about life, risk-taking and luck.
“How do you respond when the s*#t hits the fan, when love goes against you?” she said, “Because it will be right in those moments when life will come. And I found that it was hard for me to cope, right, that I didn’t have a way of internalizing. I didn’t have a way of making sense of it. And so, I came to poker from that game theory angle as a way of trying to differentiate skill from chance in trying to figure out if I can improve my decision making.”
I’ve always been an avid reader, but even more so in recent years as a book reviewer. Most of my commentaries cover non-fiction works on gaming, leadership and casino topics. These topics are informative but seldom offer the entertainment value of a novel or make much of an emotional impact. This book blends it all.
Along with her academic and poker accomplishments, Konnikova is, quite simply, one of the best writers I have encountered. Perhaps from her time working at The New Yorker magazine, she is first and foremost a great storyteller. But she manages to blend her poker journey with scholarly quotes from psychologists, mathematicians and even railbirds.
I’ll begin with a broad overview of the plot. Konnikova wanted to write a book about “risk” in life. She thought poker would be a good analogy. So, she crafted a mission to (in less than a year) enter and compete in the World Series of Poker held annually in Las Vegas. It is important to note that she then knew nothing about poker. Nada. Zip. Nothing whatsoever. Did I mention she would also have to risk $10,000 for an entry fee to the WSOP Main Event?
She begins by convincing one of the game’s top pros (Eric Seidel) to become her mentor. Along the way, she practices relentlessly, loses more than she wins, studies, interviews and observes countless players. She also draws on her educational background in psychology. (NOTE: It’s hard not to consider Seidel alongside Aristotle, Confucius and Socrates after reading his contributions to her journey).
On my first pass of this book, every time I encountered a passage that I thought was noteworthy, I earmarked the page. When I hit the last chapter, titled “The Ludic Fallacy,” my paperback copy was 25% thicker due to all the folded corners.
I wish I could include all the enlightening quotes, but here are just a handful:
- “And thinking how much emotional energy I could have saved and invested productively had I just followed that simple piece of advice: no bad beats. Forget they ever happened.”
- (From poet W.H. Auden) “Choice of attention – to pay attention to this and ignore that – is to the inner life what choice of action is to the outer. In both cases man is responsible for his choice and must accept the consequences.”
- “You are not lucky because more good things are actually happening; you’re lucky because you’re more alert to them when they do.”
- You need to have a process, a system, a plan – one that evolves with feedback. If you don’t, how will you know whether the outcome of your battle…is the result of skill or luck?
- (From player Dan Harrington) “You become a big winner when you lose. Everyone plays well when they’re winning. But can you control yourself and play well when you’re losing …if you can do that, then you’ve conquered the game.”
In case you’re not familiar with poker terms like “bad beat,” “button,” or “blinds,” Konnikova adds a five-page glossary at the back of the book to help you along.
Non-spoiler alert: I mentioned earlier that Konnikova won a WSOP title, but did she accomplish that amazing feat as part of her self-imposed deadline of less than a year? You’ll have to read it to find out.
The cover price for the paperback is $18. Amazon has both the hardcover for $11.99 and the paperback for $11.59. This book is so good, I purchased a used hardback for my bookshelf ($6.99) to sit alongside my dogeared and highlighted paperback.
She has two other terrific books out: “The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time” and “Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes.” She is also working on a new book about cheating. I can’t wait.
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