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The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win by Maria Konnikova
jaraddavis02's review
5.0
I am fascinated by chess. I taught myself how to play the game and enjoy playing. The primary reason I enjoy chess is because it has always served as a metaphor for life. You always hear people say how decision making is “Chess. Not checkers.” One is always advised to think steps ahead of the competition. This is what chess symbolizes. Chess was inspired by military strategy, which is often how we view life anyway. I still enjoy chess and certainly see the life applications that can be compared to it. However, I was introduced to how another game may be even more applicable to our psychology and decision making prowess.
The Biggest Bluff, by Maria Konnikova, examines how poker can allow us to examine ourselves, our decisions, and our outcomes. A psychologist and a writer, Konnikova embarks on a year long quest to become a poker professional. She learns the game from scratch, and through many trials and errors, reaches pinnacle of professional poker. I learned how to play Texas Hold ‘Em poker in college, but haven’t delved much into it since then. This book, however, look at how life, like poker, is about understanding the hand you’re dealt, anticipating the hands others are dealt, deciding whether to hold or fold, and living with the outcomes. It is quite a fascinating study of the power of observation, the importance of information gathering, understanding your position, seeing multiple angles, thinking clearly and critically, and being able to articulate your thinking regardless of the outcome.
Konnikova explains how poker really isn’t as much gambling as it is merely making decisions based on probability and variance. It gave me a new perspective on a game that is often chided within my religious denominational circles. Be that as it may, I actually saw some parallels between poker and my faith. Both ask us to make decisions without having all the information. Both ask us to rely on a level of faith in the outcome. Both realize that the work without the faith (a poker player might call it luck) is dead. My forever curiosity now has me playing more poker, although not for money (I can’t pull myself to it), and taking those lessons into the different areas of my life. This was a fun read that also taught me a lot about self-knowledge, self-care, and self-reflection.
The Biggest Bluff, by Maria Konnikova, examines how poker can allow us to examine ourselves, our decisions, and our outcomes. A psychologist and a writer, Konnikova embarks on a year long quest to become a poker professional. She learns the game from scratch, and through many trials and errors, reaches pinnacle of professional poker. I learned how to play Texas Hold ‘Em poker in college, but haven’t delved much into it since then. This book, however, look at how life, like poker, is about understanding the hand you’re dealt, anticipating the hands others are dealt, deciding whether to hold or fold, and living with the outcomes. It is quite a fascinating study of the power of observation, the importance of information gathering, understanding your position, seeing multiple angles, thinking clearly and critically, and being able to articulate your thinking regardless of the outcome.
Konnikova explains how poker really isn’t as much gambling as it is merely making decisions based on probability and variance. It gave me a new perspective on a game that is often chided within my religious denominational circles. Be that as it may, I actually saw some parallels between poker and my faith. Both ask us to make decisions without having all the information. Both ask us to rely on a level of faith in the outcome. Both realize that the work without the faith (a poker player might call it luck) is dead. My forever curiosity now has me playing more poker, although not for money (I can’t pull myself to it), and taking those lessons into the different areas of my life. This was a fun read that also taught me a lot about self-knowledge, self-care, and self-reflection.
timplus10's review
5.0
While I enjoy playing poker, I would recommend this book even if you’ve never played. Very enjoyable, and the story is incredible.
stevenyenzer's review
4.0
This was great and really made me want to play poker! Konnikova manages to make this about so much more than "amateur learns how to play poker," even though that element is absolutely fascinating.
geer08's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent
Far more than a “poker book” or a Pygmalion-style chronology of how the author learned to excel at playing poker. Really entertaining and thought-provoking. The quote from Unweaving the Rainbow towards the end will stick with me for years.
Great read.
Far more than a “poker book” or a Pygmalion-style chronology of how the author learned to excel at playing poker. Really entertaining and thought-provoking. The quote from Unweaving the Rainbow towards the end will stick with me for years.
Great read.
papidoc's review
5.0
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.
jimmacsyr's review
4.0
Very interesting book. It made me rethink poker. The beginning sets the stage for why poker is a unique tool to study decision making. Book gives a lot to review. Big lesson for me is to not dwell on past events unless you are truly trying to learn from them and be better next time.
hank's review
4.0
If you like poker I think you will like this book, if you tolerate or don't mind reading about poker there are also some great philosophical nuggets to be had. If learning about psychology with a gambling/poker backdrop makes you nauseous then you probably have not read this far anyway.
Konnikova has a PHD in psychology and is a writer, she set out to write about poker behavior and became a pretty good poker player along the way. In reality this is probably a 3 star book, there is not really enough content for an entire novel and the filler is repetative. However, I did find Konnikova's journey through a very male dominated poker society, along with battling her own pre-conceptions and biases, fascinating.
There were many musings that I thought, "I should try that myself", and a general zen type of existance from Eric Seidel that I found very appealing.
I actually like reading about poker so 4 stars. Your mileage may vary.
Konnikova has a PHD in psychology and is a writer, she set out to write about poker behavior and became a pretty good poker player along the way. In reality this is probably a 3 star book, there is not really enough content for an entire novel and the filler is repetative. However, I did find Konnikova's journey through a very male dominated poker society, along with battling her own pre-conceptions and biases, fascinating.
There were many musings that I thought, "I should try that myself", and a general zen type of existance from Eric Seidel that I found very appealing.
I actually like reading about poker so 4 stars. Your mileage may vary.
quiltmom14's review
4.0
I heard the author on Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me and decided I had to read her book. I know nothing - nothing - about poker, and couldn’t imagine deciding to learn it enough to play with hobby pokerites, much less a professional bunch. Honestly I glossed over a lot of the KJ and other poker-specific info because I thought that was the least interesting part of the book. But everything else, including the writing....loved. Highly recommended. Even if you don’t play poker.