BIGGEST BLUFF EB

Maria Konnikova

• Publisher: Fourth Estate
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780008435424
• eBook ISBN: 9780008270841
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies

How a New York Times bestselling author and New Yorker contributor parlayed a strong grasp of the science of human decision-making and a woeful ignorance of cards into a life-changing run as a professional poker player, under the wing of a legend of the game

Maria Konnikova had never actually played poker before and didn't even know the rules when she approached Erik Seidel – Poker Hall of Fame inductee, winner of tens of millions of dollars in earnings – and asked him to be her mentor. She had faced a stretch of personal bad luck, and her reflections on the role of chance in her life had pointed her to poker as the ultimate master class in learning to distinguish what can be controlled and what can't. Seidel was in, and soon Konnikova was down the rabbit hole with him, a journey that would lead her to the following year's World Series of Poker.

Then something extraordinary happened. Under Seidel's guidance, Konnikova began to have many epiphanies about life that derived from her new pursuit, including how to better read not just her opponents but far more importantly herself. She found her way to making better decisions and to a place where she could accept luck for what it is, and what it isn't. But she also began to win. She even learned to like Las Vegas.

In the end, Konnikova is a student of human behaviour, and ultimately the point of her incredible adventure was to render it into a container for its invaluable lessons. The biggest bluff of all, she learned is that skill is enough. This is a book that will focus your mind and strengthen your hand.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Epigraph
• Contents
• A Prelude • Las Vegas, July 2017
• Ante Up • New York, Late Summer 2016
• The Birth of a Gambler • Boston, Fall 2016
• The Art of Losing • New York, Fall 2017
• The Mind of a Strategist • New York, Late Fall 2016
• A Man’s World • New York, Winter 2016
• No Bad Beats • Las Vegas, Winter 2017
• Texting Your Way out of Millions • Las Vegas, Winter 2017
• A Storytelling Business • Las Vegas, March 2017
• The Gambler and the Nerd • Monte Carlo, April 2017
• The Art of the Tell • New York, May 2017
• Reading Myself • New York, May–June 2017
• Full Tilt • Las Vegas, June–July 2017
• Glory Days • The Bahamas, January 2018
• The Heart of the Gambling Beast • Macau, March 2018
• The Ludic Fallacy • Las Vegas, June 2019
• Glossary of Poker Terms
• Footnotes
• Acknowledgments
• Index
• About the Author
• Also by Maria Konnikova
• About the Publisher