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

5.0

Konnikova takes her Psych PhD and focus on decision making to the poker table, as she learns a game that promises to help her minimize chance in life and develop better ways to make decisions in the moment.

This was fascinating endeavor, and I enjoyed both her reading and all of the ideas she presented. The world of poker of course has this mystique that proves true. It was interesting to hear of the approaches that champions who mentored her took - as varied in philosophy as they were. Her two year odyssey proved helpful to her when she experienced the part of life one cannot control: a sudden medical event/emergency.

While I could not keep the jargon straight, and followed game rules and hands with the weakest understanding, the overall effect on me was positive, and I realized I could never understand it the way she did because I had never lived it. But many of her philosophical quotes (especially Epictetus near the end) and actual professional research results on decision making and the folly of human nature were so interesting to consider and rang very true to me.

Well worth the listen/read.