The Psychology of Poker: Lessons from Game Theory

Before she decided to become a poker pro, Maria Konnikova didn’t know how many cards are in a deck. But she did have a Ph.D. in psychology, a brilliant coach, and a burning desire to know whether life is driven more by skill or chance. She found some answers in poker — and she’s willing to tell us everything she learned.

• SOURCES:
  • Maria Konnikova, author of The Biggest Bluff.

• RESOURCES:
  • “Gender Differences in Performance Predictions: Evidence from the Cognitive Reflection Test,” by Patrick Ring, Levent Neyse, Tamas David-Barett, and Ulrich Schmidt (Frontiers in Psychology, 2016).
  • “The headwinds/tailwinds Asymmetry: An Availability Bias in Assessments of Barriers and Blessings,” by Shai Davidai and Thomas Gilovich (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2016).
  • “The Two Settings of Kind and Wicked Learning Environments,” by Robin M. Hogarth, Tomás Lejarraga, and Emre Soyer (Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2015).
  • "The Limits of Self-Control: Self-Control, Illusory Control, and Risky Financial Decision Making,” by Maria Konnikova (Columbia University, 2013).
  • “Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement” by J.B. Rotter (Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 1966).

• EXTRAS:
  • The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win, by Maria Konnikova.
  • Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes, by Maria Konnikova.
  • The Confidence Game, by Maria Konnikova.
  • Theory of Games and Economic Behavior, by John Von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern.
  • "This Year’s World Series Of Poker Is Different," by Risky Business with Nate Silver and Maria Konnikova (2025).