Maria Konnikova, PhD in psychology and author, shares her remarkable journey from poker novice to champion under the mentorship of Eric Seidel. She reveals how poker offers profound insights into the balance of luck and skill, aiding decision-making in life. Maria discusses the philosophical connections to gambling, the importance of detaching from outcomes, and how learning to observe rather than just see enhances understanding. Dive into biases that cloud judgment and discover how poker strategies can lead to personal growth and resilience.
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insights INSIGHT
Why We're Bad at Probabilities
Humans are bad at probabilities because we prefer certainty and learn from experience, not description.
Our experiences are skewed, so we don't accurately perceive probabilities in real life.
insights INSIGHT
Poker and Probabilities
Poker provides valuable experience with probabilities through repeated play and immediate feedback.
It helps internalize what different percentages feel like and understand probability's lack of memory.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Focus on Process
Maria Konnikova's poker coach, Eric Seidel, forbade her from discussing hand outcomes.
He emphasized focusing on the decision-making process, not the result influenced by luck.
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In 'The Confidence Game', Maria Konnikova delves into the world of con artists, examining why these individuals are successful and why people consistently fall for their schemes. The book covers a range of cons, from multimillion-dollar Ponzi schemes to small-time frauds, using scientific, dramatic, and psychological perspectives. Konnikova explains how con artists exploit human psychology, creating trust, empathy, and rapport to manipulate their victims. She also discusses the common traits of con artists, such as a Machiavellian attitude, nonchalance, and narcissism, and how these traits often lead to their downfall. The book highlights how our own desires and need to believe can make us complicit in our own deception, and it provides insights into the psychology behind why we fall for scams and how our sense of truth can be manipulated.
The Biggest Bluff
Maria Konnikova
In 'The Biggest Bluff', Maria Konnikova recounts her transformation from a poker novice to a champion under the mentorship of Erik Seidel. The book delves into the psychological aspects of poker, highlighting lessons on self-awareness, decision-making, and the interplay between skill and chance. Konnikova's journey offers insights into human nature and personal growth, making it a compelling read beyond the realm of poker.
Maria Konnikova, who has her Ph.D in psychology and studies human behavior, had never played poker when she approached Eric Seidel, a renowned player of the game, asking him to show her the ropes. Eric agreed to be her coach and Maria spent a year working towards the World Series of Poker, playing in numerous tournaments and winning a major title and hundreds of thousands of dollars along the way. But the real prize she was after in this experimental endeavor wasn't money, but insight into the intersection between skill and luck, and how much control we humans have over our fate.
She got those insights in spades, and shares them in her latest book: The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win. Today on the show Maria explains why the poker table may be the best place to learn about the balance between chance and skill, and why we have such trouble untangling those two forces. We then get into how gambling has long been an interest of philosophers and led to advancements in probability theory, as well as why understanding the dynamics of betting allows us to improve ourselves. Maria then shares how she learned to detach herself from the outcomes of hands and concentrate only on what she could control, and how liberating it is to separate process from results. She describes the connection between poker and Sherlock Holmes, and how the game helped her not just see things but observe them. We then delve into the biases that get you off track with your goals, and the simple technique you can use to overcome them. We end our conversation with Maria's conclusions on the respective roles luck and skill play in our lives.
The Art of Manliness 
