Poker as a Metaphor for Life and Decision Making
A review of The Biggest Bluff by Maria
Konnikova Tom Farr · 1️⃣ Follow 5 min read · Aug 9, 2024 -- Share
Penguin Press
As both a
writer and a teacher, I’m always trying 1️⃣ to find connections between ideas that aren’t
obvious if you’re not looking for them. In my mind, that’s the key 1️⃣ to creativity and
generating new ideas or finding new solutions to old problems. Because of this, I’m
always searching for 1️⃣ new things to read that will challenge and hopefully expand my
current thinking.
Which is why when I kept seeing variations 1️⃣ of the headline
“Successful Writer Becomes Successful Poker Player” repeatedly as I scrolled through my
Twitter feed for a period 1️⃣ of several weeks, I became intrigued. The headlines were
referring to science writer for the New Yorker, Maria Konnikova, who 1️⃣ chronicled her
unlikely journey of learning how to play Texas Hold ’Em poker without any previous
knowledge of the game 1️⃣ and becoming a pro in a just a year in her new book The Biggest
Bluff: How I Learned to 1️⃣ Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win.
I have to confess that I
knew nothing about poker and didn’t really have any 1️⃣ interest in it either before I read
this book. But when I read the synopsis of the book, which is 1️⃣ all about poker as a
metaphor for life and the kinds of thinking that should go into the decision-making
process, 1️⃣ I was convinced I had to read it. Reading as a present-tense chronological
narrative of Konnikova’s journey to learn how 1️⃣ to play poker and make better decisions
in her own life, The Biggest Bluff is not only a compelling Hero’s 1️⃣ Journey story; it’s
an extended treatise on the biggest areas of growth people struggle with in making wise
decisions for 1️⃣ their lives.
As a father of a son (9 years old) with diagnosed anxiety
disorder, I found so much in this 1️⃣ book that will help me to help my son better cope
with the worries that often leave him paralyzed and 1️⃣ unable to make good decisions.
Toward the end of the book, Konnikova talks about a poker concept called “tilt,” which
1️⃣ is basically when you play poorly because you’re allowing yourself and your
decision-making to be driven by emotions that cloud 1️⃣ your judgment rather than by calm
rational thought. She talks about tracking emotional triggers and learning how to
control the 1️⃣ automatic reactions she has to those triggers to think through how to
properly respond…