A Book Review “The Biggest Bluff” by Maria Konnikova
The reason I decided to review “The Biggest Bluff” and put it on the list of books I recommend is that the story does mirror career development. In essence, it does illustrate the same pattern that a person experiences when entering and learning a new career, in this case, it is playing poker. This book is a reflection of Maria Konnikova” experience in how she learned to play poker and pursued this endeavor by participating in championship tournaments.
Maria, the author, has a Ph.D. in Psychology. She has studied how we deal with making decisions, especially in uncertain environments, which is one of the reasons she was attracted to poker. Poker can be a fine line between luck and skill and if we think about it, life is like that especially when it comes to careers. We never know for sure when making decisions regarding our careers how it will turn out. There is a level of uncertainty. Just like in a game of poker we are dealt cards; in life we have natural talents combined with our interests. And just like in a poker game and in life, how we approach the two is what determines how well we will do.
Throughout the book, Maria explains the ups and downs that she deals with in learning the game and entering tournaments. When she is doing well her confidence is rising and when she is not doing so well self-doubt starts to creep in. She also explains how she questions her motive “why am I doing this?”. This is similar to anyone who is entering a new phase in their life with a new career, it is normal to question things, and reading the book makes the reader think about themselves, at least for me it did.
She describes how she approaches Erick her mentor and coach and how they develop a relationship, which is vital to any one of us that is building a career. You cannot do it alone and having the right person in your corner can provide you with knowledge and encouragement while pointing out your good points and flaws. And more importantly, it can lead to other relationships as there are always other perspectives. Basically, we all need to be mentored and coached, and seeking out the right person can be invaluable.
Self-assessment is a major aspect of poker and of life. Honest and critical thinking - “how am I making this decision?”, “can I do better?” and when things do go astray “what have I learned?” Maria explores many such circumstances throughout her book, it is thought-provoking. Keeping an open mind and learning to make better decisions is critical.
Nothing is for sure, no matter how good of a hand that we may have in a poker game we cannot say for certain what the other person has for a hand, therefore, we cannot be guaranteed anything. Circumstances can change, never take anything for granted. It is because of this she describes how she learned to read other players and their habits. More importantly, she learned to read herself the best. She recognizes that she has habits in poker that can give her away. The takeaway from this is being comfortable with what we are doing yet also know how to push things as well. It is learning to listen to that little voice in our heads and when we do, we are more prepared to deal with the unknown.
The author explains how she dealt with being stereotyped as a female participating in a game that is predominantly ruled by males. In her clever way, she does describe how she judges and misjudges other players. We do this in life, we all jump to conclusions way too fast, and then to be able to change that picture in our heads takes more effort.
How do we view luck and superstitions? Does it really matter - to a certain degree it does because it is all in our heads. Our minds are powerful if we believe that something will bring us luck the probability increases that things will work out for us. Luck also comes from just being prepared, observing, and focusing. Clues are always popping up in poker and in life as well. We need to be alert to see them and then to be primed to act on them when they do appear.
Throughout the book, she does exemplify that she is growing, become learned and skilled in poker and with this, her confidence grows as well. There is a lot of self-reflection that draws on her character and how this also develops. Again, with the interviews that I have done, this book does mirror how people do develop their careers as I mentioned in the introduction. Above all, it is a positive read and does demonstrate that if we put our minds on something we can achieve a great deal.