The Biggest Bluff cover art

The Biggest Bluff

How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Biggest Bluff

By: Maria Konnikova
Narrated by: Maria Konnikova
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

How a New York Times bestselling author and New Yorker contributor parlayed a strong grasp of the science of human decision-making and a woeful ignorance of cards into a life-changing run as a professional poker player, under the wing of a legend of the game

Maria Konnikova had never actually played poker before and didn’t even know the rules when she approached Erik Seidel – Poker Hall of Fame inductee, winner of tens of millions of dollars in earnings – and asked him to be her mentor. She had faced a stretch of personal bad luck, and her reflections on the role of chance in her life had pointed her to poker as the ultimate master class in learning to distinguish what can be controlled and what can’t. Seidel was in, and soon Konnikova was down the rabbit hole with him, a journey that would lead her to the following year’s World Series of Poker.

Then something extraordinary happened. Under Seidel’s guidance, Konnikova began to have many epiphanies about life that derived from her new pursuit, including how to better read not just her opponents but far more importantly herself. She found her way to making better decisions and to a place where she could accept luck for what it is, and what it isn’t. But she also began to win. She even learned to like Las Vegas.

In the end, Konnikova is a student of human behaviour, and ultimately the point of her incredible adventure was to render it into a container for its invaluable lessons. The biggest bluff of all, she learned is that skill is enough. This is a book that will focus your mind and strengthen your hand.

©2020 Maria Konnikova (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
Biographies & Memoirs Poker Psychology Thought-Provoking
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Essential Poker Math, Expanded Edition cover art
Exploitative Play in Live Poker cover art
The 100 Biggest Mistakes That Poker Players Make cover art
Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker cover art
Final Table cover art
Thinking in Bets cover art
Jonathan Little's Excelling at No-Limit Hold'em cover art
The Mental Game of Poker 2 cover art
The Mental Game of Poker cover art
Strategies for Beating Small Stakes Poker Tournaments cover art
The Perfect Range cover art
Poker Notes cover art
Waiting for Straighters: A Preflop Experiment for No-limit Holdem and Pot-limit Omaha cover art
Mastering Small Stakes No-Limit Hold'em cover art
The Poker Stop-It List - The First Big Book of Poker Mistakes cover art
48 Laws of Power cover art

Critic reviews

"The narrative is so gripping that you might get halfway through The Biggest Bluff before you even notice that you’re getting a master class in learning, focus, and decision-making. I tore through it in two sittings, and haven’t stopped thinking about it since." (David Epstein, author of Range)

"One of the most extraordinary outcomes of any experiment in participatory journalism. This is a book not just about poker, but about the meaning of luck, the science of skill, and the psychology of outsmarting your competitors." (Joshua Foer, author of Moonwalking with Einstein)

"A flat out classic. It’s a ripping good story - with an underdog heroine, a Yoda-like mentor, and a cast of wild characters. It’s a sophisticated meditation on the relative importance of deep skill and dumb luck.... [Listening to] this book is like drawing a straight flush." (Daniel H. Pink, author of When, Drive and To Sell Is Human)

What listeners say about The Biggest Bluff

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    272
  • 4 Stars
    85
  • 3 Stars
    26
  • 2 Stars
    9
  • 1 Stars
    5
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    226
  • 4 Stars
    64
  • 3 Stars
    21
  • 2 Stars
    7
  • 1 Stars
    4
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    235
  • 4 Stars
    51
  • 3 Stars
    23
  • 2 Stars
    9
  • 1 Stars
    4

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An insightful and thought provoking read

I've just finished listening to this fantastic audiobook (which says a lot as I struggle to finish most things these days!)

It's not going to give you a deep, technical step by step guide to making money through poker but there's a lot of important lessons in this book (for life and poker) ... IF you pay attention.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant book

I have really enjoyed this book, the narration adds another level to this great book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

amazing book

totally love it
well done Maria, listened to both books, looking forward to the next one, hope win the main event one day

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

great listen for poker players

enjoyable story through starting to playing in big leagues. worthwhile listen if expert or just an armchair fan.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful book about poker and life, a broken rut

I've struggled to get into a new book for months one that I actually follow through to the end and have just been revisiting old favourites. The biggest bluff has happily broken that rut!


Finished in a few days and a huge eye opener to the poker world, trading, money management and other important life lessons and advice

I can remember Marias name being brought up while watching one of the matches on YouTube talking about her mentorship with Sidel and seeing her book I wanted to get a viewpoint of learning poker by one of the very best players in the world
Not afraid to point the finger right at herself when she has messed up she holds no punches and ensures the reader understands why. She shows her human side and the struggles that an individual goes through when betting money (something that lines up very well with trading the stock and forex markets)

Proformed very well by the author, she knows when emphasise and when to hold back, another one added to the favourites list

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Please read!

Honest and insightful look at the philosophy of life using poker as a medium. Superb writing and narration makes this an absolute gem.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Poker & Psychology

Very good audiobook! if you are a fan of Poker & Psychology, then you'll love this. Amazing poker journey over a few years.
Great narration - I think an audiobook always sounds better & more engaging when the person reading it is the author; the story really comes alive with emotion when the voice is the author.
would highly recommend!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Awesome

Loved this book. Great format and a very compelling story line. Really expanded on the characters and tied it all together at the end, with how the learnings relate to real life

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A wealth of information

It goes way beyond the world of poker. A fascinating self-experiment brilliantly lead by the author, that explores life with all the in-betweens, knowledge (and applying it!), interactions, biases, embracing the unknown and the willingness to fail, learn and try again as long as you know why. Very inspiring and highly informative!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A very worthwhile journey

Exceptionally thoughtful insight into a journey of discovering the essence of human nature in the game of poker. Fantastic!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!