Gambling With an Edge - guest poker pro and author Maria Konnikova

Our guest this week is Maria Konnikova. Maria is a PHD in psychology, and a best-selling author who decided to spend one year learning to play tournament poker from Eric Seidel, and write a book about it.  she did so well in one year that she turned pro.  Her book is "The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win."

We welcome your questions - send them to us at gamblingwithanedge@gmail.com, or you can find me at @RWM21 on Twitter or https://www.facebook.com/GamblingWithAnEdge.

podcast
Click to listen - Alt click to download

Show Notes

[00:00] Introduction of Maria Konnikova, author of The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win

[00:41] Excerpts of The Biggest Bluff are available online

[01:31] Erik Seidel's mentoring

[03:56] Psychological and mathematical foundations in poker

[05:21] No-Limit Hold'em cash play and tournaments modeling

[07:51] Processing and problem solving in poker hands

[10:10] Meeting Erik's family

[12:27] Playing poker after a year of mentoring

[13:50] Being sheepish about sharing some mistakes

[15:23] Getting tips from other poker pros

[17:30] Maria's grandmother doesn't like gambling

[20:38] Maria's life in 2020

[21:19] Hiring a mental coach

[24:29] Dealing with sexism at the poker table

[27:46] Entering the Colossus

[29:14] Are psychologists better at interpreting tells?

[31:51] Remembering hands to discuss with Erik

[33:53] South Point Casino July Promotions - "Spin to Win" earn up to four spins per day

[35:35] Predictit.org/promo/edge - place small bets on political events, $20 deposit match for GWAE listeners

[36:13] BlackjackApprenticeship.com - card counting training website and community, July bootcamps are available

[36:52] VideoPoker.com/gwae - Gold Membership offers correction on most games, Pro Membership includes Ultimate X and Quick Quads

[37:53] Life lessons from poker

[41:41] Migraines and poker

[43:25] Does Maria have a favorite place to play poker?

[45:44] Choosing a title

[46:35] Writing about mistakes

[48:25] Maria's husband is a saint

[51:45] Maria's future plans
[53:11] Maria's advice

[54:08] Recommended: The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win by Maria Konnikova


Sponsored Links:
SouthPointCasino.com
Predictit.org/promo/edge
BlackjackApprenticeship.com
VideoPoker.com/gwae

Referenced Links:
NyTmes.com/2020/06/19/opinion/sunday/poker-bluffing-luck-skill.html
FiveThirtyEight.com/features/the-hard-truth-of-poker-and-life-youre-never-due-for-good-cards/


Recommended:
The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win by Maria Konnikova https://amzn.to/3i180On

Gambling With an Edge - Poker Pro, Tony part 2

Bob and Richard visit with poker player Tony in the second of two back-to-back interviews. We speak of how the UIGEA and Bitcoin regulation are related, cheating in poker, online tells, and being clipped in a European strip club.

podcast
Click to listen - Alt-click to download

Show Notes

Gambling With an Edge - Poker Pro, Tony

Bob and Richard visit with poker player Tony in the first of two back-to-back interviews. We speak about how he got started, his WSOP bracelet, and his experience playing in Macau,  among other topics.

podcast
Click to listen - Alt-click to download

Show Notes

[00:35] Tony’s first poker BR and rebooting

[04:30] Live poker and underage gambling

[09:39] Limit Hold ‘em bots

[14:59] WSoP event where Tony won the bracelet

[17:56] The Macau gold rush and money exchange

[21:48] Differences between Limit and No Limit

[23:35] Tournament v.s. Cash games & Tony’s take on mixed games

[32:15] Cases and how to handle cheating in poker for both online and offline games

[45:31] Online tells

[48:41] What are the big mistakes that online poker players make?

[51:57] Poker resources   

Gambling With an Edge - Maria Konnikova

Bob and Richard are joined by Maria Konnikova, a writer and psychologist who contracted with poker star Eric Seidel to teach her enough tournament poker so she could write a book about it. Turns out she was pretty good at poker. The book has been delayed as she pursues poker full time.

podcast
Click to listen - Alt-click to download

Show Notes

[00:49] How Maria met Erik Seidel

[03:53] Deciding on the learning process?

[05:09] The initial vision of the book?

[05:56] How much time did Maria originally plan to practice? Was it a full-time commitment in the beginning?

[08:29] Did she move to Las Vegas?

[09:19] The arrangement at Aria

[11:50] Erik’s lessons and his book recommendations

[12:46] Maria’s poker experience prior to the project

[15:19] Low limit tournaments in Las Vegas that were different from online tournaments

[18:04] Angle shooters & women players

[21:59] Maria starting to play professionally

[22:49] The Poker News article on Maria

[24:17] Black Widow’s comment: advantage and disadvantages of playing as a woman

[27:13] The false dichotomy of approaching poker psychologically and mathematically

[32:57] Poker Star’s sponsorship of Maria’s project

[34:10] WSoP & satellites

[36:07] Tournament winnings & turning full-time poker player

[38:19] Did the book change along the writing process due to the unexpected developments with her poker experience?

[39:50] Will some chapters be published in different places before the publication of the book?

[41:54] Will she play poker 5-10 years later? Other immersive projects in the future?

[43:16] Is Erik comfortable with Maria writing about what he taught her?

[45:10] Maria’s previous books

[46:51] The Grift podcast

[49:04] Last thoughts

Maria Konnikova: https://www.mariakonnikova.com/

Best ways to reach Maria:

    Twitter @mkonnikova and 

    Instagram @grlnamedmaria

Maria’s books:

    The Confidence Game  https://amzn.to/2xpjtUW 

    Mastermind  https://amzn.to/2L7wPaq

    The Biggest Bluff: https://www.mariakonnikova.com/books/the-biggest-bluff/

The Grift Podcast: http://thegriftpodcast.com/

The Poker News article on Maria: https://www.pokernews.com/news/2018/05/maria-konnikova-poker-30637.htm

Erik Seidel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Seidel

Jennifer Harman: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Harman

The Sia Lata episode: https://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/gambling-with-an-edge/podcast-poker-pro-sia-layta/

Harrington on Hold’em vol.1: https://amzn.to/2LlMabG

Harrington on Hold’em vol.2: https://amzn.to/2uQHZdQ

Harrington on Hold’em vol.3: https://amzn.to/2LlMQ0I

Gambling With an Edge - Zach Elwood #3

The guest this week is Zach Elwood. Zach is the author of a new book, Exploiting Poker Tells, which should be out within the next month. You can find more info about Zach and his other books at readingpokertells.com.

podcast

Click to listen - Alt click to download