Maria Konnikova’s success at PCA National in January 2018 led her to postpone work on the book to pursue more poker accomplishments.
New Yorker writer Maria Konnikova planned to immerse herself into the world of poker so she could write a book about playing cards on the pro circuit. Konnikova has proven so good at Texas Hold’em that she has put on hold writing that book.
Maria Konnikova has a famous poker mentor: 2010 Poker Hall of Fame inductee Erik Seidel. Under Seidel’s guidance, Maria Konnikova is simply too profitable as a poker player to go back to writing the book.
In January 2018, Konnikova won the PCA National, a 240-player field of top poker players. She won $86,400 for at the PCA event. Konnikova said it was that tournament which changed the trajectory of her career — and perhaps her life.
In an interview with Cardplayer, Konnikova said, “PCA was the moment where everything kind of came together. I’m learning and it’s sticking and I’m playing well. It’s a really wonderful feeling when you’re studying and working to have that validated.”
Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau
Her early success does not appear to be a flash in the pan. After deciding to give up writing the New Yorker blogs for a more serious career as a poker player, Konnikova won $57,000 in her first tournament as a professional. To collect that $57k, she finished second in the Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau.
Konnikova says she was no kind of poker player before trying her hand at the pro circuit. She said in a recent interview, “I’m a total poker outsider. I came to this as someone who’d never had any experience with the game.”
With two major poker accomplishments in a matter of months, Maria Konnikova appears to be a fixture on the poker tour — at least for now. Her publisher, Canon Gate Books, has moved the release of her book on poker psychology to summer 2019. It sounds like Konnikova should have a lot more to write about than she or her publisher originally bargained for.
Keys to Poker Success: Psychology and Pro Tips
She did have the advantage of a Ph.d. in psychology. Texas Hold’em is a game where psychological insight is helpful, because of your need to read other player’s intentions and mask your own. Perhaps as important is the need to stay on an even keel and avoid going on tilt through long poker sessions, which inevitably have their peaks and valleys.
Poker is a game of skill, despite whether US gaming laws recognize it as such. It is a major advantage to receive instruction and advice from a professional like Erik Seidel, who has over 30 years of experience at the major competitive level.
Similar Exploits by George Plimpton
Maria Konnikova’s immersion in poker in order to write a book has a long history in sports. In the 1960’s, George Plimpton had trying in the NFL, NHL, and MLB and ultimately wrote books about his experiences.
His NFL tryout came with the Detroit Lions, which led to the book “Paper Lion”. The book eventually was turned into a Hollywood movie of the same name which starred Alan Alda in George Plimpton’s role.
Similar Books and Articles about Sports Forays
Plimpton’s forays into sports* are not the only parallels. Stefan Fatsis wrote in Slate about his attempt to become a field goal kicker for the Denver Broncos (and a champion Scrabble player). Michael McKnight did articles for Sports Illustrated that discussed his attempts to hit a Major League fastball and dunk a basketball.
Dan McGlaughlin, a writer who had never played golf before in his life, tried Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hour theory to become a pro golfer and wrote about it. McGlaughlin apparently became a skilled golfer, though he never gained pro-level talent at the game. It is a minor miracle he became so skilled in such a span of time.
*Note: Plimpton’s sports moments were not done. Readers should watch the 1996 documentary film “When We Were Kings”, about the Rumble in the Jungle between boxing legends Mohammed Ali and George Foreman, if nothing else to see the stunned reaction of George Plimpton and Norman Mailer at the moment Ali knocked out Foreman (go to 7:22 of the clip). Plimpton and Mailer each were there to write about the fight for magazines.
