Best-selling creator, podcast host, and now World Series of Poker bracelet winner – Maria Konnikova is on a roll.
The Russian-born, Massachusetts-raised Konnikova obtained her begin as a TV producer for the Charlie Rose Show and as a author for Scientific American whereas additionally often contributing to The New Yorker. The Harvard and Columbia educated Konnikova earned her Ph.D. in psychology and her books Mastermind: How To Think Like Sherlock Holmes and The Confidence Game frequented bestseller and award lists.
Konnikova’s introduction to recreation idea sparked an curiosity in poker that led to tutoring from Poker Hall of Famer and 10-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel. By 2017 she had jumped into the sport headfirst, and yr later made headlines by successful a PokerStars Caribbean Adventure title.
A PokerStars ambassador function adopted together with extra good finishes. That included a runner-up exhibiting on the Asian Pacific Poker Tour and a number of deep runs within the WSOP and PCA predominant occasions. Her 2020 ebook The Biggest Bluff chronicled her growth as a participant from newbie to high-stakes tournaments.
Her 2024 marketing campaign has been her most profitable, nonetheless, beginning with a WSOP Circuit ring in January on-line for $57,532. Then after cashing at EPT Paris, she completed second in an EPT Monte Carlo facet occasion in May for one more $56,160. In September, she took fifth within the EPT Barcelona thriller bounty occasion, banking $141,858.
A month later, Konnikova earned her first bracelet and $68,478, taking down the $888 buy-in Crazy Eights occasion on-line.
Most not too long ago, she made a deep run within the NAPT Las Vegas predominant occasion at Resorts World, including one other $39,550 to place her over $1 million in profession earnings. Card Player caught up along with her on the November collection to speak about her massive yr, coping with criticism, dishonest within the recreation, and balancing poker and podcasting.
Most wouldn’t assume that the New York literary scene is precisely a hub of poker curiosity, so Konnikova actually stood out when she started discovering card-playing success in 2018. But having a bestselling creator actually introduced some added media consideration to the sport. Konnikova first grew to become excited by poker and the psychological points of the sport whereas researching her 2016 ebook.
Under the tutelage of Seidel, this author turned poker participant was coming into occasions after by no means having performed the sport earlier than and having no actual curiosity in card enjoying or casinos in any respect. But like many, Konnikova quickly discovered the sport engrossing from a psychological standpoint – strategically and emotionally – and liked the challenges concerned with making selections, studying opponents, and competing with among the greatest.
That included her latest on-line bracelet win, which got here at a remaining desk that included 2013 WSOP predominant occasion winner Ryan Riess, Poker Hall of Famer Kathy Liebert, and poker podcaster Jeff Gross.
“It was pretty awesome,” stated Konnikova. “It’s not something you can ever predict will happen. There are some incredible players who have never won a bracelet, so it was really very special to be able to achieve that.”
Konnikova was enjoying the occasion from her condo in Nevada after having simply flown in from New York. The expertise was a bit surreal but grueling after wrapping up the win at about 3:45 a.m.
“I was exhausted,” she recalled. “It’s one of those things where I was like, ‘Okay, just make it to the final table.’ And then I was like, ‘Okay, just make it to heads-up.’ And then I was like, ‘Okay, I really hope I can close it out because it would really suck to be heads-up and lose the bracelet.” Then I received.”
“Everyone I knew was asleep except for my parents, who were on vacation in Paris, so they were actually up. They were really, really happy. My parents are so ridiculously supportive. Then I texted Erik Seidel so that he’d know, but he was sleeping.”
Her dad and mom assist her play, however Konnikova says they don’t actually perceive the poker scene fairly but. However, they’ve embraced the competitors side and often observe together with Konnikova – win or lose.
“They love following. In fact, they follow it even after I bust. They’re like, ‘Oh, we’re rooting for the other Maria.’ I’m Like, ‘No, after I bust the tournament is over. When I bust, you stop rooting,’” she says laughing. “But they’re allowed to root for the other Maria.”
Why, hiya! Look what simply got here within the mail. pic.twitter.com/I1wP6Qm99u
— Maria Konnikova (@mkonnikova) November 22, 2024
There was no glass of champagne or victory cocktail after the win. Her husband was sleeping and she or he woke him up briefly to share the excellent news – however then advised him to return to sleep.
The victory was soured a bit, nonetheless, after Konnikova was criticized by WSOP commentator Norman Chad for using the match’s re-entry choice. Chad would later admit that his anger in regards to the proliferation of re-entry tournaments was misplaced and expressed remorse that “she was collateral damage.”
Looking again, Konnikova was nonetheless a bit baffled as to why Chad selected to make use of her because the goal for his personal beef about re-entry occasions. She additionally factors out that his criticism targeted on an occasion that didn’t truly permit for limitless re-entries.
“Everyone re-enters,” she says. “And he’s like, ‘Well, I’m against unlimited reentry.’ I was like, ‘Dude, this was three re-entry max. This is not an unlimited re-entry event.’ The event that I final-tabled at EPT Barcelona, the mystery bounty where I got fifth, was unlimited re-entry but I only fired one bullet. I don’t make the rules. I think he singled me out, and whatever his motivation, the fact that he chose only the second female to win an open event in the last two years kind of says everything.”
Is successful a reside bracelet subsequent on her listing?
“I’ll take another one online. I’ll take it live. I’ll take it with re-entries. I’ll take it in a freezeout. I’m not picky.”
Beyond poker, writing and media are nonetheless massive elements of Konnikova’s life. She is at the moment writing a ebook about dishonest and believes that poker faces some severe points on this regard. The final couple years have seen poker execs accused of multi-accounting, use of real-time help (RTA), ghosting, and different types of dishonest on-line.
Other extra high-tech dishonest strategies have additionally made information not too long ago, together with a significant Siberian bot operation getting uncovered and two males arrested in France for utilizing tiny cameras hidden of their cell telephones to trace playing cards in reside poker and blackjack video games.
Konnikova is now dedicated to exposing cheaters and attempting to root it out of the sport as a lot as doable.
“There’s definitely cheating in poker, and I will not shy away from it because I think it’s so important for the integrity and the long-term future of the game to bring bad actors out,” she says. “To be perfectly honest, I think there needs to be a zero-tolerance policy. It sucks that people like Ali Imsirovic, who’s a known cheater, is still allowed to play at the WSOP. What the actual fuck?”
Another medium can be occupying extra of her time. In May, she and fellow poker participant, author, and founding father of the FiveThirtyEight polling evaluation web site Nate Silver launched the Risky Business podcast from Malcolm Gladwell’s Pushkin Industries and iHeartMedia. The pair of poker fanatics have $1.6 million in reside match winnings between them, and the present focuses on the decision-making course of concerned with poker, politics, and different elements of life.
The expertise has been a labor of affection for Konnikova, even when enjoying in a poker match throughout an election offered some time-constraint points that actually required some juggling. (She even discovered the time to leap into commentary with Jeff Gross for the ultimate desk of the GGPoker Super Million$.)
The 40-year-old credit her poker internal circle for serving to to understand the sport at such a excessive stage. Along with Seidel, a few of her mentors and coaches embrace Phil Galfond, Nick Petrangelo, and Isaac Haxton. She can be an in depth buddy of Farah Galfond.
“I’m very lucky that I have some incredible minds who are willing to share with me,” she says. “I think that’s so important. I don’t take it for granted.”
After a “soft launch” of the NAPT occasion in Las Vegas in 2023, PokerStars beefed up the schedule much more this yr for the second journey to Resorts World. The PokerStars Big Game reside money recreation was additionally on the menu and allowed gamers to audition for the present’s “loose cannons,” who’re staked in a recreation towards prime execs and different celebrities, which included four-time Super Bowl champion Rob Gronkowski.
In the top, London’s Nick Marchington scored the win in the principle occasion for $765,200 topping a discipline of 895 entries. Konnikova was one in all them, ending 14th for $39,550. Overall, she was happy to not solely be again on board as a PokerStars group professional, but in addition to usually see the model bringing reside occasions again to the U.S.
As a poker creator and journalist, Konnikova is accustomed to asking questions and interviewing others. But now as a poker star in her personal proper, that dynamic has modified fairly a bit. She now has to cope with common interview requests, media appearances, social media movies, and different trappings that may include being a model consultant.
As she continues her quest for extra success within the recreation, what’s it like seeing the tables turned and changing into the interview topic?
“You embrace it. Because I feel very strongly about being a good ambassador for poker, for women – but for the game much more broadly,” she says. “To me, it’s beyond gender. I think it’s just such an incredibly powerful force for good and I want people to see what poker actually is, as opposed to what people who don’t know much about it see it as being in the media. Even though I’m naturally introverted and would rather be kind of the one behind the scenes, I think it’s really important to speak out because I have a voice to do that.”
Photos courtesy of PokerStars – Manuel Kovsca, Rachel Kay Winter, and Danny Maxwell
