A NYT Best Selling Author Went From 0 Poker Knowledge To Poker Champion By Studying The Game 10+ Hours A Day For Months

Maria Konnikova is a bad ass. She was a NYT best selling author 2x over, published a million times in the New Yorker, and then one day while reading about game theory decided "hey, I'm going to learn to crush poker". So she did.

We had her on Cracking Aces for an hour yesterday and it was awesome. We are always asked "how do I learn to beat poker" and she did it. She started from the ground floor- barely knew the rules, hand strengths, any of it. She enlisted a coach, Erick Seidel, and watched training videos 10+ hours a day, pausing them to take notes, re-watch, and ask questions if she didn't understand them. 

Her goal was not only to learn the game but get extremely good at it, all while writing a book about the process. She started by playing $35 tournaments and slowly moved her way up, eventually winning a $1600 tournament for more than $80,000, among other big scores.

At the top of the episode we also touch on the WSOP having 85 online bracelet events this summer 

and if the idea of winning a bracelet still means anything anymore, or if it's just a novelty.

If this interests you, have a gander at the podcast, Maria was excellent and gave so much awesome insight. Her book drops on June 23rd, definitely check that out too.