Maria Konnikova, who'd been suffering a spate of bad luck, didn't even know the rules of poker when she asked Erik Seidel, a legend of the game, if he could teach her. She knew that poker was a game where chance and control shaped high-pressured decisions. She also knew she wanted to have a shot at winning the World Series of Poker in a year's time.

The Biggest Bluff is not just a book about cards. It's a book about how to read others, and yourself, better; about what gets in the way of good decisions; about accepting luck for what it is, and what it isn't.