Since announcing herself on the poker scene with the release of her New York Times bestseller The Biggest Bluff, Maria Konnikova has become a force to be reckoned with on both the virtual and live felts. As a PokerStars ambassador, she represents the poker community in a way few players could manage and she does so with a passion that reveals her love for the game.
In the early days of 2024, Konnikova won her first World Series of Poker Circuit ring in an online event. Earlier this week, Konnikova added to her recent online success by claiming her first WSOP gold bracelet in the $888 NLHE Fall Crazy 8s event.
PokerOrg spoke with Konnikova in the wake of her victory and the ensuing comments made by WSOP commentator Norman Chad.
Editor's Note: This interview was conducted on October 15, prior to the release of Konnikova's Substack post on the matter.
How does it feel to be a WSOP bracelet winner?
It feels wonderful. It hasn't completely sunk in, but it's something that I've been working towards for as long as I've been playing poker. It's one of those things that you can never predict. As hard as you work, the vast majority of people are never going win a bracelet, even though there are obviously more bracelets. Still, I had no idea if it would ever happen.
Maria Konnikova won her first bracelet in a WSOP Online event. It's funny, I came back to Vegas a week ago and I was playing at a table with Justin Saliba and we were talking about playing online. I said, "It's so cool, I didn't even know that there was going to be a bracelet series because last year was the first time that happened. I played the $3K 6-Max and I ended up coming in eighth, which was so exciting. It's a great result, but it was bittersweet. I was seven people away from the bracelet and it's probably the closest I'll ever get to a World Series bracelet."
So, we had that conversation and then a few days later, I got closer.
Without making this all about him, what were your thoughts on Norman Chad's comments?
I'm a little mixed right now. You actually caught me in the middle of writing my next Substack for The Leap about some of the nastier reactions to my win. It just sucks that instead of enjoying it, I have to spend time doing that, but I think it's important.
In general, I don't know Norman Chad – I have never met him. My full response will be out later, but it just made me really sad. Honestly, why in the world? Why pick this moment to attack someone who you've never met, who is just trying to be happy? And now you have to go and piss all over it. It just hurt. I have nothing against Norman Chad. Like I said, I don't know the guy. I hate putting negative energy out there so I don't want to say anything bad about him. It just made me really sad and disappointed.
How did it feel to see Erik Seidel and others defending you?
Yeah, on a positive note, I appreciate seeing the outpouring of congratulations before this got posted and then all the support since it was posted. A lot of people came out blazing for me. Obviously, there have been some nasty responses as well that pile on and say I'm a horrible player because I had to re-enter and that I bought the bracelet.
I'm trying not to let that get to me and instead focus on all the great people who came out – some of whom I'm friends with, others whom I don't know, but are totally on my side in this and that's really nice.
Maria Konnikova and her coach Erik Seidel. Erik is the main reason I was able to do this, he's my coach. He's a mentor. He's a close friend. I feel like I'm an honorary Seidel and he always has my back – that really means a lot to me. He's a rare individual and I'm very, very lucky to have him in my corner.
You’ve had somewhat back-to-back WSOP Online successes – is there any part of your game you can attribute the recent results to?
I've been working my ass off. I really have been working hard. Last year, I felt like I hit a wall. I had been studying, but I couldn't really improve. Then in January, so almost a year ago, I was texting with Isaac Haxton and we were talking about this issue so I asked if he had any suggestions. Basically, he said, 'No, just keep reviewing and keep working.' And then he gave me some really good advice. He told me to write down every single hand I played at my next event, as if I was playing online, so that I could do a deep analysis and look at leaks.
When I went to EPT Paris, I took the time to do that and it really takes up a lot of bandwidth, to write down literally every single hand I played. Even the ones I folded because the hands you don't play could be leaks, right? And so then I had this kind of live hands database that I did some review on. I also took a few lessons that are higher level than I would normally take. I did some ICM work with Nick Petrangelo and started to get serious about using GTO Wizard.
Maria Konnikova at NAPT Las Vegas in 2023. I had done a piece for The Atlantic around the same time and connected with the GTO Wizard team for that. I did some training with them using some of the AIs and got some lessons from Kevin Rabichow, kind of to do that piece. I ended up doing a few weeks of really intense study to beat the bot, which was really good for the piece, but also got me into using that software again.
What’s next on your poker agenda? Anything exciting in the pipeline?
I'm really excited for NAPT Las Vegas, hopefully I can add a title to my bracelet. I'll play the Wynn in December and then probably nothing else until EPT Paris again in February. The Bahamas schedule isn't a great one for me. It's a lot of high rollers. I think bankroll management is incredibly important and I just don't think it's responsible for me to play that.
Do you have any plans for the bracelet?
I have this amazing candle that my dear friend Farah Galfond got me for my birthday and it says, 'F**KER'. I think given everything that's happened, it would be very appropriate to display the bracelet next to the candle and just casually have it in my Zoom backgrounds.
Images Courtesy of Joe Giron/Rational Intellectual Holdings Limited/Neil Stoddart
