Maria Konnikova Profiled in New York Times Piece: 'I Have Zero Interest in Gambling'

• “I hate casinos. I have zero interest in gambling,"  Maria Konnikova tells the New York Times
• The science writer for the New Yorker went from amateur to sponsored pro in under a year
• "I was interested in the theme of skill versus chance and was looking for a way to get into it."

“Studying, playing, living, breathing poker for eight to nine hours a day, every day [...] reading, watching videos or live-streaming very good players," says Maria Konnikova in a piece that appeared in the New York Times this past Friday.

Konnikova admits though: “I hate casinos. I have zero interest in gambling.”

She went from amateur to sponsored pro practically overnight.  But her poker path is unique compared to most players.  Konnikova got into it because of science. 

“I was interested in the theme of skill versus chance and was looking for a way to get into it. A friend suggested I read John von Neumann’s “Theory of Games and Economic Behavior,” the foundational text of game theory [...] When he was trying to understand how strategic decision-making worked, he concluded that poker was the perfect analog.”

Konnikova is a science writer for the New Yorker.

With nearly 33,000 followers, the profiled poker player received plenty of accolades via Twitter.

You can read the piece here.

- Ace King, Gambling911.com