Life Outside Poker is a new podcast for PokerNews hosted by Connor Richards that seeks to pull back the curtain on poker players and allow viewers and listeners to get to know them on a personal level.

In the 18th episode, Connor speaks with author and psychologist Maria Konnikova about her family leaving Russia to come to the US, writing her first story in kindergarten, being mentored by Steven Pinker at Harvard, meeting Erik Seidel for the first time and her 2020 bestseller The Biggest Bluff that explored her poker journey.

Konnikova, a PokerStars ambassador, also talked about her research for an upcoming book into cheating in poker and other games, as well as game integrity rule changes implemented at EPT Barcelona that Konnikova said needed to go even further.

"I think what PokerStars has done is amazing. I think you need to go a step further and not have any electronics anywhere on the table. Like, I think phones need to be on the floor, in your bag."

"I would actually also ban sunglasses because ... there's so much technology that (that can enable cheating)."

This interview was filmed in Spain during the 2024 PokerStars EPT Barcelona festival at Casino Barcelona.

The Life Outside Poker podcast is available on major streaming platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and iHeartRadio. You can also watch the interview with Maria Konnikova by heading to the PokerNews YouTube channel.

Be sure to follow Maria Konnikova and Connor Richards on X.

Learn More About Life Outside Poker!

 

Time Stamps TIME TOPIC 0:00 Intro 1:09 EPT Barcelona 20th anniversary 2:35 Parents leaving Russia 6:25 Writing 10:27 First story 14:36 Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes 18:44 Being mentored by Steven Pinker 25:37 The Biggest Bluff 27:34 First time meeting Erik Seidel 31:55 New cheating methods in poker 36:22 Should sunglasses be banned? 39:46 Upcoming book on cheating in games 40:57 Being a PokerStars ambassador 44:53 Women in poker 47:16 Risky Business podcast w/ Nate Silver 52:07 Book recommendation 52:37 What makes you hopeful? 54:49 Advice for younger self 56:05 Favorite life lesson from poker