A review by reggiewoods
Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts by Annie Duke

funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.0

Psychologist and former professional poker player combines her two fields of expertise and applies what she has learned to approaching everyday life. You don’t have to know much about poker (I don’t) to benefit from this book, but her analogies often involve poker, or more generally gambling, which makes many psychological concepts and basic tenants of game theory easy to understand. Most of her “lessons” are introduced anecdotally, often with a famous anecdote (she starts and ends the book with a defense of Pete Carroll’s famous pass call that cost Seattle a Super Bowl) which most will find relatable. At times it feels repetitive, as self-help books often do, but that does help to solidify her concepts in your mind. Even though I have become somewhat well-read in the field of decision making, I still find a few helpful tips and thought provoking insights I’ve yet to come across. It’s short, entertaining, and has the info to help interested readers improve their decision making. I’m looking forward to reading her book “Quit” which I believe is about dealing with sunk-costs.