Maria Konnikova – From Author to PokerStars Ambassador

It has only been a year since she cashed out in her first live poker tournament but since then, she has winnings of over $200k in live poker, including cashes in more than 5 different countries in the world and a best live cash of $84,600 for shipping the PCA National tournament earlier this year.

We’re talking about Maria Konnikova, who started her live poker career just 14 months back and has now gone from bestselling author to a PokerStars Team Pro in no time. Yes, industry giant PokerStars has officially signed Konnikova, after a year of being unofficially associated with the author turned poker pro.

In January last year, Konnikova set out to write a book known as ‘The Biggest Bluff’, which was set to document a year in her life as a poker pro on the live poker circuit. She began this journey under the mentor-ship of Poker Hall of Fame inductee Erik Seidel, and it didn’t take her long to go from novice to pro.

“I’m incredibly excited to be joining the PokerStars team. It’s been wonderful to be an unofficial ambassador with PokerStars for this past year, and I feel it’s a tremendous honor to be joining the team officially now,” said Konnikova in a press release, commenting on being added to the PokerStars team.

After shipping the PCA National, Konnikova announced herself as a ‘pro’, having even won an entry to the PokerStars Players Championship which will take place at the Bahamas in January next year. She also finished second in an APPT Macau event in March this year, taking home around $57k for her efforts.

“I never could have imagined poker becoming as big a part of my life as it has and joining PokerStars offers me an incredible opportunity to take my game to the next level and to represent a brand that I’ve come to admire greatly,” she added. Konnikova’s book deadline has been pushed back so that she can concentrate on her poker career. Can we expect to hear a lot about her over the next year or so? She also has three cashes at the ongoing 2018 World Series of Poker, with combined winnings under $10k.

Keep reading GutshotMagazine.com for similar stories from the world of poker, and for any major updates on new PokerStars ambassador, Maria Konnikova.