In a world flooded with choices—from career moves to relationship dilemmas—world poker champion and cognitive scientist Annie Duke is offering a playbook for making smarter, more rational decisions. Drawing from her experience at the poker table and her academic work in behavioral science, Duke’s strategies are now being spotlighted in a new series aimed at helping people navigate uncertainty with clarity.
The Psychology of Decision-Making: Why We Often Get It Wrong
Duke argues that the moment we’re facing a decision is often the moment we’re least rational. Our brains are wired to protect our present selves, even at the expense of our future well-being. This leads to common traps like ambiguity aversion, cognitive dissonance, and emotional bias.
Key highlights:
- People tend to avoid decisions that involve uncertainty, even if the uncertain option may lead to better outcomes
- We often trade long-term happiness for short-term comfort, especially in emotionally charged situations
- Duke recommends asking whether a choice advances your goals and values, rather than focusing on fears or unknowns
One of her most powerful tools is the concept of mental time travel—imagining a conversation with your future self to gain distance from the emotional fog of the present. This technique helps people make decisions that align with their long-term aspirations rather than short-term impulses.
Expected Value and Emotional Clarity: A Poker-Inspired Framework
Duke uses the poker concept of expected value to help people evaluate decisions. Instead of asking what could go wrong, she suggests asking whether a choice increases the likelihood of happiness, fulfillment, or success based on your personal values.
Strategies include:
- Comparing decision paths based on how well they align with your goals
- Accepting that quitting or changing course isn’t failure—it’s strategic adaptation
- Recognizing that consistency isn’t always virtuous if it keeps you stuck in a suboptimal situation
She also emphasizes the importance of acknowledging uncertainty. Poker teaches that good decisions don’t always lead to good outcomes, and bad decisions don’t always lead to bad ones. The key is to focus on decision quality, not just results.
Teaching Decision Skills to the Next Generation
Duke’s insights aren’t just for adults. Through the Alliance for Decision Education, she’s working to bring decision-making skills into K–12 classrooms. The goal is to help students develop agency, probabilistic thinking, and emotional resilience from an early age.
Key takeaways:
- Decision-making is as critical as math or science, yet rarely taught in schools
- Simple concepts like forecasting and cognitive bias can be introduced even in elementary grades
- Duke’s nonprofit has grown to nearly 40 employees and secured $12 million in research grants to build evidence-based curricula
She believes that empowering young people with decision-making tools will help them navigate an increasingly complex world—especially as AI and digital media reshape how we process information.
Why This Matters: Decision-Making Is the Skill That Shapes Your Life
According to Duke, life outcomes boil down to two things: luck and the quality of your decisions. While luck is out of our control, decision-making is not. By learning to think in bets, embrace uncertainty, and consult our future selves, we can dramatically improve our chances of living a fulfilling life.
Whether you’re contemplating a career pivot, ending a relationship, or making a financial investment, Duke’s strategies offer a clear-eyed, emotionally intelligent way to cut through the noise and make choices that truly serve you.
Sources: Psychology Today, AnnieDuke.com, TEDxGeorgetown, Alliance for Decision Education
