Customer Reviews

Big Deal: A Year As a Professional Poker Player

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book falls in the category of poker memoirs. Unlike most such books, usually ghostwritten for a pro with name recognition, Holden writes about his own year-long stint as a pseudo-pro.

I say pseudo-pro because for most of the year Holden is a pro in name only - a professional writer visiting his subject matter. His skills are initially not particularly good, "honed" in a home game played mostly over various wildcard-dense forms of mickey mouse poker. Over the course of the year, he travels to numerous tournaments, loses money in them, gets lucky at blackjack (which he doesn't seem to realize is a long-run losing game the way he plays it), gets lucky playing over his bankroll in one big pot limit game, and eventually develops enough poker skill to beat satellites and mid-stakes limit games which is a reasonable accomplishment. Using this newfound poker expertise, he recoups his tournament losses & expenses, makes a few bucks, and calls it quits after a disappointing showing in the world series of poker marks the end of his year-long experiment.

Along the way, he collects the usual set of gambling stories, and those are told in entertaining fashion. This book is really a glimpse into professional poker as it existed before the poker boom, and as such is of historic value. It has little to nothing to offer in terms of poker strategy, and similarly little to offer someone considering "going pro" today since the boom changed everything. The book is well written and fun, but for poker players looking for additional depth or useful material, there's nothing to find.

If you want a real life gambling tale, my review is 4 stars - get it. If you want a memoir with some more useful poker material on the side (and written by a far better player), I suggest you get "Ace on the River" instead.

Anthony Holden, the author of many biographies including Olivier and Prince Charles, decides to leave his day job behind for an entire year to become a professional poker player. In his journeys he travels to Vegas, Los Angeles, Louisiana, New York, Malta, Morocco, and the Carribbean to play the best in the world. He sits down with several former World Champions, and he busts a few along the way. Ultimately you learn what goes on inside the head of a man who lives to play the game. He begins and ends his journey at Binion's Horseshoe in Las Vegas at the World Series of Poker.

As a narritive, it is the finest book on poker I have yet to read.

As good as it gets! Anthony Holden takes the reader on a rollercoaster journey, allowing us to peer in and see what it would be like to just leave your job for a year to become a professional poker player. After reading it the first time you will be calling your travel agent for the next available flight to Las Vegas. I have found that re-reading it about a week prior to taking any subsequent trips to Las Vegas will put you in such a festive mood, that by the time your plane is descending to McCarron airport your excitement has reached a fever pitch. The only thing to do at that point is to head right over to Binion's Horseshoe and make your own story come to life along the green baize. It is marvelously entertaining, and very informative. Reading this book is the second best thing to actually playing in the World Series of Poker!

While reading reviews of "Poker Nation", I noticed a large number of poker players who recommended "Big Deal" and "Biggest Game in Town" over "Poker Nation", so I read "Big Deal". It is a first-hand account which gives it a great deal of credibility. The story winds through the author's year with an even amount of detail of items pertinent to the game and to life in general. I particularly liked the tidbits of (life) wisdom strewn throughout the book -- something that modern books are displaying less and less of (no one wants to give advice to anyone else on how the good life can be lived). The book ends with a whimper, compared to many modern life-and-death ultradramas, but it is more true-to-life and we mere mortals.

This book is about one mans dream of becoming a professional poker player and for a year he does it. This book is the stories of his journey to the world series poker championship. It is book for all poker fans. But please note it is not a technical guide to poker.

As a serious poker player, I found this interesting, but not riveting.

An excellent insight into the mind of a serious poker player. I bought this book on impulse at a second-hand store, and read it in two sittings because my wife forced me to stop to sleep. A riveting look at the world of professional poker and poker tournaments by an inside outsider: Anthony Holden is a very erudite and urbane journalist who also wrote hugely successful biographies of Mr Charles Windsor and Ms Diana Spencer. He is also a passionate poker player, and spent one year as a professional. Considering that he broke even, you can take what he says reasonably seriously!

This book details Holden's quest to enter the no-limit hold'em championship event at the annual World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, considered to be the ultimate poker competition in the world. Along his journey to accumulate the $10,000 entry fee he encounters very colorful characters in exotic locales including famous TV and movie celebrities. Also very interesting is his view of the place poker holds in American culture and exciting recounts of high-stakes games. He runs his endeavor like a business venture and ultimately one realizes that big business and securities trading are gambling activities just as much as high-stakes poker, and that perhaps poker is unfairly stigmatized in popular media. This book is far from being a treatise on poker strategy and Holden's early elimination from the main event, which resulted from a string of questionable plays, is anticlimactic and sheds some doubt on his true abilities. Nevertheless this book is a compelling story of a world rarely seen and often distorted in novels and movies. Great companion reading is Biggest Game in Town written by Holden's friend Al Alvarez

was a great read lots of fun and followed an average joe on his rise. Doesnt try to brag like other authors do, just gives you the facts and has you read his journey. amazing must read

Set long before the boom this is still a fascinating insight into life at, and away from, the table. Up there with The Biggest Game in Town this is a must have. Thoroughly readable, if nothing else it proves it's better to read something by a losing author than a winning err non-author. Literacy will win through.