Customer Reviews

Bigger Deal: A Year Inside the Poker Boom

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

 

 

When Big Deal: A Year as a Professional Poker Player was released in 1990,it caused quite a stir around my house, my Dad is a recreational player and lifelong poker enthusiast, and he would entertain us by reading passages from the book featuring mysterious characters with colorful nicknames like "Texas Dolly" "Amarillo Slim" "Stuey the Kid", and "The Orient Express" This book played a major role in igniting my life-long love of poker, so needless to say I awaited the release of it's sequel Bigger Deal with great excitement.

Sadly, this book is proof that the Hollywood maxim about sequels never being greater than the original is true. I found that most of the magic that infused the original book had vanished. Thankfully this is not due to diminishing skills on Mr. Holden's part (He's still one of the best writers working today) but rather to the overexposure of poker these days, a theme which Holden expounds upon at length in this book. Back when Big Deal was published, poker gave the impression of inhabiting a somewhat seedy, secretive world that only those with sizeable bankrolls were able to break into. Thanks to the explosion of online poker in the last 5 years, and the Moneymaker effect, even an average Joe with a modest bankroll can dream of winning "The Big One" When you combine this with the profusion of poker coverage available today on TV, in print media, and online, this has greatly reduced the mystique that people had attached to the game, as a result, Holden's writing no longer seems "magical" but merely very good. The plot is similar to the last book, Holden tries to survive a year on the pro poker circuit. The book begins with him getting knocked out of the WSOP in 05, his stated goal is to win his way into WSOP 06 via a satellite, which he eventually does, along the way he chronicles poker's rise to respectability and writes insightfully and humorously about the changing landscape of the game. The strongest portion of the book is the last chapter which deals with how the poker community will adapt to the UIGEA, will it continue to thrive? Only time will tell, but rest assured Tony Holden will be there to chronicle it all! I recommend this book, particularly to new players who want to get a feel for the post-WPT poker culture.

This is Tony Holden's follow up to his immensely successful book, Big Deal, about playing at being a professional poker player for a year. He is not nearly as ambitious this time around, neither as an author nor poker player it seems. The product of his efforts is interesting and well written, but not nearly as compelling as his tale the first time around. Perhaps that's as much a product of the poker world of which he writes. Back when Big Deal came out serious casino poker was still, largely, an underground and undiscovered game. And so his insider stories of hobnobbing with the biggies of the game and playing poker with them around the world was all the more fascinating and bold. Today, with poker on television 24/7 and with casino games virtually surrounding us, there's little left to reveal.
I must confess that I also got the sense that Bigger Deal was somewhat rushed in its final editing. It didn't have the same polished feel that Bid Deal had -- a certain slapdash quality of how the many details were put together into a final product.
Without a doubt though, just about any well written book about poker is, for me, better than nearly any book not about poker. And in that regard, Bigger Deal is at the top of my list for this summer's reading.

Anthony Holden and A. Alvarez (The Biggest Game in Town) have invented the modern poker memoir, years before such players as Chris Moneymaker and Annie Duke gained their fame.

In reading Mr. Holden's first book (Big Deal) and other memoirs like it, I never got it: every UK poker writer is a crony of every other one -- David Spanier,Richard Sparks, Dave Ulliott, Des Wilson. Mr. Holden pals around with all of them, eating, drinking and playing poker.

The book is well-written, as you would expect from so prolific an author. He's written books about everyone from Princess Diana to Tchaikovsky and is the the music critic for the Observer (UK). In this memoir, he applies himself to lots of big games -- both cash and tournament. He frankly gallivants around the world playing poker -- Barcelona, London, Las Vegas, even a Caribbean poker cruise. To cap it off, he plays in two WSOP Main Events as well as big-money European tourneys.

He has both wins and losses at the poker table, but he studiously tries to improve. He not only studies Dan Harrington's books (along with every other player on the planet) but takes a poker camp in Austria taught by Howard Lederer and his sister Annie Duke. He absorbs lots of poker technique.

Unfortunately, in one big tournament, he has setbacks of the sort that seem like bad luck. (He makes a mistake -- if it is one -- that I personally have made often, but with a lot less money at stake. ) Oh, well, poker just ain't chess. Because of this, the book ends on a down note, as he recounts the US government's attacks on online poker as well as his own difficulties with the game.

He is a very committed player who been playing since before Doyle Brunson learned the game. Not really, but it feels like it.

A serious book, it's tinged with sadness, both in his personal life and in the poker room.

A lot of people think reading about poker is boring; this book won't change their minds. The Big Deal was an engrossing joyride. The Bigger Deal is a slow crawl to nowhere. And, when we can watch several of the hands described in the book on ESPN every other day, it's a good idea to get the cards and the associated player comments correct.

Mr. Holden should have folded and waited for better hand.

Nearly two decades ago journalist and music critic Anthony Holden wrote Big Deal, a memoir of a year spent as a professional poker player, which came to be viewed as a basic text in gambling literature. BIGGER DEAL expands on the ideas, presents Holden's worldwide tour of the poker tournament circuit again, and updates information on the game and its players. From the influence of the Internet during this time and a resulting explosion in poker's popularity to legal challenges to online poker rooms, BIGGER DEAL is the perfect, timely coverage of a rapidly changing game world and will make an excellent addition for any public library strong in either poker or gaming books.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Well, I like Anthony Holden and I loved Big Deal but there is nothing special about this sequel. It reads more like a personal diary of mundane events than an encapsulation of what poker has become. The incessant name dropping also rankled as he meticulously recorded the identities of everyone he met--even those for whom readers have little interest. I often had the feeling that Holden was saying to people on his travels, "check out my new book as your name will appear in it." No compelling narrative unwound. Holden seemed to be writing an ode to himself. With little transparency, the text appears to be a road to raise his own status as a player and a person. Some details failed to gel. He confesses to being both lonely but also having the company of women whenever he wanted it, but his obsession over his estranged wife, "the moll," was quite depressing. It served to debase the reader's trust in his perspective. I did find parts of it entertaining so I'll reluctantly give it three stars.

Not as good as the original, but i still give it 5 stars because I could not put it down until I read the whole thing which is the sign of a really good book

Anything Holden writes I buy and am never disappointed.
I really love his stuff.

You do need to have read Big Deal first but even so this is an excellent insight into the modern game - especially as Holden is now a celebrity. The same studies of the table from the first book are there but the stories from off the table are fascinating. Again, 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.

Anthony Holden has written a fine, enjoyable book about the world poker scene and his adventures within it. It covers all the territory you might expect, with a good mix of the game of poker, the personalities of poker, and his personal life. Mr. Holden is clearly a skillful writer. He's also a pretty darn good poker player. If you like reading about poker (mostly no-limit hold 'em), or are curious about the poker life, I recommend this book. (Its discussion of the 2006 US law that made online poker illegal is particularly sharp.) And, as always, I say "thank you" to my local public library, which is especially helpful for those books one might read only once and not need for reference thereafter.