Customer Reviews

Hunting Fish: A Cross-Country Search for America's Worst Poker Players

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

 

 

I left the book wondering if we were the fish for buying the book. I expected far more stories of soft games and how he exploited inexperienced people. However, the book is really more about the problems and experiences related to trying to play poker professionally. The book is valuable as a realistic look into the real poker world; hours of boredom for a few minutes of excitement.
I wish he was able to tell us more about the people he played against but since he skipped from game to game that probably was impossible.
I enjoyed his self-awareness that this wasn't the lifestyle for him. He seem so be a good tournament and internet player, so it makes you wonder why he ever left home to start with.
I agree with other reviewers that some of the hands he played were long-shot hands not normally played. However, I wasn't sitting there and didn't have the feel of the table or the players. Many times you make a play with 7,2 offsuit against a weak player to steal the pot but that may come only after you have built a super tight image and they believe you have the best hand.
Overall, I did like the book and it re-enforced my idea that the television version of poker is massively over hyped. The reality, not told in this book is that very few poker players make real money compared to the masses that play. At least, he shared his feelings and concerns about other poker players and what he might become if he continued. His decision in the end was correct and, perhaps, a lesson in gambling for all of us.

I know almost nothing about poker beyond the basics. A friend who makes his living playing pro poker gave me this book with the comment, "This will help you understand me better." And it certainly did. I was immediately hooked by Greenspan's description of the unglamourous world he had entered when he decided to embark on a three-month trip across America playing Texas Hold'em in casinos and back room joints. The conceit of the book, that he is always on the lookout for a "fish" to outplay, holds up. The real strength of the book, however, is Greenspan's realization that the world he has entered is not quite what he had expected. He is also disarmingly frank about his own limitations as a player and how much that old rascal Luck enters into the game. Greenspan's decision about how to frame his future, the experiences that contributed to that decision, and his reflections on his tour across America is what made the book a fascinating read for me. Experienced poker players will probably also enjoy the descriptions of poker hands he plays along the way.

This book is a great read, compelling from start - what's more compelling than reading about a poker player getting robbed, literally, of his bank roll a week before setting out on a cross-country poker trip? - to satisfying finish. The hand descriptions are precise and vivid, but it's Greenspan's excellent description of the color around the game - the various tablemates, the tedium of long sessions - and, most impressively, his thoughtful chronicling of his internal journey that the great gift of this book. A wonderful yarn, and a thought-provoking read for anyone who's ever considered going pro.

this book tells it like it really is. I've read many many poker books and I found this to be among the most riveting and realistic narratives. I would rate it up alongside Big Deal by Tony Holden as one of the most entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable poker books ever written. The author comes at it from a fairly unique angle, as a budding semi-pro player who is trying to make a living at a game he loves. Poker is about different things to different people, and this book tells a realistic tale about making a living as a "blue collar" cash game specialist.

In his quest to build a big bankroll to hit high stakes no limit games at the Commerce Casino in LA, the author goes on a cross country trek. He plays poker anywhere he can, and tries to build up his bankroll by $20,000, enough for those big games.

Even with the security cameras at the doors of these hidden rooms, you never feel safe. The next players admitted might be anyone: cops or robbers. Yes, the author's played in illegal poker clubs that have since disappeared. He's played in legal casinos that have since been devastated by a hurricane.

Amazingly, with all the secrecy surrounding the games, he finds them pretty easily. And he plays well, really well. He does build up his bankroll by thousands and thousands, even as he tells us about some of the big hands he lost. Some losses are from people playing any two cards, but some are his false assumption that the other guy is just bluffing.

When describes the hands he plays, you get the sense he's a mediocre player. But his bankroll numbers tell a happier story.

This is the first book that describes so much backroom poker action. As such, it's worth a look, but not before you read The Biggest Game in Town by A. Alvarez or Positively Fifth Street by James McManus, two classic poker memoirs.

I bought this for my son who is an avid poker player. Going by the reviews I will give it 5* Any change I will let you know after Christmas as this is a present. Service was great fast delivery.

I don't like the authors personality. It's nauseating.

To me, he's a spoiled, arrogant, leftist raised brat, who tries hard to make it seem like he's had his fair share of struggles in life, just like everyone else (black people in particular, I luv uuuu!) even though he's nothing more than a priveledged, spoiled, cranky, brat. It just comes off as laughable and a little pathetic.

While he goes on his road trip, he laments "oh, my poor, poor, perfect fiancee! While I am away playing poker she suffers alone. Oh, how bad of a fiancee I am!"

I mean, talk about creating pain out of nothing, lol. And hacking yourself down for whatever psychological reason he feels the need to do so.

He's also a progressive leftist, and goes out of his way to say "black people, I luuuuuv uuuuuuuuuu!!! See how non-racist I am? All you fellow Liberals, don't you recognize how good of a Liberal I am? Pat me on the shoulder, I get you, I get being a Liberal! Congratulate me!"

Then he talks about his experimenting with drugs in late highschool and early college as the rite in passage that it is for disillussioned, upper class, Liberal whites, who really have nothing to complain about, or feel bad about, but find something anyway, because they feel guilty about how much better they have it than minority's. That's their only pain, lol.

Aside from his annoying and nauseating personality, his writing is ok, and his story telling is mediocre.

When I traded in a few of my poker books to the bookstore, this was one of them. I knew I'd never read it again.

Overall, it wasn't what I thought it would be. I was hoping for a much more exciting book. The story was just "meh". And I didn't expect such a whiny, nasally prose either.

I admit it. I read this one as the last of several 'I wonder if I should be a full time poker pro?' genre books. The author's writing voice and story is so similar (to some of the others I read first) that if you gave me a sample of his writing to compare to similar paragraphs from the other writers, I couldn't tell you which author or book it came from. That colors my viewpoint. If you haven't read the others first and if you share the common fantasy of becoming a full-time pro poker player,this would be a fresh and cautionary read.

Don't get me wrong. This guy is an excellent writer. And the story is interesting if you haven't read some of the others with the same basic narrative.

If you think you might be interested in this genre, I recommend you read "Positively Fifth Street" by James McManus first. Then research some of the others before you buy this one.

And it's not an instruction book, so don't buy this if that's what you need.

It's a good read. Not necessarily the best.

This is a fun little poker book. Despite a few minor errors, the author does a good job of documenting his cross-country poker-playing trip. Towards the end he gets a little full of himself, but clearly he's a pretty strong player. Many of the stories are interesting but some are less so. And I found a few bits to be very insightful and well written.

There's not a lot here that's new or unusual, but it's a very pleasant book if you want to read about a pretty good, but not world-class, player's poker adventures around the USA. And one more thing: I love my local public library, where you can borrow books for free!

Hunting Fish is about the personal poker journey of Jay Greenspan. Along the way we get a glimpse of the life of everyday professional poker players. This is not an instructional book but you'll still learn something about how to play better poker. Greenspan comes across as honest and likable and his story is an interesting and enjoyable read. If you like books about the poker lifestyle such as Bigger Deal , Poker Nation, All In and The Real Deal then you'll enjoy this book.