King of the poker players from his suburban enclave in Maryland to Washington, D.C., Joey Moore faces a crisis in his life when an gambling opponent commits suicide and an unwanted baby is forced on him.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Private card games in the Maryland-Washington, D.C., area as well as the big casinos of Las Vegas and Atlantic City provide the setting for this unsentimental evocation of the arcane world of professional poker. Self-assured narrator and ace card-player "Pinocchio" Joe Moore is forced to rethink his values and his destiny when, in short order, he starts a new romance, gets a high-paying job as a dealer and learns he will soon be a father, by way of his old girlfriend. Known as the best poker stud in Maryland, Moore juggles changing responsibilities and complex relationships-based on friendship, family, love and money-to make a life for his new, nontraditional family while staying true to the best parts of himself. Bennet writes with confidence and precision, resisting hackneyed gambling metaphors while offering some insightful new ones ("The best poker I've ever played has always entailed peace... and when you've gained that view, that peace-when you'd rather have the truth, no matter how disappointing, over a false hope, no matter how desirable-then you're a player"). His easy knowledge of poker customs and practices, and the engaging narration-which climaxes with brisk bits of domestic and professional melodrama (Joey's newborn son is stolen by his in-laws; his mother is accused of stealing gambling funds)- make for an immensely enjoyable debut.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
FINALLY A REALISTIC POKER NOVEL,
This review is from: King of a Small World (Hardcover)
An excellent grasp of the poker world and how it relates to life. Rick Bennet is a great poker player that I first met in early 1996. I played WITH him and then later dealt TO him. This is the first time in print, film, or television that I wasn't forced to watch some incredible Hollywood poker hand where one player has four Aces and the other player says "no good, read 'em and weep". As a poker dealer that has played for a living, I am thrilled to finally find someone that undertands my world well enough and can also translate it so that others can see it. This novel IS what all of us in the poker industry HOPED the movie Rounders would be but fell so short. King of a Small World is the most accurate account of poker life from the many different aspects; professionals that grind out a living, dealers that blow all there tips, and recreational players that are there to enjoy themselves because they rarely win and are where we all make our money. Poker is a game of skill with short term luck. There has to be some luck or people wouldn't "gamble". I never heard of chess being played for big money. Finally an accurate portrayal of the life of a person that plays for a living. It is done by reading people and playing the odds, not by someone in a tuxedo betting $100,000 per hand on a table game where the house has the edge. Through the eyes of a professional poker player, the reader learns how poker gives us the tools to perceive the rest of life. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, the characters are very realistic; I know people like this. At the same time, I learned about the charity and underground games in Maryland that I have always heard about from the many poker players that have moved from the D.C. area to California, the new poker capitol of the world. I highly recommend King of a Small World.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
more than just about poker,
By A Customer
This review is from: King of a Small World (Hardcover)
My boyfriend asked me to read it, and I was surprised by how much I liked it. I actually bought it for him because I read a good review about it in a woman's mag and I knew he liked playing cards. I wasn't planning to read it myself. But when I read it, I didn't think it was about poker, as much as about the narrator's relationships, and becoming a young father. Just excellent, really. And really great writing.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Grammatical excellence!,
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Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: King of a Small World: A Poker Novel (Paperback)
This book had something I haven't seen in a book in a very, very long time. As I was reading along, I noticed something was missing. There were NO typos, and the grammar was perfect. What a pleasure!
It also contains, towards the back, a couple of the most eloquent and memorable paragraphs on the game I've found in all the poker literature I've read. Otherwise the story is fair but hardly great. It definitely is on a level below "Shut Up and Deal", which is the best poker novel I have yet to encounter, but it is certainly worth reading.
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