Life's a Gamble: The High Stakes and Low Life of a Poker Professional [Paperback]

Roy Brindley (Author), Jesse May (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2009

Addicted to gambling like the majority of his family, Roy spent his teens and twenties in the bookies and, week in, week out, frittered away his entire pay packet as he attempted to chase his losses. By the time he was twenty-eight he was on the run from the police and living out of a cardboard box in Southsea. In 2002 he finally ended up in court and decided to turn his life around. After a chance viewing of the Hollywood poker film Rounders, he at last put his phenomenal mathematical talent to constructive use, and his domination of the European poker circuit began. From his dysfunctional early years, through a career as a greyhound trainer and journalist before playing cards for cash became his vocation, the story of Roy the Boy is both an inspirational rags-to-riches story of a man who learnt to trust something other than lady luck, and a fascinating insight into the glamorous, celebrity-filled, and ever-more-popular world of poker.

Editorial Reviews

Review

He's the gambler I always wanted to be Nick Leeson One of the best insights into the heart and mind of a gambler ever written... moving and uplifting. And for poker-lovers, a must-read His story is honest and raw, but with hints of underlying, unspoken tensions. His sheer determination is contagious, and his gutsy self-belief ensures the reader stands firmly in his corner throughout... The journey Brindley takes not only from the street corner to a television career, but also as a writer, is what makes his debut book so captivating Card Player Europe 20090301 A triumph... Life's a Gamble is a truly fantastic book that is both entertaining and shocking to read at the same time. Roy Brindley has captured what is going on in the mind of an addicted gambler brilliantly. It is genuinely one of the best biographies and certainly the best poker biography I've ever had the pleasure of reading Uk Poker News 20090303 A blasting, naked account of what it is to be a gambler Jesse May --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Roy Brindley is one of Europe’s most successful tournament poker players. The first ever European professional to be commercially sponsored, he is currently enjoying his sixth year as the Ladbrokes official player. Roy writes for several poker publications and commentates regularly on poker tournaments for Sky Sports.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Transworld Publishers (February 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0593062086
• ISBN-13: 978-0593062081
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,374,035 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice Gambler's Novel, August 8, 2010

By 

CY (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Life's a Gamble: The High Stakes and Low Life of a Poker Professional (Paperback)

You will not learn any gambling techniques from the book. However, you can experience fully how high can a gambler go and how low he can falls. The great ups and downs. A real-life story which is more exciting than many novels!

4.0 out of 5 stars Bring you right into his world of Granpa's and Granma's, October 6, 2011

By 

God is Love & Happiness "True !!" (Cottswolds) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Life's a Gamble: The High Stakes and Low Life of a Poker Professional (Paperback)

Great read and interesting read into his intelligent and sensitive world. And give you inside into typical poker playing world. Loved the eara he grew up in.

5.0 out of 5 stars Poker life is hard!, September 21, 2011

By 

Jack Boozer (waco,texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Life's a Gamble: The High Stakes and Low Life of a Poker Professional (Paperback)

A great account of how really hard gambling for a living can be even for a good player.Read this before you leap!!