Customer Reviews

Lost Vegas: The Redneck Riviera, Existentialist Conversations with Strippers, and the World Series of Poker

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Las Vegas. The glitz and glamour as bright as the lights on the Strip. An adult's playground where lady luck may smile on you and give you a jackpot on the slot machine or a run of good luck at the blackjack tables. Where food is king and fun runs abundant.

But like all cities, there is the belly of the beast. The things that happen off the strip. The people that walk the sewers and scrounge the alleys, devising schemes to take your money. No one in Vegas wants to talk about the dark side. Until now.

Paul has a unique style of describing what is 'behind the curtain'. He doesn't pull punches and calls it like he sees it, painting a vivid picture in your mind that makes you feel like you are there. Best of all, it is real. Nothing in this book is made up. Paul doesn't need to when the dark side does the job itself.

From the Redneck Riviera to the World Series of Poker, each tale told is more magnificent than the one before it. Lost Vegas is a book that once you start, you won't put down.

Super-addictive, gut-wrenchingly funny and even - yes - touching, Pauly's adventures to the dark side of big-time tournament poker and Las Vegas is a must-read for poker players, gamblers, and all degenerates in general. A long-time coming, Lost Vegas joins the ranks of "Biggest Game In Town", "Big Deal", and "Positively Fifth Street" in the pantheon of great non-instructional poker literature.

Yeah I read the title--I truly did. I knew it was going to be about poker somewhat--but it's about poker a lot, and if that's your thing, you will love it. It's a funny story, and I love LV so I liked reading about the city, but really it's centered heavily on poker--just FYI.

Amazing, picked it up & never put it down. If you have ever been to Vegas this is a must read.

As someone that has read Pauly's blogs for some time now, I anxiously awaited the release of this book on Kindle format and I was not disappointed. It's a great read for anyone interested in the world of Poker and Las Vegas. It also shed a lot of interesting light on some of the things that Pauly has blogged about for years.

A great book probably/hopefully will not be his best or last because if you've ever visited Paulie's Web site Tao of Poker you know there is a good chance Mr. Paulie will grace us with a masterpiece someday. The guy has the chops to deliver the goods. Amid the poker reporting there are glimpse's of sheer brilliance, we can only hope between wandering around casinos and stalking Phish Mr Paulie is hard at work with his next opus....get busy

Like most, I found "Lost Vegas" through Pauly's Tao of Poker blog (which can't be recommended highly enough). It's a tome that describes temptations (be they of the flesh, of the pharmaceutical or the felt). But there are many books like that... folks, this one is different... "Lost Vegas" doesn't glamorize the poker world and the many broke "TV superstars" within, but it certainly doesn't demonize it like so many cautionary tales. Pauly simply relates the facts from within. He has seen the highest level of poker supremacy while also witnessing the lowest level of gambling degeneracy. He's seen and lived through the many powerful pills (among other chemical options) that one can find in Sin City. McGuire gives an honest (while often depressing) account of the gentleman's clubs as he experienced them through him and his friends. But there are a glutton of books about the gambling lifestyle out there... "Lost Vegas" will most appeal to those of us who get pushed to our limits every day and may or may not live to tell the tale after the fact. The average Joe who spends one weekend per year in Vegas and sets aside a bankroll, has wife in tow, while avoiding the shadier side of the town won't relate as well to the book as those of us who can't understand moderation and for whom life is a day to day adventure to be maximized or else. It's cliche to compare "Lost Vegas" to Hunter S. Thompson's works, but McGuire actually LIVES this lifestyle and gives a hilarious and honest portrayal of how the house always wins in the end, yet we all keep coming back for more.

For several years, I have been reading Paul "Dr. Pauly" McGuire's poker blog, Tao of Poker every morning. His book is a very funny, behind-the-scenes look at the World Series of Poker. Pauly is the Dean of Poker writers, especially where comedy and personal exploits are concerned. You'll love this book, and it would make a great gift.

Pauly is a stylist writer in the vein of Bukowski, Kerouac, and Tom Wolfe. He has been to poker tournaments all over the world, and brings a unique insight into the whacky world of poker. He is one of my favorite writers. Buy this book and learn why.Texas Poker Wisdom

This book smacks the reader with a hard-hitting look at the Las Vegas lifestyle. The narrative is written from a down and dirty, raw point-of-view -- a little coarse, a little tilted to the free-spirited-man-without-a-purpose perspective of things, and a little on the depressing side. With that said, the author has a talent for this type of writing, and a great understanding of the lifestyle. The WSOP play-by-play recaps were a highlight, as were the descriptions of the poker participants, and the year-to-year tournament action summaries. In the end, though, the book was just a little too "raw" for me.