The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time [Hardcover]

Michael Craig (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2, 2005

A tale of outsize egos, appetites, and ambitions, here is the completely true, heart-stopping story of one man, 20 million dollars, and the most expensive game of poker ever played-with never-before-revealed details of what really happens at the game's highest levels. In 2001, a stranger from Texas descended on the high-stakes poker room at the world famous Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. His name was Andy Beal, and he had come to play. Challenging some of the best players in the world, including Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Howard Lederer, and Jennifer Harman, the result was a series of seven unforgettable poker games, including the final showdown-a single game with a jackpot of more than 20 million dollars.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The "professor" is Howard Lederer, a professional poker player whose rigorous analytical approach to the game earned him his nickname. The banker is Andy Beal, a multimillionaire obsessed with beating the world's best poker players at their game, limit Texas hold 'em, played for stratospheric stakes. The suicide king, a symbol of the aleatory nature of the endeavor, is the king of hearts, who holds his broadsword behind his head. It's a great mix, and Craig (The 5 Minute Investor) offers a knowledgeable and observant chronicle of the high-stakes games between Beal and the syndicate of professional players organized by the "Babe Ruth of poker," Doyle Brunson. The syndicate put up $10,000,000 to sit opposite Beal, trading $100,000 bets. Beal, for his part, took a mathematical approach, at one point running millions of computer simulations of various poker problems, in search of an edge against the pros, who rely on an uncanny intuition honed by thousands of hands. Craig includes enough details about the professionals to allow readers insight into their gambler personalities. Having interviewed many of the participants in this legendary poker battle, he describes it with an appropriate sense of awe, and readers will be awed as well.
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Review

'Craig includes enough details about the professionals to allow the reader insight into their gambler personalities. Having interviewed many of the participants in this legendary poker battle, he describes it with an appropriate sense of awe and readers --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (June 2, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446577693
• ISBN-13: 978-0446577694
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #682,774 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Craig was a securities attorney in Chicago for 15 years, until he retired in 1999. He moved to Scottsdale, Arizona to spend time with his wife, Jo Anne, and watch his kids (Barry, Ellie, and Valerie) grow up. He is the author of four books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars it's a page turner, September 20, 2005

By 

J. Rubino (Simi Valley,Ca USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time (Hardcover)

Reads like a good novel,a compelling and fascinating look into the biggest limit holdem game ever played. It provides enormous insights into developing a winning approach to limit holdem. A billionaire banker(Andy Beal) actually devised some amazing strategies to play many of the big name seasoned pros at their own game and beat them at times for many millions. If you love poker and story you will really enjoy this book and you will learn and gain insight into your own game. One of the five best books I've read this year.
9/30/05 POST SCRIPT: I didn't read any of the other reviews prior to writing my review and I was so surprised that several reviews state that there is no strategy to be learned from this book. In my opinion there is plenty to work with. One is that Beal minimized any potential collusion by playing heads up-a very important idea if you are afraid of real world or online collusion of any kind. Also, he wrote his own computer program and then additionally hired a computer programmer and spent hundreds of hours analyzing hand values and came up with brilliant ways to play various hands in numerous situations, how various strength hands played versus random hands etc. Much to think about and certainly insightful in improving your game. The fact that he analyzes heads up play is not the point, the point is that an amatuer with the time and energy to think through the game found ways to beat the best players in the world-no small feat.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining look into the biggest poker games ever., June 4, 2005

By 

King Yao - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time (Hardcover)

What an enjoyable book! Michael Craig did a great job in describing sessions of incredible high limit heads-up Hold'em played by the billionaire banker Andy Beal against many great professional poker players in heads-up matches. The pros included Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese, Ted Forrest, Howard Lederer, Jennifer Harmon, Barry Greenstein, Todd Brunson and many more. The book is fun to read and the narrative is free flowing. It's a rare glimpse into the lives, thoughts, fears, and nerves of the high limit pros with a snippet of heads-up strategy. Although this is not a strategy book, it is still definitely worthwhile to read about the players' preparation for the heads-up matches as well as the lifestyles of these high limit pros. In particular, it is interesting to see how Andy Beal (the rich amateur) prepares in order to even the playing field between him and the best players in the world. The pros pool their funds together so they can have the bankroll to play games starting with $10,000 / $20,000 all the way up to $100,000 / $200,000. Each side has their share of wins and losses (I won't spoil who wins at the end). While reading the book, I found myself partially rooting for Beal (the intelligent outsider and underdog), while also partially rooting for the pros (the best at their game should win, right?). I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in poker.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting story and told in an entertaining manner, June 8, 2005

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time (Hardcover)

If you're one of millions who have become intrigued with Texas Hold 'Em, then this book is for you! Michael Craig takes us behind the scenes of a series of cash Texas Hold 'Em games that make the tournaments you see on TV pale by comparison. Imagine betting $100,000 and $200,000 per hand - and it's your money!

The professor, Howard Lederer, gave up a computer science major in 1985 when as a freshman he won $100,000 playing poker. The banker is Andy Beal, a self-made billionaire who earned $50 million plus per year from his various enterprises, including Beal Bank of Dallas. And the suicide king is the king of hearts. Poker players know that the king of hearts holds his own sword at his head, thus the name "suicide king."

A dozen times over four years (from 2001 to 2004), Beal would go to Las Vegas to play heads-up poker at table one at the Bellagio. He'd play against a syndicate of the world's best poker players, including Doyle Brunson, Jennifer Harmon, Chip Reese, and Howard Lederer. (Heads-up poker means that rather than up to nine players at a table, there would be only two - playing each other "heads-up"). Millions would change hands in each game - until over $20 million was on the table during the final game in May of 2004.

The stakes were so high that "flags" (red, white and blue edged chips worth $5,000) were not used. In Las Vegas $5,000 chips are rarely seen, yet the Bellagio has rarer-still $25,000 chips. And even the Bellagio wasn't prepared for a high stakes game of this magnitude. The Bellagio ran out of $25,000 chips to be used in the game!

As Craig describes the action you get a behind the scenes look at the preparation both sides made - and a history of Texas Hold 'Em that few have ever seen. You learn how the top professional poker players, made famous by the televised tournaments, came to the game and gained their poker education, you learn about the legends who kept the game alive until television discovered it. The action is fast, the descriptions vivid, the analysis revealing. This book is a real life pageturner!