Customer Reviews

Shut Up and Deal: A Novel

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First, (most important) if you don't play poker you won't get much out of this book, if you do play... read on.

Good poker is a boring, often frustrating business, and this "novel" (like most first novels, it's fact thinly disguised as fiction) struggles with that reality.

Narrated by a jaded, yet moderately sucessful young pro named Mike (in the original manuscript he was probably called Jesse) its a frank honest look at the "glamourous" world of professional poker. Poker is a game of skill in the long term, but because of the high chance element, can be anything but skill day-to-day. As Mike says early on "the skill ain't hard, its mastering the luck that's difficult."

As the novel progresses we gradually realise that Mike isn't really going anywhere. At times he's quite wealthy, at other times he can hardly make the buy-in for a medium stakes game, but the only thing that distinguishes him from other skilled players, is his persistence; the gritty resolution to ride out the streaks of bad luck and keep going.

Like any cardroom, the book has its "regulars" - players who appear over and over again. Among them is the vividly drawn Bart Stone, who may be the devil - a reckless evil conman with occasional flashes of charm. Opposed to him is John, a mellow, amazingly talented player who's blown his winnings on cocaine and is making a comeback. The two play several times, eagerly watched by Mike, but the end result, like many a poker game, is less about winners and losers, and more about a few bucks up or down due to the cards on the day.

People complain (rightly) that "Shut Up and Deal" has no plot, and doesn't go anywhere. But its this honesty that makes the book so real. Pro poker players don't go anywhere - they work in the cardrooms, they put in long hours, and for obvious reasons they don't make many friends and their working hours don't encourage a social life. Casinos are magnets for misfits and this strange sub-group are no exception. The locations can change but the games, and even some of the players remain the same. If Jesse May can't plot this novel very well, he's got no such problems with description and atmosphere - you can see, feel, and even smell the grubby glitter of the casino cardrooms where the action takes place.

The final section of the book is the best description of being "on tilt" (i.e. playing badly from frustration, and not necessarily realising it) that I've ever read. Familiar to anyone whose played cards seriously for any length of time, the helpless reader is drawn into the irrational yet compelling innner voice of Mick, explaining everything away...

Flawed, yet very powerful and honest, "Shut Up and Deal" is the perfect antidote to yet another sugar-sweet article in "Card Player" magazine. Its also a must-read for anyone contemplating a professional career in poker.

For non poker players, I can't imagine that this is worth buying. It is completely focused on the world of poker playing, mostly in east coast casinos. For poker players looking for advice, techniques, and ways of winning, this book won't help much. It's not about poker strategy, it's about the poker world, or one part of it.

But if you are interested in that poker world, this book is fantastic. I swallowed it in one grim, exciting, painful gulp. As previous reviewers said, there is no real plot, no real story, just poker and the strange world it creates. It's almsot philosophical. It tries to figure out what makes people keep on playing, what separates the live-ones from the sharks (and how easy it is to cross back and forth from one to the other), it's zen and poker. As a poker wannabe I found it to be a powerful warning of where I could go if I tried to walk in May's footsteps.

I'd also love to meet the guy, which I think says something about his book.

Whatever you do, don't play with a guy named Bart.

I agree with the other reviewers that this book is for poker players only! The author uses lots of poker terms and jargon that is familiar mostly to poker players. And it's hard for a non-"rounder" to understand what's truly going on in the authors mind.adrenaline, excitement, bluffs, and that one critical decision that separates winners from losers! Personally, as a poker player, I enjoyed the book all the way to the end, got my adrenaline pumped up several times from just reading some of the action and decision making in the story.

Like I said, this book can be really entertaining if you are a rounder, however, the storyline lacks a progressive organized story plot, not terribly bad for a person who doesn't write for a living but the story and character development could've used some refining. It's more of a personal daily diary than a true novel...just keep that in mind while reading the book and you'll enjoy it.

Shut up and deal is a unique book that provides players of all skill levels a constant reminder that the philosophy of luck is as important to learn and understand as all of the "how to and statistical calculation" books ever written about poker. It does so in one book that also stands out as entertaining poker fiction. The underlying truths provide what it takes to win at playing poker at the highest levels and the pitfalls that are there everyday to test any player that has chosen to make poker their profession, or who have chosen to play semi-pro. I understand that to a literary critic, this book rambles, but to players who have been there it is a must read.

Jesse May has really captured the true essence of life inside the detached and all-consuming world of Poker 24/7. Though officially a work of fiction, I can say with fair certainty that the story is probably based on observed or lived truth. Having myself seen the vacuous life of Poker, I can attest that this is the first book that I've seen that presents Poker in a light other than what has been documented on the Travel and Discovery channels. Jesse incarnates an intellectual Poker Hero through which readers witness the unrelenting preoccuptation that all professionals and wanna-be pros alike face in the course of their often short, crash & burn-prone careers: bankroll volatility, fear, confidence, scams, image, discipline, on-lookers, self-consciousness and addiction of all varieties. Arguably, Poker is a fold, hit & run game. 'Shut and Deal' illustrates with chilling accuracy what happens in between the folding, the hitting the big pots, the running, and sometimes, even the running back! A great read from beginning to end, with terrific insight into the pathology of Poker, and her devout and eccentric participants. Warning: Casual poker enthusiasts beware!

Ok, that's not quite fair, May does use punctuation. And his frenetic style does lend a sort of credibility to the hellish all-night poker games that he describes. But the overall effect of the writing style is that the narrater is in a manic state and is rushing to spew out everything that he knows and does not know about the grueling and lonely life of a professional poker player and oh by the way it is really hard to make any money playing poker day in day out, except for that one time in Vegas, which is reminiscent of the time in Atlantic City when everything was lost.

I rate Shut Up and Deal three stars with some reservations and qualifications. If you really enjoy poker and find yourself itching to read about some pretty compelling action--this book could conceivably be five stars. I think May presents the action and the players in a highly descriptive and entertaining fashion. It is a fair substitute for the real thing if there isn't a regular game in your neighborhood. However, if you like a little plot in your reading (the book is really sort of a stream of consciousness type of thing) then it would rate maybe two stars. The author states that it is a work of fiction, but nothing ever really happens besides some winning, lots of losing, some anguish over the losing and very little joy in the winning.

Considering that Jesse May is not really a novelist, Shut Up and Deal is quite good. Even though the book suffers severely from a lack of plot, but there are so many intriguing vignettes and characters that you tend to forget this.

The story revolves around a self-referential professional poker player and the moves he makes as poker relocates itself across the nation and gains acceptance. However, the characters are the true charm of this novel. They each have their own kind of persona and can even move around in the story, appearing in certain locations and stealing the entire show, so to speak.

Another great aspect of the book is how May shows the absense of time while playing poker. Having accidentally sat at a nine hour straight poker game, I can truly relate to the elapsation of time in this story. Days, weeks, and months pass as the same people buck the table and play again and again without break, except to get up and literally run to the bathroom so they won't lose their seat. Sometimes it's told in an extremely funny way and others the prose seems to create a sense of urgency that anyone who has played poker in a casino before can relate to.

The entire novel is set at a breakneck speed with only a few breaks in the tension to resolve some character issues. Overall, this is very good novel that will please just about everyone. The subject matter might not appeal to everyone, but if you're looking for a very charming story with extremely well-written characters, then Shut Up and Deal could possibly be that book.

I picked this book up because I was getting interested in poker. The first time I read it, I didn't know what was going on. If you have never played Texas Hold'em, it is hard to follow. Then after playing in casinos and learning the game, I reread the book, and thought quite a lot of it. The author has a distinct voice. It is also a book about much more than poker(imagine a wired stream of conciousness Holden Caulfield playing highstakes poker), but you really need to have a grasp of poker to get it. I will probably read it again, and by then I will may think it deserves the fifth star.

It says "A Novel" on the cover but this is book contains no plot or any attempt to create a common narrative thread. It is just a series of poker stories. Don't expect anything more.

A must for poker "rounders" but it may not be for others. I don't know, I'm not an "other" It has no real plot and it basically goes nowhere, but that's how the poker life is. The book gives a realistic feel of the small and different world of the pro, and would-be-pro, poker player.