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

Michael Craig (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)

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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.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #545,903 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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More About the Author

Michael Craig
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
In early February 2001, Andy Beal was having a fun evening during his first visit to the Bellagio poker room. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
poker tour, poker room, cash games, poker career, poker world, tournament poker, mixed game, best poker players, reading opponents, professional poker player, pot odds, poker skill, final table, exposed cards, more tournaments, limit hold, ring game, playing heads, biggest game, top pros
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Andy Beal, World Series, Las Vegas, Doyle Brunson, Howard Lederer, Jennifer Harman, Ted Forrest, Chip Reese, Barry Greenstein, Todd Brunson, Table One, World Poker Tour, Chau Giang, Mike Laing, Johnny Chan, Beal Bank, Texas Hold, Craig Singer, Seven Card Stud, David Grey, Phil Ivey, Bobby Baldwin, Eric Drache, Golden Nugget, John Hennigan
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Customer Reviews

67 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (67 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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36 of 37 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
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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.
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining look into the biggest poker games ever., June 4, 2005
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.
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15 of 16 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!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Something major is missing from this book
The author does a great job of relaying the story line, although I could do without some of the extra detail on poker business. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Publicagent

1.0 out of 5 stars waste of paper, I returned the book,booring who cares?
this book is no good, waste of time, booring, who cares, never should have been written.
zero star
Published 5 months ago by Paul Morris

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read for poker-lovers and non-poker-lovers alike.
The story itself was great fun to read. Real poker lovers will know most of the characters alredy, but will still find the background fascinating. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Jonathan C. Winick

5.0 out of 5 stars all poker players will love it
The author knew poker and the players he profiled. An inside look at the "big games" and the "biggest players"
Published 7 months ago by seetheflop

4.0 out of 5 stars The game's not the thing, for once.
Michael Craig, The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time (Warner, 2005)

The interesting thing about The Professor,... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Robert P. Beveridge

5.0 out of 5 stars Hands-down, the best book of reportage I've read
Barring some technical books in my field, "The Professor, the Banker, the Suicide King" is the finest work of non-fiction that I've read. Michael Craig's writing is superb. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Craig McMurtry

4.0 out of 5 stars A great indicator of why the poker fad will never (entirely) fade.
This book has a lot of things going for it. It is a well-told story and a very human look at professional poker, which is refreshing for those of us who live in that world and... Read more
Published 14 months ago by callemdown

4.0 out of 5 stars Behind the Curtain
Extremely interesting book about a side of Las Vegas high stakes poker that most of us would otherwise never become aware of. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Brunello

5.0 out of 5 stars Used Poker Book
Book arrived as described. Great condition, just one "eared" page. Quite satisfied. If your familiar with poker and it's famous players, this book is a very quick read.
Published 21 months ago by D. Nicolich

3.0 out of 5 stars Andy Beal is more interesting than poker
I bought this book because I'm a poker fan and casual player. I love reading dramatic stories surrounding Las Vegas. Read more
Published on August 26, 2008 by T. Rudak

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