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The Biggest Game in Town [Paperback]

A. Alvarez (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A large portion of this 1983 volume initially appeared in The New Yorker as a series of sketches of the cardsharps who annually descend on Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker. The players make for interesting portraits, and Alvarez lets them have their say. Anyone interested in gaming will enjoy this, but others might as well.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A classic . . . There is no better book on America's national pastime."--James McManus, Author of Positively Fifth Street

"Probably the best book on poker ever written."--The Evening Standard (UK)

"A magnificent book. Beyond the straights and fullhouses, Alvarez has written a book about people who are extremely good at what they do, and about America."--San Francisco Chronicle

"[Alvarez] endows the game with all the desperate fun and wry futility of life itself."--New York magazine

"Conveys an understanding of gamblers and their milieu that can appeal to someone who has never seen a casino or doesn’t care to."--The Philadelphia Inquirer

"Thoroughly entertaining . . . both perceptive and literate."--The Washington Post

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Paperback: 188 pages
  • Publisher: Chronicle Books (February 1, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0811834344
  • ISBN-13: 978-0811834346
  • Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #890,160 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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More About the Author

A. Alvarez
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Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
NINE O'CLOCK on a Tuesday morning at the end of April 1981, and according to the giant illuminated figures at the top of the mint Hotel the temperature was already ninety-two degrees. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
poker room
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Las Vegas, World Series, Sombrero Room, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Moss, Golden Nugget, Bobby Baldwin, Eric Drache, New York, Stu Ungar, Glitter Gulch, Perry Green, Binion's Horseshoe, Puggy Pearson, Gene Fisher, Chip Reese, Ken Smith, New Jersey, Amarillo Slim, Mickey Appleman, United States, Benny Binion, Los Angeles, Andy Moore, Bill Smith
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This book cites 18 books:
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Books on Related Topics (learn more)
 
Poker for Dummies by Richard D. Harroch
The Psychology of Poker by Alan N. Schoonmaker
 

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Customer Reviews

18 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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50 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Picture of Poker 1983 AD, March 18, 2002
By Kim I. Eisler (Bethesda, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Biggest Game in Town (Paperback)
I know this book is 20 years old, so its not particularly surprising that most of the anecdote and stories seem old. Its all about Johnny Moss and Nick the Greek and Amarillo Slim and Doyle Brunson. Naturally there's a new posse in the world of poker today, Men the Master Nguyen, Phil Hellmuth , Poker Dick Cook. and the brilliant Russell Rosenblum. The world of the world series of poker has changed much since this book was written in 1983, there remains a question even about how much longer Binions will host the world series and the there is a real possiblity that Bellagio will even buy the trademarked name. This book advertises itself as a timeless cult classic, and as a period piece from 25 years ago, A. Alvarez captured a time and place. I wonder how much of this however will resound as novel to the poker player of today. When Alvarez mentioned Stu Unger winning the world series, it left me wanting to read about how stu ungar moved from world champion to dying in a run down Vegas motel room. Or when he talked about Ted Binion running Binions, the mind flashes to the fact that binion has since been murdered .Plenty of good advice in here for hold em play, of course the problem in gambling isn't usually knowing what to do, its being able to do it, to fight fatigue, to fight temptation to play too many hands, to summon up the courage to pitch aces when you know they have been cracked. The problem with the gamblig genre is that there just arent that many good books out there. Too many agents and publishers think they won't sell and bookstores tend to look down on gambling books as being anti-literary. Snobbery in the bookstore world is a real problem, as anyone who has ever asked a proprietor if they carry the Racing Form on their mag rack will quickly find out.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Delicate and Hypnotic., October 6, 2004
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This review is from: The Biggest Game in Town (Paperback)
Quite simply, this is one of the best books I have ever read. My only regret is that it was way too short. Alvarez, simply put, is a great writer. You will not be surprised by his background as a poet after opening it because he writes masterfully. He has a poet's sense for distilled language no words are wasted and the quotations are carefully selected and sometimes astounding (like Binion's equating gambling with all that is American). The organization and flow of the work is tremendous and his 188 pages turned like 40. There's no way you'll put The Biggest Game in Town once you start it.

No work better describes the "alligator blood" of the world's top notch professional poker players. His portraits of Doyle Brunson, Johnny Moss, and Jack Strauss will be with you forever.

The sheer aggression of Hold 'Em becomes quite obvious as does the way in which our sexual drives, and just about everything else, become sublimated in those who are addicted to gambling. However, the allure of "action" is quite apparent and will make readers want to fly out to the World Series of Poker to experience the pagaentry for themselves. This is a rare and valuable offering.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The seminal work in the field., August 9, 2003
By Bart King (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Biggest Game in Town (Paperback)
It takes the insights of a foreigner to really lay out Las Vegas in all its bloated glory. Alvarez has an economical yet beautiful way with words that captures a time and place nicely. Though the Vegas he writes of is long gone (for example, the only kids' attraction in the early 1980s was Circus! Circus!), this book is not just a snapshot of bygone times and tournaments. It is particularly interesting in its portrayal of Doyle Brunson, as well as other players of the era. Great stuff!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably The greatest Poker book Ever written
This is such a great book, whether your big on poker or not. A. Alvarez was a close friend of Sylvia Plath and was best known (prior to this book) as the author of a... Read more
Published 10 months ago by David T. Catapano

5.0 out of 5 stars vegas and poker classic
A. Alvarez wrote a number of seemingly thematically unconnected books on the strange and the remarkable, outliers in life. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Konrad Baumeister

4.0 out of 5 stars Best of This Genre
I've read a number of the "writer/journalist poker life" genre books. (I'd guess at least six). This is the best written. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Brunello

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Historical Poker Read
This book definitely sheds a light on poker as it was in the early 80s. The backgrounds given on the players of the time are extremely informative and enlightening... Read more
Published on July 6, 2008 by Geoff Howard

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic poker memoir.
This is the first modern poker yarn by a legendary poker player and yes, literary critic. It seems half the UK poker players get their bonafides by how closely connected they... Read more
Published on February 5, 2008 by 2many2read

4.0 out of 5 stars A Classic Poker Read
This book is a must have for the serious poker library. While many of the poker players that Alvarez writes about in the book have now become household names, they were virtual... Read more
Published on December 14, 2006 by Steven J. Yeager

2.0 out of 5 stars Would have been good in its time but is now dated
"The Biggest Game in Town" is a book exploring the lead up to, the characters behind, and the culmination of, the 1981 World Series Of Poker. Read more
Published on June 20, 2006 by obediah

5.0 out of 5 stars Mesmerizing time capsule of Vegas two decades ago
This book is a time capsule of a very different Las Vegas. The Vegas of the late 70's and early 80's was centered around the downtown area, with none of the all-encompassing... Read more
Published on September 1, 2005 by Jessica Lux

5.0 out of 5 stars if you play poker, this is a must-read
This book is a like a time-capsule that sheds light on the poker world before poker was on every channel and before Hold 'Em was the biggest game in town. Read more
Published on March 22, 2005 by Card Player

5.0 out of 5 stars A very fun and interesting read
I would whole-heartedly recommend this book to any poker player or any fan of Tom Wolfe's non-fiction (this book reminds me of Wolfe's writing). Read more
Published on March 31, 2004 by jjdizub

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