Bigger Deal
A Year on the 'New' Poker Circuit
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
Fifteen years on from Anthony Holden's undisputed classic BIG DEAL, the poker world has changed beyond recognition. When Holden played in the 1988 World Series of Poker there were 167 entrants competing for a prize of $270,000. At the 2006 WSOP, where this book climaxes, there were 8773 players and a first prize of some $12 million - the richest in any sport. What happened in the years between BIG DEAL and BIGGER DEAL is simple: thanks to the Internet and television there has been a worldwide explosion in the popularity of poker. The game even has a new respectable image, much to the disgust of die-hard players. Gone are the seedy, smoky rooms of the Horseshoe, and celebrities now crowd the tables at huge Las Vegas tournaments: Martin Sheen, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are all dedicated players. In the UK, LATE NIGHT POKER draws some 2 million viewers (Holden was banned from the last series for doing too well).
In BIGGER DEAL, Holden is your guide - and the only guide you'll need - to the world of new poker as he prepares to enter the WSOP once again. Will he win the title? Place your bets ...
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Long before poker had achieved today's stratospheric level of popularity, British writer Holden chronicled the challenges and frustrations of a year on the professional poker circuit, in 1990's Big Deal. In this enjoyable sequel, he revisits the poker world, playing in card rooms and tournaments in Europe and America, in home games in his native London and online during 2005 and 2006. The result is a rich account of how the game and its players have changed over the 17 years since he tried (and failed) to become a professional poker player. He profiles a range of people, from poker's living legend Doyle Brunson to the new breed of young professionals, schooled on the Internet and ruthlessly aggressive, and explores the reasons for poker's recent, unprecedented boom. Holden is particularly good in charting the meteoric rise of online poker (and its ambiguous legal status in the United States). He's also adept at articulating his fascination with the game: "The thrilling sense of triumph when you sense something that turns out to be right; the disproportionate despair when you're wrong or the poker gods are against you."
