Book Description
If you look around the table and you can't tell who the sucker is,
it's you.On any given Friday night, hundreds of thousands of Americans
-- men and women alike -- pile into kitchens, garages, and backrooms
to play their weekly poker game. From basement games in the suburbs
to illegal gambling clubs in New York City to the high-stakes World
Series of Poker in Las Vegas, Andy Bellin has anted up with some of
the world's greatest players. In Poker Nation, he takes us on a raucous
journey into the shut-up-and-deal world of professional poker.Even
if you don't know the difference between a flop and a river card --
or you do know exactly what it means to have "the nuts"
-- Bellin is your ace in the hole as you navigate this uniquely American
terrain. Look over his shoulder as he learns to count cards, read
a legendary player's body language, hang in there when the chips are
down, and, yes, take his beatings like a man. Watch what goes on behind
the scenes in illegal poker clubs found in every major city in the
country. Meet the colorful personalities and skewed psyches of the
players, the dreamers, hustlers, eccentrics, and hucksters who are
all part of this strange subculture. Part memoir, part exposé,
part how-to (or how-not-to), Poker Nation takes a frank and funny
look at one of America's enduring obsessions. It's a sure bet.
Amazon.com
Readers who enjoy poker will love Poker Nation, an energetic
and obsessive account of America's favorite card game, told with intelligence
and panache. Andy Bellin writes in the first person and from the gut,
recounting stories about poker fanatics (himself among them) and dispensing
advice on how to play the game: "You have to maximize profits
through guile and savvy, eke out every last dollar that your competition
is willing to lose to you -- and, when you don't have the winning
cards, flee as fast as possible." Aphorisms leap off the pages:
"The worst hand in poker is the second-best one at the table"
and "People say the mark of a con is in the details." Whether
readers prefer the anecdotes about double-bluffing and illegal poker
clubs or the tips on when to hold and when to fold (there's even a
table showing the "Chances of Drawing Helpful Cards from a Deck
of Forty-Seven Unknown Cards"), anybody interested in its subject
matter will find Poker Nation engrossing.
--John Miller
From Library Journal
In a partially autobiographical account of his unusual life, journalist
Bellin, a lapsed astrophysics student who left science for his true
calling of professional poker, introduces us to the world of legal
and illegal poker games and the cast of strange characters who can
be found therein. Along the way, he offers some very good advice on
how to play "Texas-Hold 'Em," today's game of choice for
big-money players. His breezy, easy-to-read style allows one to enjoy
the thrill of the game vicariously (in clubs from New York to Las
Vegas) as well as the company of some vivid if not entirely trustworthy
companions. However, he does not glamorize this high-stakes game,
and his accounts of the psychological toll it takes on addicts would
hardly encourage one to want to try the life of a professional poker
player. Recommended for public libraries.
Harold D. Shane, CUNY, Baruch Coll.
© 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
