| | Big Deal |  | Author: Anthony Holden
Publisher: Bantam Press
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy Used: £1.93
You Save: £6.06 (76%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 1212491
Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
ISBN: 0593038312
EAN: 9780593038314
ASIN: 0593038312
Publication Date: May 11, 1995
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 I didnt like the man May 1, 2008
I thought the book was quite dull and Anthony Holden came across as a pompous ass.
 Shuffle Up & Read May 9, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Synopsis
The story of a year spent by biographer Anthony Holden in the tough world of the professional poker player. He spent days and nights in the poker paradise of Las Vegas, in Malta and Morocco, even shipboard, mingling with the legendary greats, sharpening his game, perfecting his repartee, and learning a great deal about himself in the process. Poker, Holden would insist, is not gambling. Like chess it is a paradigm of life at its most intense, a gladiatorial contest that brings out the best as well as the worst in people. Its heroes, its eccentrics and is comedians stalk the pages of this book, along with all the hair-raising, nail-biting excitement of the games themselves. The book is reissued with a new introduction by the author.
This is a fantastic read and extremely well written book. It makes you actually feel that you are there and shows that life as a Poker pro is not necessarily exciting but you wouldn't swap it for anything in the world.
It's about a journeyman player who decides to give it all up and turn "pro" for a year just to experience the life and see where the journey takes him.
There are lots of anecdotes about well known players (The ones about Amarillo Slim are hilarious), a brutal honesty and an excellent insight into life on the road and the places they go and people they meet. It could almost be a work of fiction.
You do not have to be a Poker fan to enjoy this book as it's not really a book about Poker but a story of a year in the life of someone living the dream.
 Misses the flop July 22, 2006
3 out of 10 found this review helpful
There is no way that Big Deal should miss the flop but when the cards are flipped at showdown, Anthony Holden is holding rags. He has the anecdotes, he has the hard-earned experience, he even has the dust-jacket endorsements - David Mamet, Salman Rushide and Martin Amis. But he just doesn't have the nuts.
Poker until the late 1970's was a game of hard-ass Texan hustlers, a Runyon-esque romp from coast-to-coast. Poker since the late 1990's has been dotcom boom time, an ever-expanding entertainment industry and a blue-chip business in both its casino and online forms. Big Deal sits somewhere in the middle, harking back to the golden age, but unable to look forward to mass-participation.
The old-time stories, and literary-Londoner-in-Las Vegas observations are lifted straight from Al Alvarez's The Biggest Game in Town. Alvarez, is Holden's real-life mentor, and the pupil never threatens to overreach his master.
The book recounts Holden's experiences on the professional circuit in 1988-9, book-ended by a pair of appearances at the World Series of Poker Main Event, the $10,000 buy-in No Limit Hold 'Em tournament. He comes 90th in 1988, then 111th in 1989. But Holden gets outdrawn on these experiences which should be his book's big draw.
James McManus, another journalist/author and literary type entered the tournament in 2000 - and made the final table, winning a quarter million dollars. Positively Fifth Street, McManus' tale of his exploits, woven into his coverage murder trial following the death of Vegas legend Ted Binion, really tells you what it's like for an amateur to sit with the pro's.
Don't misunderstand. Big Deal is a good book. It is a worthy book. The poker is real, the players are real and the writing is real. But it is not a great book. It is neither as entertaining nor perceptive as Alvarez' original, and it is not as exciting or informative as McManus' update.
Superb! A poker book that disbands technical theories and gets down to the action on the table... May 21, 2006
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is a book for the player who loves stories of dramatic hands at poker, thrilling victories, unbelievable luck (good aswell as bad), and crushing bad-beats. Holden sublimely recalls his story of a year spent as a poker pro, and is a must-read for every poker fan. You can get away from the plethora of books offering new fang-dangled strategies and theorums, and get indulged in a book that captures a real essence of poker. From his local tuesday night game, to the out-of-his-depth high rollers ables at Vegas, Holden perfectly tells his story on. A fascinating, exciting, and captiviating book. Brilliant.
Brilliant! September 25, 2004
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
What a top book. I love books about card players and films too as everyone believes they could this, but we couldn't. Who wouldn't love to drop everything and chase their dream for a year? The detail and suspense in the book is amazing and I just didn't want it to end. The characters he meets are amazing, especially as they are real. Altogether, a great read and I'm already saving up to do the same!
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