What is everyone's favorite Non Strategy poker story book?

[Ribsauce]

[ QUOTE ]
i thought 'education of a poker player' was an entertaining read.

[/ QUOTE ]

This book and the Amarillo Slim book are both awesome, the slim book being 385738 times more awesome. Maybe he is a bad person, but that doesn't make the book less awesome because it kicks ass!

[steamboatin]

I liked Aces & Kings, it was good to that all of the famous players weren't prodigies and some had to struggle to learn the game.

I did not like Positively Fith Street, or Big Deal.

I liked The Professor, The Banker and the Suicide King.

[naMruM]

I loved The Biggest Game in Town, and liked a lot The Professor, The Banker and the Suicide King...

[Magisastar]

I enjoyed Poker Wisdom of a Champion. But at times it becasme a bit of a rant, and you wonder if its all true. But theres some genuinely funny passages in there. I like Brunson's dry take on the world.

[jfk]

Because no one has yet mentioned it, "God Wants You to Roll" is a very good read.

It isn't neccesarily a poker book but one of the protagonists was a major force in So. Cal cardrooms for nearly half a decade due to pai gow play.

The story is about a scam run by two high school educated teenagers, one of whom becomes the pai gow demon. The scam victimizes churchgoers, hence the title.

The SoCal card room scene has a major supporting role in the story and you get frequent references to Flynt, Greenstein, Forrest, etc.

I liked "Poker Nation" more than most and it is a very fast read. The Amarillo Slim book that's been referenced is very entertaining though I am/was unaware of the pedophilia beef discussed above. The coverage of prop bets is great.

There's an anthology called "Read 'em and Weep" which covers several of the better known titles (Alvarez, Yardley, etc.). I've read other of Yardley's books and they're quite good.

"Positively Fifth Street" had both highs and lows. I was less fond of it than most but still very appreciative of the accomplishment. Anyone who orbits around McManus's station in life can empathize with the personal pressures to which he was subjected. I agree with the above opinion that the murder trial motif and his use of conjectured detail detracts from the book.

The Mezrich book is decent though a little overwrought and probably overrated. It too is a fast read.

[Peter McDermott]

I'm gonna put in a word here for Brandon Adams book,
Broke: A poker novel.

Not because it's my favourite non-strategy book --
far from it, but I flamed somebody for posting about
it here when it first came out (I suspect it was the
author, spamming), and having just read it, it's
actually pretty good.

It isn't great. It's no King of a Small World, but
if you're interested in tales of over-educated geeks,
winning and losing shedloads of money, you could do
a hell of a lot worse.

[NickMPK]

[ QUOTE ]
Anyone read Matt Matros' book yet? That's non strategy, right?

How about Lyle Berman's new book? I thought these both looked interesting.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've read both. I didn't find Berman's book particularly interesting. Really very little poker content; much more about the leather business IIRC.

On the other hand, I think Matros's book is great. Definitely in my top five poker books. Neither the story nor the strategy advice are particularly compelling, but they are interwoven together beatifully and the writing is very high quality without being abstruse.

A book that has just been released in the past week, "Take Me to the River", is fantastic. It is by Peter Alson and is a story that chronicles the 2005 WSOP. The subtitle is "A Wayward and Perilous Journey to the WSOP". I picked it up at Barnes and Noble last week and have really enjoyed it.

[Ribsauce]

[ QUOTE ]


There's an anthology called "Read 'em and Weep" which covers several of the better known titles (Alvarez, Yardley, etc.). I've read other of Yardley's books and they're quite good.



[/ QUOTE ]

Wow this is one of those 1 cent plus shipping used books on amazon (even though its new). I'm ordering it now, even if it sucks I'm only stuck 3.50 or so

[Rob-L]

You *do* know it's currently 2006, right? That book has been out almost a year now.