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The Biggest Game in Town | 
 enlarge | Author: A. Alvarez
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
Buy Used: $1.34
You Save: $14.61 (92%)
New (10) Used (33) Collectible (1) from $1.34
Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 357129
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 192
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.5 x 0.6
ISBN: 0811834344
Dewey Decimal Number: 795.4120979313
EAN: 9780811834346
ASIN: 0811834344
Publication Date: February 1, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Like new condition. Perfect shape! Comes from non smoking home. Satisfaction Guaranteed. Includes free delivery confirmation and fast shipping!
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Product Description
Called "the best book ever written on poker" by players and critics alike, The Biggest Game in Town is a sought-after classic that s finally available in print again. Acclaimed author A. Alvarez delves into the seedy, obsessive world of high-stakes Vegas poker, where "the next best thing to playing and winning is playing and losing." Uncovering an exotic underground rich in ambiance and eccentricity, The Biggest Game in Town is "a magnificent book " (San Francisco Chronicle), a real one of a kind.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 Great Historical Poker Read July 7, 2008
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.
One thing I found interesting was the author talking about Doyle Brunson writing his book, the classic, Super System and how it began to change the poker scene. Similarly with Sklansky. How the once hard learned craft was becoming easily accessible in book form, making players harder to win against. Now 25 years plus later, the vast amounts of literature out there is just mind boggling. It has made the competition that much stiffer, yet I sometimes wonder if it has also put that much more meat in the meat market for the true pros of the game.
In closing, I loved the book. A truly amazing read. You get a good feel for how poker was and get a glimpse of how the landscape was beginning to change. I highly recommend this book.
Classic poker memoir. February 6, 2008
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 are to Mr. Alvarez and his weekly game.
This book is not to be missed. The previous reviewer holds against that it was written before the current poker boom (or is it poker bubble). It chronicles such minor figures as Stuey Ungar and the WSOP. What poker player cares about that?
The latest poker memoir writers all pay tribute to this influential book. See what all the fuss is about.
Far better than some of the current narratives written by really weak players. I want to name them, but I won't.
 A Classic Poker Read December 15, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
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 unknowns (outside of their peers) when he wrote this book. This book really was groundbreaking in many ways.
Reading this book will enable you to appreciate the mentality of the hi-limit players before poker became mainstream and commercialized. If you want to appreciate a little more about the history of the World Series of Poker, this is a good place to start. The event was not always the "circus" that it has become today.
Alvarez has a nice writing style that is entertaining and easy to read. This is a quick read that you can get through in a few hours. I recommend it.
 Would have been good in its time but is now dated June 20, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
"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. My main criticism of the book has little to do with the text itself. With poker becoming more mainstream, it was inevitable that the stakes would become higher, the stories would become crazier and this title and others like it would be left behind. As an example, the main prize in this book is several hundred thousand dollars. Compare this to the million dollar prize pools that are now being generated on an almost weekly basis and the reader can be forgiven for being dismissive about a first prize of "only" $375,000. The book recounts tales of businessmen being "stuck" for $50,000 but again compare that to the recent colossal struggle between Andy Beal and the Vegas professionals, where Beal initially gained the upper hand but eventually lost $10 million. Perhaps the one reason I would recommend the book is for its fleeting glance into the life of Stu Ungar, perhaps one of the greatest players to ever grace the felt. However, other than that I would say that there are many other poker titles I would recommend reading first, for example Nolan Dalla's "One of a Kind", a book that I suspect will stand the test of time.
Mesmerizing time capsule of Vegas two decades ago September 2, 2005
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
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 resorts on the Strip. This is the heyday of Binion's Horseshoe, when Benny Binion was holding court at the most over-the-top gambling paradise. Unlike other casinos, the Horseshoe had to limits on the bets it would accepts and played host to the most outrageous gamblers and bets of the time.
All the greats of poker legend appear here--Johnny Moss and Nick the Greek Dandalos in their 1949 many-weeks-long marathon multi-million dollar game, Doyle Brunson, wacky cowboy gambler Amarillo Slim Preston, and formidable strategist Jack Strauss, among others.
This is a must-read for any poker player. For a modern look inside the World Series of Poker, try James McManus's Positively Fifth Street.
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