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 enlarge | Author: A. Alvarez
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
Buy Used: $0.90
You Save: $15.05 (94%)
New (10) Used (31) Collectible (1) from $0.90
Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 288253
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: Former Library book. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy!
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| Customer Reviews:
 if you play poker, this is a must-read March 23, 2005
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is a like a time-capsule that sheds light on the poker world before poker was on every channel and before Hold 'Em was the biggest game in town.
A great look at one journalist's foray into the World Series of Poker, this is just a terrific book.
He's a great writer, he captures the action clearly and with a 'you're in the game' point of view, and he makes it very exciting, yet still personal.
A must read for all players.
Delicate and Hypnotic. October 6, 2004
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Quite simply, this is one of the best books I have ever read. My only regret is that it was way too short. Alvarez, simply put, is a great writer. You will not be surprised by his background as a poet after opening it because he writes masterfully. He has a poet's sense for distilled language no words are wasted and the quotations are carefully selected and sometimes astounding (like Binion's equating gambling with all that is American). The organization and flow of the work is tremendous and his 188 pages turned like 40. There's no way you'll put The Biggest Game in Town once you start it.
No work better describes the "alligator blood" of the world's top notch professional poker players. His portraits of Doyle Brunson, Johnny Moss, and Jack Strauss will be with you forever.
The sheer aggression of Hold 'Em becomes quite obvious as does the way in which our sexual drives, and just about everything else, become sublimated in those who are addicted to gambling. However, the allure of "action" is quite apparent and will make readers want to fly out to the World Series of Poker to experience the pagaentry for themselves. This is a rare and valuable offering.
A very fun and interesting read March 31, 2004
5 out of 11 found this review helpful
I would whole-heartedly recommend this book to any poker player or any fan of Tom Wolfe's non-fiction (this book reminds me of Wolfe's writing). It has great anecdotes about some of the legends in the poker world and gives a little insight into the life of a professional gambler.
A must read for the true poker fan... January 18, 2004
7 out of 11 found this review helpful
Compelling and revealing, this book is about Vegas, Binion's Horseshoe Casino and the 1981 World Series of Poker. Legendary player Doyle Brunson is all business when he plays this high stakes game that relies as much on discipline and stamina,
luck and skill as it does on understanding the psychological nuances of the other players. No single element stands alone.
Professional players like Jack Straus aren't dealt special cards, they just know what to do with the cards they are given, and they read the other players' hands by their tells and betting. According to Nick the Greek Dandalos, "The next best thing to gambling and winning is gambling and losing. For an inside look at the life of an aggressive, high stakes gambler read this classic.
Available to collectors if you can find me in Washington January 7, 2004
2 out of 45 found this review helpful
I bought The Biggest Game In Town on the first day of the World Series of Poker in 1983. I met the author Mr Alvarez and he signed my copy.Also signing my copy of this first adition was Benny Binion, Johnny Moss, Stu Unger, Doyl Brunson, Tom McEvoy, Jack Strouse, Dewey Tomkan, Perry Green, Puggie Pearson, Auston Squatty, Oklahoma Johnny Hale, Crandell Addington, Jack Binion, Chip Reese, Bobby Baldin, Ken Smith, Bob Stupak and Larry Flynt to name a few. The Biggest Game in Town is a great book of the culture of the greatest poker players of all time. The book tells their story and their signature, at least in my copy, leaves their print on history.
//s//Lnu
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