Biggest Game in Town

"e;The greatest dissection of high-stakes Vegas poker and the madness that surrounds it ever written."e; -TimeOutAl Alvarez touched down in Las Vegas one hot day in 1981, a dedicated amateur poker player but a stranger to the town and its crazy ways. For three mesmerizing weeks he witnessed some of the monster high-stakes games that could only have happened in Vegas and talked to the extraordinary characters who dominated them road gamblers and local professionals who won and lost fortunes on a regular basis. Set over the course of one tournament, The Biggest Game in Town is both the first chronicle of the World Series of Poker ever written and a portrait of the hustlers, madmen, and geniuses who ruled the high-stakes game in America. It is a brilliant insight into poker's appeal as a hobby, an addiction, and a way of life, and into the skewed psychology of master players and fearless gamblers. With a new introduction by the author, Alvarez's classic account is "e;probably the best book on poker ever written"e; (The Evening Standard). "e;A classic . . . There is no better book on America's national pastime."e; James McManus, New York Times bestselling author of Positively Fifth Street"e;Magnificent . . . Beyond the straights and full houses, Alvarez has written a book about people who are extremely good at what they do, and about America."e; San Francisco Chronicle"e;Conveys an understanding of gamblers and their milieu that can appeal to someone who has never seen a casino."e; Philadelphia Inquirer"e;Thoroughly entertaining . . . both perceptive and literate."e; The Washington Post