Biggest game in town
Contents:
Lex Veldhuis Top 10 Clips Of August!
Yep, media incest of the highest order but you've got to admit it was shrewd. The idea was to fill up the three lines of the bingo card with digits. The first line with the digits 5 and 0, second line with 5, 0 and 0 and final 5,0,0,0 and you take what you make. It was very clever. You see, to win digits you had to answer questions correctly, one digit for every right answer in 45 seconds.
Sadly the questions weren't particularly short and Steve, whilst an otherwise competent host he seemed to do live well and covered his mistakes fairly professionally , had a nasty habit of false starting several questions.
He has a sweet tooth, a kind smile, a mild faith in Jesus, and a sort of self-deprecating way of talking that clearly appeals to the English Alvarez. But he brings his considerable skills as a reporter and a writer to the coverage of the main event in the last two chapters of the book. Vic Manfrotto John Sigona Jr. Withoutabox Submit to Film Festivals. It may look obsessive How much of the world described is gone though?
We feel that trying to get essentially 9 out of 8 was a bit tough. Back to 'proper' bingo for the viewers at home. At the back of the studio was a nice computer graphic effect of a "high-tech tunnel". When somebody got a question correct a giant bingo ball seemingly being purple or blue depending on what mood it's in shot through the tunnel and exploded at the end leaving a rather less impressive computer graphic number.
If you circled all fifteen numbers on your card then you won and had to claim. Most importantly, a live leaderboard appeared every few questions to keep track of how many cards had x numbers to go. In many ways this was quite exciting if you were playing along properly. You were against about 50, other people and you could see where you were in comparison to everybody else. Very nice idea, that. Still, the one thing about interactive shows is that the viewer has got to be bothered to interact. How many people had cards and watched the show but couldn't be bothered to phone up and activate every day?
That is the question. And ultimately that's probably why this show only lasted a series because otherwise we weren't sure how much we wanted to live through the Bob's Full House format again and again. But at the end of the day, did it live up to its premise? It wasn't the "biggest" show, nor a "game" lottery, more like , nor was it even filmed in a town. You'd get bigger jackpots going down to your local Gala Bingo. But he brings his considerable skills as a reporter and a writer to the coverage of the main event in the last two chapters of the book.
Stu Ungar won it that year, for the second time in a row, beating the forty-to-one odds bookmakers were giving for him to repeat Alvarez reports that Ungar himself had bet heavily on Brunson! The world had poker books before The Biggest Game in Town appeared in , but Alvarez was the first to really delve into the poker mind—and no author has really come close since. But I was no good at first. Bets, Bluffs, and Bad Beats. I remember reading the piece when it came out, years before I had ever played poker or even considered playing poker, and consumed it voraciously, drawn into it by both the power of the narrative and the insightful precision of the writing.
After I learned something about poker, I re-read the piece in book form, and found it even more compelling.
- The Striped Bass 60++ Pound Club.
- Edgar Huntly; Or, Memoirs of a Sleep-Walker!
- The Ragtime Fool (Ragtime Mystery Trilogy Book 3).
The portrait Alvarez paints of Las Vegas, circa , is often a grim one. But in the interview he told me he adores the town: I guess they took to me. I asked Alvarez what he thought made these players so great, and he remarked on their capacity for aggression. He just wanted to get in there and slay the other player. They think of poker as war even though it all seems very casual and laid back. But he deserves some of the credit for putting poker on the map with his wonderful book.
Sep 18, Kirsten rated it it was ok Shelves: A look at the key players in the poker world in the late 70s early 80s.
Can't put my finger on why it's not a 3-star, because there was something about it I did like. The characters and the city seemed to be made into caricatures of themselves, but then again, maybe that's truly how they were.
Maybe I'm comparing it to the Stuey Unger book that I liked so much and this wasn't that. Feb 10, ben rated it liked it. Didn't think I was going to enjoy a book about Vegas… I just got back and was sick and tired of the place. But Alvarez writes about the place in such a way that almost made me want to go back next week. Sep 25, Arty rated it really liked it. Frequently described as 'the best book about poker ever written' and I won't argue with that.
A Brit decides to write a book about the Poker scene in Las Vegas in the , and in doing so paints a complex picture of the personalities that dominated Poker at the time. Jun 22, Anita rated it liked it Shelves: The story of Binnion's World Series of Poker and the characters that play in it.
I learned a lot about poker. Mar 08, William Milks rated it liked it. Just a poker book. Game has changed a lot written in Sep 18, Tyler Jones rated it really liked it Shelves: It was both a history of poker and an account of the main event which was won by Stu Ungar. He knows how to put words together and he also knows a lot about poker, being a long-time player himself. I have read it a few times and I have recommended it to people who want to understand what all the fuss is about.
The game has never had a more eloquent spokesperson. I do, however, two small quibbles. After Benny Binion took over the Horseshoe Casino, he slowly began to develop it into the main poker place in Las Vegas. Binion achieved this in part by creating a myth - the myth of Johnny Moss and Nick the Greek. In a nutshell, the story goes that Nick the Greek, the most famous gambler in the world at the time, came to Vegas in and asked Binion to set up the highest stakes poker game possible.
The game, according to legend, lasted five months with only short breaks for meals and rest.
He runs a lot of the action in Jersey. Moss, I have to let you go. Binion claimed the epic game was the inspiration for him starting the WSOP. The story quickly became accepted as truth and was given credibility when Alvarez repeated it in detail in The Biggest Game in Town. The only problem is that it almost certainly did not happen. If such as match took place, with thousands of tourists serving as witnesses, then there must be a mountain of photos to prove it - but the fact that no one has ever brought forth a single picture of this game is a pretty strong argument that it never happened.
Still a great story. If Amarillo Slim Preston moved poker towards the light of respectability, then Ungar certainly moved it back towards the dark. Far from eloquent, Ungar is portrayed by Alvarez as barely human - communicating with monosyllabic grunts. Still the portrait of Ungar as somehow sub-human reflects poorly on Alvarez. Oct 17, Lynn rated it liked it. The first half was very interesting, a study of the gambling personality. The second half not so much.
Nov 08, Robert Beveridge rated it really liked it Shelves: Alvarez, The Biggest Game in Town Houghton Mifflin, [originally posted 14Aug] Someone who's not involved in the wonderful world of gambling may look at Alvarez' spirited and slightly surreal view of the World Series of Poker as a study in caricature. It's just a game, right?
The cards become meaningless, or at least far less meaningful than the people holding them.
The Biggest Game in Town: A. Alvarez: donnsboatshop.com: Books
And under those circumstances, it'd be on the insane side to NOT obsess, wouldn't it? Alvarez, a witty and insightful Londoner whose first name has been a mystery for decades to those who only know him from his many books all of which have been published under only his first initial, to my knowledge , travels to Las Vegas with a press pass, a curious nature, a "respectable" poker ability, and not nearly enough money to get himself into trouble. While there, he covers the World Series of Poker for "not nearly as interesting as the side games, which have no limits" and, more importantly, gets to know a few of the many characters who give Las Vegas its somewhat unique charm.
There are poker players with advanced degrees and poker players who are illiterate; there are quiet players and there are brash, boorish players; there are transgendered dealers and well, there's really no other side of that one ; the whole spectrum of Americana is represented within the Golden Nugget, as Alvarez would have it, and by the time you're finished with your trip through this book, as with a trip to Vegas, the oddness of the folks around him simply vanishes, and you're left with only their personalities and their strategies.
They have only one thing in common—they analyze every detail of every hand in order to try and get better. The pot isn't all that great in the World Series of Poker—oftentimes men and women win ten times as much in a single hand in a side game—but it sure does give you bragging rights to have that title for a year or two.
It may look obsessive But it's also wonderful. If you liked Rounders, or if you like poker, this one's definitely worth hunting down. Dec 01, Jeremiah rated it really liked it. It is a town without grace and without nuance, where the only useful virtues are experience, survival and money. Although it doesn't really contain a full length story that weaves through it per say, it has some interesting smaller anecdotes on players such as Stu Ungar, Doyle "Dolly" Brunson and Chip Reese.
You won't find any strategic tips in this book but it will give you a sense of how it looked, sounded, and felt to sit down at the felt during the early WSOP years.
Customers who bought this item also bought
This is a quick, light read, recommended highly as a stocking stuffer for poker players who like to read or poker history buffs. Jan 15, Andrew rated it really liked it. Great book that really gets in to the psychology of those playing at the absolute top end of the poker spectrum; the kind of people who can win or lose hundreds of thousands of dollars on the turn of a card without batting an eye. Both exhilarating and depressing, The Biggest Game in Town is about a gritty Las Vegas of the late 70's and early 80's- before the rise of the shiny mega-casino- and the chain-smoking, overweight, bizarre personalities who are compelled to live in the desert to match w Great book that really gets in to the psychology of those playing at the absolute top end of the poker spectrum; the kind of people who can win or lose hundreds of thousands of dollars on the turn of a card without batting an eye.
Both exhilarating and depressing, The Biggest Game in Town is about a gritty Las Vegas of the late 70's and early 80's- before the rise of the shiny mega-casino- and the chain-smoking, overweight, bizarre personalities who are compelled to live in the desert to match wits with the best poker talent on the planet.
Book Review: The Biggest Game in Town
This isn't a book about poker strategy, although some of the characters profiled like Doyle Brunson have written some of the standard books in the field. Instead, Alverez is interested in the kind of people who, such as one professional player, get married and then return to a poker table a few hours later. Not precisely gambling addicts, more like people with an all-consuming compulsion to compete, like top sports athletes who use their minds instead of their bodies. Like anyone at the extreme high-end of their field, the personalities tend to be oversized- or at least the stories they tell- and Alverez is an expert at bringing the rest of us as close as we're going to get to sitting at table with the smartest poker players in the world.
If that's your idea of fun this book is highly recommended. Jan 14, Tung rated it it was ok Shelves: Last year I read Positively Fifth Street, a book about poker whose author entered the World Series of Poker and described the experience. The inspiration for that book was this book, widely regarded by poker players as one of the best poker books ever written. This goes to show you that poker players should stick to cardplaying and leave the bookreviewing to people with taste. This book is not nearly as energetic or enthralling as Positively Fifth Street.
This book is more a quiet background about the people and context of poker prior to its jumping into the national consciousness. I was quite disappointed. Mar 22, Jay rated it liked it Shelves: This is my second poker stories book in a couple of years, after "Positively Fifth Street", and I am going to slow down my rate. This one, written before Positively, felt pretty similar.
I did notice a different style in this one though - it really stood out for me. This one felt like, of all things, a soundtrack album.
There were the This is my second poker stories book in a couple of years, after "Positively Fifth Street", and I am going to slow down my rate. There were themes repeated throughout the book about the gamblers and how they think. This theme was repeated often, with different words throughout. Once I caught what the author was doing I found it a bit repetitive. The anecdotes were interesting, but I get the feeling that reading additional poker story books will repeat these same anecdotes. Apr 30, John rated it it was amazing.
Another poker classic on my Shelf of Honor.