Customer Reviews
I didnt like the man - By: S. Flanagan, 01 May 2008 
I thought the book was quite dull & Anthony Holden came across as a pompous ass.
Shuffle Up & Read - By: J. Mellor, 09 May 2007 
Synopsis
The story of a year spent by biographer Anthony Holdenin the tough world of the professional poker player. He spent days & nightsin the poker paradise of Las Vegas,in Malta & Morocco, even shipboard, mingling with the legendary greats, sharpening his game, perfecting his repartee, & learning a great deal about himselfin the process. Poker, Holden would insist, is not gambling. Like chess it is a paradigm of life at its most intense, a gladiatorial contest that brings out the best as well as the worstin people. Its heroes, its eccentrics & is comedians stalk the pages of this book, along with all the hair-raising, nail-biting excitement of the games themselves. The book is reissued with a new introduction by the author.
This is a fantastic read & extremely well written book. It makes you actually feel that you are there & shows that life as a Poker pro is not necessarily exciting but you wouldn't swap it for anythingin the world.
It's about a journeyman player who decides to give it all up & turn "pro" for a year just to experience the life & see where the journey takes him.
There are lots of anecdotes about well known players (The ones about Amarillo Slim are hilarious), a brutal honesty & an excellent insight into life on the road & the places they go & people they meet. It could almost be a work of fiction.
You do not have to be a Poker fan to enjoy this book as it's not really a book about Poker but a story of a yearin the life of someone living the dream.
Misses the flop - By: N. Jacob, 22 Jul 2006 
There is no way that Big Deal should miss the flop but when the cards are flipped at showdown, Anthony Holden is holding rags. He has the anecdotes, he has the hard-earned experience, he even has the dust-jacket endorsements - David Mamet, Salman Rushide & Martin Amis. But he just doesn't have the nuts.
Poker until the late 1970's was a game of hard-ass Texan hustlers, a Runyon-esque romp from coast-to-coast. Poker since the late 1990's has been dotcom boom time, an ever-expanding entertainment industry & a blue-chip businessin both its casino & online forms. Big Deal sits somewherein the middle, harking back to the golden age, but unable to look forward to mass-participation.
The old-time stories, & literary-Londoner-in-Las Vegas observations are lifted straight from Al Alvarez's The Biggest Gamein Town. Alvarez, is Holden's real-life mentor, & the pupil never threatens to overreach his master.
The book recounts Holden's experiences on the professional circuitin 1988-9, book-ended by a pair of appearances at the World Series of Poker Main Event, the $10,000 buy-in No Limit Hold 'Em tournament. He comes 90thin 1988, then 111thin 1989. But Holden gets outdrawn on these experiences which should be his book's big draw.
James McManus, another journalist/author & literary type entered the tournamentin 2000 - & made the final table, winning a quarter million dollars. Positively Fifth Street, McManus' tale of his exploits, woven into his coverage murder trial following the death of Vegas legend Ted Binion, really tells you what it's like for an amateur to sit with the pro's.
Don't misunderstand. Big Deal is a good book. It is a worthy book. The poker is real, the players are real & the writing is real. But it is not a great book. It is neither as entertaining nor perceptive as Alvarez' original, & it is not as exciting or informative as McManus' update.
Superb! A poker book that disbands technical theories and gets down to the action on the table... - By: Joe Ellis, 21 May 2006 This is a book for the player who loves stories of dramatic hands at poker, thrilling victories, unbelievable luck (good aswell as bad), & crushing bad-beats. Holden sublimely recalls his story of a year spent as a poker pro, & is a must-read for every poker fan. You can get away from the plethora of books offering new fang-dangled strategies & theorums, & get indulgedin a book that captures a real essence of poker. From his local tuesday night game, to the out-of-his-depth high rollers ables at Vegas, Holden perfectly tells his story on. A fascinating, exciting, & captiviating book. Brilliant.
Brilliant! - By: mr t clay, 25 Sep 2004 What a top book. I love books about card players & films too as everyone believes they could this, but we couldn't. Who wouldn't love to drop everything & chase their dream for a year? The detail & suspensein the book is amazing & I just didn't want it to end. The characters he meets are amazing, especially as they are real. Altogether, a great read & I'm already saving up to do the same!
