REVIEW
In poker circles, Alvarez is most known as the author of The Biggest Game in Town, a classic story of his observations of the early years of the World Series of Poker. His latest book on the game, Poker: Bets, Bluffs, and Bad Beats is a combination of history, pictorial, and ode to the game he loves.
The first thing I noticed about the book were the images contained in its pages. The book is printed on high-quality glossy paper, and no matter where one opens the book, there is at least one striking poker images. These images include photographs of poker-related museum pictures, famous poker players, and motion picture stills. All are gorgeous shots, and while a few were familiar to me, most are shots or representations of artifacts that I haven't seen before. One of the goals of this work seems to be as a coffee table book, and it succeeds in this endeavor admirably.
The text of the book begins with a history of poker, tracking the evolution of the game up to the World Series of Poker in the mid-1990s. The writing is crisp and lively, as we would expect from a wordsmith of Alvarez' quality. The book is fairly brief and a quick read, as the page count is low and much of the paper real estate is taken up by the images, but since the format is larger than average for a poker book, by no means does it feel insubstantial.
As a history, though, the book falls a little flat. Most of the background we get we've already heard before, some of it from Alvarez' previous poker book. Also, even though the hard cover was released in 2001, we get no account of anything that happened in the poker world after the mid-90s. Moreover, the authenticity of some of the stories the author provides have come under fire in recent years. Consequently, by no means should the accounts provided in Poker: Bets, Bluffs, and Bad Beats be taken as authoritative. Really, this book is a history in the same way that Homer's Iliad is. These are the oral traditions of the poker culture retold to illustrate and remind us of the values of that community.
In that respect, the book works wonderfully. It is to poker history what Frank Sinatra Ocean's 11 is to Las Vegas of the early 1960s. It's not a documentary; it's a attempt to indelibly capture an impression, a vibe, if you will, of an era. This is especially true since the book provides an in-depth look at the connection between the old road gamblers, the World Series of Poker, and Binion's Horseshoe. This is a connection that poker players new to the game are only going to be able to hear about second hand. Alvarez' book captures the essence of poker in the pre-Internet age for fans of the game. It's important that someone capture the way things felt in the old days, even if the impressions occasionally diverge from the cold, hard facts.
There's no real strategy here, and certainly nothing new to the well-read poker student. The book is aimed more at the fan of poker than the serious player. Of course, there are nuggets of poker truisms here and there, and a novice player might come to better understand some aspect of the game by reading this book. However, this is the story of a love affair with the game by an amateur, in both senses of the word, written for those with a similar mindset.
In summary, I liked the pictures, I liked the writing, and I appreciate the way the author captures the essential soul of poker in print. As a pure history book to academicians, and as a strategy book appealing to serious poker students, it misses the mark. Poker: Bets, Bluffs, and Bad Beats deserves a place on all the coffee tables of those who adore the game of poker.
Capsule:
Poker: Bets, Bluffs, and Bad Beats is a well-written book exploring the soul of poker by examining the game and its history. The author's goal is to explore the essence of poker rather than to provide an academic understanding of the game, and consequently it sometimes parts company with our best understanding of the facts of some situations. The book is also filled with beautiful photographs, most of them making their only appearance I'm aware of in a book currently in print. While it may not be an in-depth history or provide any strategic insights, this book is a loving look at this fascinating game.
Nick
Christenson
Gambling
Book Reviews
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