Shut Up and Deal

By Jesse May

Book Overview

In 1987, there was legalized poker in Nevada and in one county of California. Author Jesse May was seventeen years old and already hooked. By 1996, poker could be legally played in casinos in over twenty states of the union and five countries in Europe. Legalization changed the face of poker, and as the game came of age, so did May, who by 1989 had dropped out of the University of Chicago after one year due to irreconcilable differences between Tuesday- and Thursday-morning classes and Monday- and Wednesday-night poker games.

Based on his experiences in the strange world of poker, May's debut novel Shut Up and Deal is the story of a nontraditional '90s slacker, a dropout with an incurable obsession and incredible stamina, who makes a career in a profession where the only goals are to stay in action and to not go broke. In Shut Up and Deal, a professional poker player takes readers along on his adventures over several years in and out of casinos and card rooms in locales such as Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and Amsterdam.

Told in a catching, likeable voice, this story offers up one rip-roaring poker-table drama after another, with narrator Mickey ultimately finding himself in a spot that jeopardizes his entire bankroll and calls into question his morals, such as they are. In rhythmic, high-octane prose that is as addictive as the game it describes, Shut Up and Deal zooms in on the swirling, feverish microcosm of the contemporary poker world from its very first line and never cuts away.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385489404
• ISBN13: 9780385489409
• Release Date: April 1998
• Publisher: Anchor Books
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.0" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

This be it!

I'm just adding my voice to those who have said this is the greatest poker novel ever written. It stands alone. It is so good, I suspect reader-players will take all manner of different stuff from it. This is only poker novel I know worth reading several times to get at its many meanings. Why any non-poker player would read it is beyond me. A non-poker player critiquing it would be a joke.

Atmospheric...

This is the best novel ever written about poker. It effectively captures the mood, atmosphere, characters, and What-day-of-the-week-is-it?/Is-it-morning-or-night-outside? mania of the subculture. It is a mood piece that creeps very close to the real experience-- probably better than anyone has ever written it. Those looking for page-turning plots (which would otherwise blur/undercut the central theme here), need to grab some generic title off the best-seller list.

For people who know or want to know

Shut up and deal is a unique book that provides players of all skill levels a constant reminder that the philosophy of luck is as important to learn and understand as all of the "how to and statistical calculation" books ever written about poker. It does so in one book that also stands out as entertaining poker fiction. The underlying truths provide what it takes to win at playing poker at the highest levels and the pitfalls that are there everyday to test any player that has chosen to make poker their profession, or who have chosen to play semi-pro. I understand that to a literary critic, this book rambles, but to players who have been there it is a must read.

Great perspective of life 'inside' the Poker world

Jesse May has really captured the true essence of life inside the detached and all-consuming world of Poker 24/7. Though officially a work of fiction, I can say with fair certainty that the story is probably based on observed or lived truth. Having myself seen the vacuous life of Poker, I can attest that this is the first book that I've seen that presents Poker in a light other than what has been documented on the Travel and Discovery channels. Jesse incarnates an intellectual Poker Hero through which readers witness the unrelenting preoccuptation that all professionals and wanna-be pros alike face in the course of their often short, crash & burn-prone careers: bankroll volatility, fear, confidence, scams, image, discipline, on-lookers, self-consciousness and addiction of all varieties. Arguably, Poker is a fold, hit & run game. 'Shut and Deal' illustrates with chilling accuracy what happens in between the folding, the hitting the big pots, the running, and sometimes, even the running back! A great read from beginning to end, with terrific insight into the pathology of Poker, and her devout and eccentric participants. Warning: Casual poker enthusiasts beware!

Captures the true flavor of the life.

A must for poker "rounders" but it may not be for others. I don't know, I'm not an "other" It has no real plot and it basically goes nowhere, but that's how the poker life is. The book gives a realistic feel of the small and different world of the pro, and would-be-pro, poker player.