The Biggest Game in Town

by Al Álvarez and A. Alvarez.

Book Overview

Al 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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0811834344
• ISBN13: 9780811834346
• Release Date: February 2002
• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.6" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Classic poker memoir.

This is the first modern poker yarn by a legendary poker player and yes, literary critic. It seems half the UK poker players get their bonafides by how closely connected they are to Mr. Alvarez and his weekly game. This book is not to be missed. The previous reviewer holds against that it was written before the current poker boom (or is it poker bubble). It chronicles such minor figures as Stuey Ungar and the WSOP. What poker player cares about that? The latest poker memoir writers all pay tribute to this influential book. See what all the fuss is about. Far better than some of the current narratives written by really weak players. I want to name them, but I won't.

Mesmerizing time capsule of Vegas two decades ago

This book is a time capsule of a very different Las Vegas. The Vegas of the late 70's and early 80's was centered around the downtown area, with none of the all-encompassing resorts on the Strip. This is the heyday of Binion's Horseshoe, when Benny Binion was holding court at the most over-the-top gambling paradise. Unlike other casinos, the Horseshoe had to limits on the bets it would accepts and played host to the most outrageous gamblers and bets of the time. All the greats of poker legend appear here--Johnny Moss and Nick the Greek Dandalos in their 1949 many-weeks-long marathon multi-million dollar game, Doyle Brunson, wacky cowboy gambler Amarillo Slim Preston, and formidable strategist Jack Strauss, among others. This is a must-read for any poker player. For a modern look inside the World Series of Poker, try James McManus's Positively Fifth Street.

if you play poker, this is a must-read

This book is a like a time-capsule that sheds light on the poker world before poker was on every channel and before Hold 'Em was the biggest game in town. A great look at one journalist's foray into the World Series of Poker, this is just a terrific book. He's a great writer, he captures the action clearly and with a 'you're in the game' point of view, and he makes it very exciting, yet still personal. A must read for all players.

Delicate and Hypnotic.

Quite simply, this is one of the best books I have ever read. My only regret is that it was way too short. Alvarez, simply put, is a great writer. You will not be surprised by his background as a poet after opening it because he writes masterfully. He has a poet's sense for distilled language no words are wasted and the quotations are carefully selected and sometimes astounding (like Binion's equating gambling with all that is American). The organization and flow of the work is tremendous and his 188 pages turned like 40. There's no way you'll put The Biggest Game in Town once you start it. No work better describes the "alligator blood" of the world's top notch professional poker players. His portraits of Doyle Brunson, Johnny Moss, and Jack Strauss will be with you forever. The sheer aggression of Hold 'Em becomes quite obvious as does the way in which our sexual drives, and just about everything else, become sublimated in those who are addicted to gambling. However, the allure of "action" is quite apparent and will make readers want to fly out to the World Series of Poker to experience the pagaentry for themselves. This is a rare and valuable offering.

The seminal work in the field.

It takes the insights of a foreigner to really lay out Las Vegas in all its bloated glory. Alvarez has an economical yet beautiful way with words that captures a time and place nicely. Though the Vegas he writes of is long gone (for example, the only kids' attraction in the early 1980s was Circus! Circus!), this book is not just a snapshot of bygone times and tournaments. It is particularly interesting in its portrayal of Doyle Brunson, as well as other players of the era. Great stuff!