Trips: People, Places, Poker

By Arthur W Goodhart

'Trips' records visits by the author to Deauville, Prague and Nottingham to play in big buy-in poker tournaments. Journeys where dreams are confronted, the past explored, lessons learnt. A book about playing poker, accepting failure, embracing obsession, growing old, the anarchy of luck. An elegant celebration of a game that is perhaps a metaphor for life, certainly an escape. Poker is easy to learn, difficult to master, a game of skill that incorporates enough luck to give anyone hope, justify dreams. Exploding in popularity early in the new millennium, a predominantly American game became a worldwide phenomenon - even James Bond switched from baccarat to poker. A game of adrenalin and angst, probability and patience, intensity and introspection, sociable yet solitary. Life-changing sums of money are now won on an almost daily basis. 'Poker becomes the key to understanding life and history - though not making money - in this meditative gambling memoir... Goodhart infuses the mechanics of poker hustling with philosophical and literary resonances - "Hansen counsels using my chips, making some moves, stealing a few pots, going for it; Rilke suggests patience and discipline. Never listen to a poet." - in a piquant counterpoint that's both insightful and entertaining. An engaging picaresque that explores the role of chance and fate inside the casino and out.' Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1731289618
• ISBN13: 9781731289612
• Release Date: November 2018
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 0.57 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.1" x 7.8"