Bigger Deal

By David Apostolico

In the pre-boom pantheon of poker literature, two narratives stand out: The Biggest Game in Town, and Big Deal by British pals Al Alvarez and Anthony Holden. Both books offered a first hand look at what was then the little known and seldom seen world of professional poker. Of the two, The Biggest Game in Town is perhaps the more acclaimed, for it was first and the stories uncovered therein are legendary. If you've never read it, do yourself a favor and get a copy. Every poker narrative written since (of which there are now many) has its roots in Alvarez' gem.

Personally, I've always been partial to Big Deal. It combined fresh historical anecdotes with a first hand personal odyssey into what was then a close knit fraternity. Holden spends a year in the underbelly of the then-mysterious poker beast, and acutely recounts the trials and tribulations of giving the poker circuit a go. It's an everyman's account of daring to try to go up against the best in the business. Now, every man (and woman) does give it a whirl.

So, it was with a mix of trepidation and anticipation that I jumped into an advance copy of the just released Bigger Deal. Billed as both a year inside the poker boom and a sequel to Big Deal, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. In today's overcrowded poker book market, there are far too many narratives that attempt to copy what Alvarez and Holden so adroitly covered years ago. To dilute matters more, the poker scene today is hardly the secret world it used to be. With countless television shows, magazines, and websites chronicling every move (both on and off the felt) of many of today's players, little is not known in the poker community. Whatever remains a mystery is usually caught by one of thousands of bloggers. What could any author, even one as accomplished as Holden, reveal in the way of a new narrative?

A few pages into Bigger Deal, my fears subsided. I quickly realized no one is more qualified to write about the boom than someone who was well engaged in the poker community from the old days. Holden takes the reader on another year long journey albeit a remarkably different one. As we all know, the poker world has changed dramatically in the past few years. Just how much cannot be truly appreciated until reading a book like Bigger Deal. Holden writes in his usual entertaining and revealing style to give us a comprehensive and intimate look at today's poker environment on both sides of the pond.

Yet, Holden mixes in enough historical perspective to allow us to really understand how poker has changed and what that means for players. There's a small degree of lament and if it wasn't for Holden's brutal honesty, he would risk sounding curmudgeonly at times. That honesty, however, is what makes Bigger Deal another big deal. Poker is a fickle game that can be as maddening as it can be rewarding. It's the rare author who can convey the ups and downs and bring the reader along for the ride.

All of us who play know first hand all too well the frustrations that come with the capricious nature a deck of cards can wrought. That frustration can reach the melting point when it is exacted by inferior competition. In my last column, I wrote about the downside of the boom. In Bigger Deal, Holden has written eloquently about both the upside and downside as only one who has been there before can. I highly recommend Bigger Deal. While it's certainly not necessary to have read Big Deal previously, I would strongly recommend Big Deal as an indispensable read in its own right. I'll leave it to you to decide for yourself if the boom has been a good thing for poker or not.

Boom or no boom, I'm of the school of thought that poker is a wonderful skillful game that needs to be kept in perspective. This is where Holden excels. He unabashedly shares his personal life and the place poker has, as well as should have, in his life. Undoubtedly, the biggest change in today's environment is the availability of a poker game or tournament around the clock whether in a card room or online. How often to play is an issue with which many struggle and a question Holden addresses head on at the end of his book.  

This article was published at an earlier date on PokerPages.com and is being rerun due to popular demand.

About the Author
David Apostolico is the author of numerous poker books including Lessons from the Felt, Machiavellian Poker Strategy, and Tournament Poker and the Art of War. You can contact him at thepokerwriter@comcast.net.