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Broke: A Poker Novel
Product
Broke: A Poker Novel by Brandon Adams
Hits
- Superbly told cautionary tale of the magnetism of poker
- Well-written and captivating
Misses
- Does not teach anything except abstinence from poker
- A little short
Review
Brandon Adams is a man with a life that many would consider a bachelor's dream. He studies when he wants, plays high-stakes poker and casually jets back and forth between Las Vegas and New York.
This is the Adams we get to know when reading Broke: A Poker Novel. The Adams of today teaches behavioral science at Harvard University and made the final table of the 2005 Tournament of Champions.
Broke: A Poker Novel is something curious and rare. It is a book written without pretension or the need to look cool and mask losses - something so many poker players do on a regular basis.
The book is, in a sense, a biography involving a couple of 20-something bachelors and party animals who happen to play high-stakes poker. Adams narrates the novel, retelling anecdotes as they play out. The book is a complete joy to read, and most readers will be captivated in the early pages when one of the main characters goes on tilt and blows a huge sum of money - something to which most poker players can relate all too well.
Adams continues to tell shorter stories about the adventures of the group, weaving the tales together skillfully in a timeline until the last page. The character descriptions and general feel of the book are great; just a few descriptive words can tell you exactly who a person is and what is likely to come of him. Engrossing, interesting and a little depressing at times, Broke: A Poker Novel is a wonderful read.
When you pick up this book - which is less than 100 pages - you will instantly know you could sit down and read it in a day. It does nothing to teach poker theory or even hand ranking; in fact, there are only one or two hands of poker described in the entire book. However, what it does is give the reader a sobering look into the world of high-stakes poker and how fast the mighty fall.
Pick it up as you would a romance novel or a thriller or do not pick it up at all.
Broke: A Poker Novel consists of 17 chapters:
- There Is No End of the Line
- Addiction
- The Professor
- Mixing Voices
- The Sickness
- The Ego Has Landed
- Thirty Hours Underground
- Blowing Up
- The Drinking Contest
- The Twitch
- TV Poker
- Staying Home
- Sitting Out
- The Early Events
- The Main Event
- Running Bad
- The Last Hurrah
The book totals 91 pages.
Details:
- Paperback $9.95
IUniverse Publishing
