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Jay Greenspan hunts for a hit with this poker adventure
Product
Hunting Fish: A Cross Country Search for America's Worst Poker Players by Jay Greenspan
Hits
- Intriguing look at the various means and methods by which Americans play poker
- Plenty of riveting poker action to digest
- Combines an interesting personal narrative with enlightening background information and anecdotes
Misses
- Pre-UIGEA Title is misleading
- Poker strategy is limited and questionable
Review
Just about every poker player on the planet besides the eight or nine currently seated in Bobby's Room at Bellagio dreams of taking the shot. From Mike McDermott to Eric Cheever to the smelly, overweight fellow sitting across from you at your second cousin's home game, the ranks of the low- and mid-limit poker world are filled with dreamers and would-be professionals, sad-sack has-beens and bright-eyed hopefuls just one run of good cards and good karma from a seat at the Big Game.
Jay Greenspan is no different. The Brooklyn-based writer and poker aficionado's Hunting Fish: A Cross-Country Search for America's Worst Poker Players, while billed as one man searching for the fishiest ponds while preparing to swim in a shark tank (metaphorically speaking), is instead realized as part-Rounders, part travelogue. It chronicles one man's tour of the cardrooms and home games of America as he prepares to take his own shot at the big time.
Had Greenspan written the book suggested by his Hunting Fish theme he would have produced a substantially different narrative. In reality, it's unlikely that the fish Greenspan was allegedly looking for reside in any of the illegal private clubs and backdoor cardrooms he frequents in the likes of Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas and Houston, or that he'd find too many donkeys sitting in the casinos of Tunica, where players must drive through miles of farmland, scrub and Mississippi bog to find a game. The fish don't make such an effort to play and they certainly don't risk prosecution for the privilege. For Greenspan, who conducts his journey as a training and fundraising mission before taking his own shot at Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, it's probably a blessing that they don't.
Those who get past the somewhat misleading title - and in fact, Greenspan writes repeatedly of the enjoyment he feels and satisfaction he takes in facing and defeating some of his more challenging opponents - are in for a decent ride, joining the author as he takes his rental Dodge from New York City to New Orleans to the Big Game in Los Angeles, providing his readers with a taste of how poker is played and by whom from one coast to the other.
Those lucky enough to live in jurisdictions where poker is legal and regulated will find a hint of danger and intrigue in Greenspan's forays into the private poker rooms of their less fortunate brethren, illegal bastions of the game kept secure by video cameras, firearms and large, menacing men who list "insurance" as their occupation. Readers unlucky enough to live in jurisdictions where poker is illegal will read with envy Greenspan's tales of sitting with the sharks and fighting with the fish at casinos in Atlantic City, New Orleans, Las Vegas and California.
Along the way, the author mixes in anecdotes about his own history as a poker player and the game's history in general, providing the reader with both a crash course in their guide's qualifications and a number of interesting diversions from the forensics of poker hand analysis.
Fish hunting notwithstanding, the real purpose of the trip is Greenspan's quest to raise $20,000 in profit by the time he reaches Los Angeles and the Big Game at the Commerce Casino. Despite the author's dedication and apparent - though at times questionable - talent for the game, the outcome of his journey is never quite a sure thing until the final pages. As a result, readers who aren't put off by Greenspan's at-times abrasive and slightly condescending persona will find themselves on the edge of their proverbial seats as they wait to see if this starry-eyed dreamer can swim with the sharks.
The fish aren't as multitudinous as the title would have you believe but there's plenty of poker nonetheless and those interested in an easy read through the poker rooms and (pre-UIGEA) playing habits of their countrymen will enjoy the ride.
Details:
- $22.95
Paperback
St. Martin's Griffin
240 pages
