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Lyle Berman and the Birth of the WPT
Product
I'm All In by Lyle Berman with Marvin Karlins
Hits
- Well-written in a personable style that's easy to read
- Interesting look into the life of a businessman in the poker world
- Good advice that applies to poker as well as business life
Misses
- Not much on the actual game of poker
- Not a strategy book
Review
The autobiography of a businessman doesn't sound like something the average poker player is going to want to rush to read, but in the case of I'm All In, the risk-reward ratio is well on the winning side for poker fans.
As its subtitle High Stakes, Big Business, and the Birth of the World Poker Tour implies, this autobiography isn't about your average stodgy businessman. Lyle Berman is a businessman who plays poker, or perhaps a poker player who enjoys business as well, and his book is a healthy balance between his life in both worlds and how those worlds have intermingled for him.
Starting out as part owner of a lemonade stand with his sisters and as the "Muskrat Man" at his father's fur and pelt business, Berman takes the reader on his journey from being a young entrepreneur with dreams of becoming a millionaire to actually landing the big bucks through his father's business and his own ventures.
That journey also includes his interest in gambling from a young age when he used to play marbles with his buddies to his getting kicked out of college after being arrested for running an illegal poker game out of his apartment.
Business and poker eventually converge for Berman when he helps set up and run Grand Casinos, Inc. and later assists in the birth of the World Poker Tour.
What makes this book interesting, however, is how it's written. Instead of relating a dry history of his life and what he's accomplished, Berman tells his story in a personable way. He doesn't just talk about what he did; he talks about the reasons why he did certain things and his own philosophies.
There's even an entire chapter about poker and his thoughts and opinions about the game. In that chapter he explains how it's the thrill of the game and becoming a better player that draw him to poker, not the money involved.
"The one characteristic that seems to describe all the poker players I know - the common denominator that unites them all - is their love of the game," Berman says in the book. "It is my fervent belief that poker played at the highest level can only be achieved by those who are passionate about the game."
Despite his own passion, Berman doesn't consider himself a professional poker player. He doesn't make his living from playing the game, so by his own definition poker is a hobby, not his profession. But that hasn't stopped him from using the game to further his professional life with the casino business and the WPT.
Berman's unique business life and experience come together in a book filled with great advice that will help people in both the business world and the poker world. The way the chapters are split into subchapters also makes the book easy to put down when you need to and pick up again without losing the thread.
If you're interested in an easy-to-read look into the life of an integral part of poker's growth over the past few years, I'm All In is a good place to start.
Details:
- $24.95
Hardcover
Cardoza Publishing
288 pages
