{"product_id":"9780312428426","title":"The Biggest Game in Town","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eThe Biggest Game in Town\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Al Alvarez\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eAl Alvarez touched down in Las Vegas one hot day in 1981, a dedicated amateur poker player but a stranger to the town and its crazy ways. For three mesmerizing weeks he witnessed some of the monster high-stakes games that could only have happened in Vegas and talked to the extraordinary characters who dominated them--road gamblers and local professionals who won and lost fortunes on a regular basis.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSet over the course of one tournament, \u003ci\u003eThe Biggest Game in Town\u003c\/i\u003e is botha  chronicle of the World Series of Poker--the first ever written--and a portrait of the hustlers, madmen, and geniuses who ruled the high-stakes game in America. It is a brilliant insight into poker's appeal as a hobby, an addiction, and a way of life, and into the skewed psychology of master players and fearless gamblers. With a new introduction by the author, Alvarez's classic account is \"the greatest dissection of high-stakes Vegas poker and the madness that surrounds it ever written\" (\u003ci\u003eTimeOut\u003c\/i\u003e [UK]).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A classic . . . There is no better book on America's national pastime.” —\u003ci\u003eJames McManus, Author of Positively Fifth Street\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Probably the best book on poker ever written.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Evening Standard (UK)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A magnificent book. Beyond the straights and fullhouses, Alvarez has written a book about people who are extremely good at what they do, and about America.” —\u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[Alvarez] endows the game with all the desperate fun and wry futility of life itself.” —\u003ci\u003eNew York magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Conveys an understanding of gamblers and their milieu that can appeal to someone who has never seen a casino or doesn't care to.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Philadelphia Inquirer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Thoroughly entertaining . . . both perceptive and literate.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9780312428426\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Picador","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":40594455396558,"sku":"9780312428426","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_54a16bfc-810c-4cc7-852e-09f3fbb3ae45.jpg?v=1637808604","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9780312428426","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}